Do you mean the extended service contract?

I’d be curious what others were quoted for the price on it. I couldn’t find any details on it on the miniusa website, and the dealer who sold me the car tried to foist a $2400 service contract on me for three years. That would have been a very bad deal (I drive the Mini 10-12K/yr; I’d have to have a brake job every year to make it worth it, and I doubt I could manage that).

And I can get a good extended warranty for a total of six yrs/75k (not a service contract) for $812 with $100 deductible. It adds some to the factory warranty, but mostly helps once the factory warranty is over. Wouldn’t cover wear and tear on brakes, but I can pay out of pocket for that and even with two replacements I could use the money saved over the service contract to pay for the extended warranty.

 

FYI: As a gadge...

My dealer offered me about 2k for the extended service (can buy it anytime within the current service period). Didn't buy it yet. Figured I'd wait since it doesn't cost more later.

I did purchase for about $2300 on delivery an extended warranty for 6 years 100,000 miles. They did have 7 years avail but I will hit 100k in about 4 years. Anyway... The warranty I got was an "exclusion" type. Most warranties are inclusion. Exclusion means that they only list what won't be covered. Inclusion means they list what will be covered. Inclusion is good to mitigate any major issues, but if something happens they tend to find parts of the repair you have to pay out of pocket. Exclusion warranties typically only list wear items like brake pads, rotors, clutch and fluids. Exclusion are more but are closer to the OEM warranties that you get from a new car. In-fact they are typically better than the "certified extended warranties" from car manufactures as they usually cover all electronics including factory NAV and blue tooth systems.

One more note: Most exclusion warranties want you to be under factory warranty when they are assigned and start costing more the later into your factory warranty you buy them.

 

Good info about the extended warranties. I never used to buy them, thought they were a big ripoff, and some still are. But repairs are getting so outrageously expensive these days, they maybe are worth it.

Like all insurance, you’re betting your car sucks and will break down; they are betting that it won’t. Like the house in Vegas, they’re usually the winners, or they wouldn’t be in business.

These facts make it interesting to compare rates, since the brainiacs at the warranty companies (really insurance companies) get paid to do this, and probably have some VERY good info on the reliability of vehicles out there (and repair costs). For example, if you were to buy a Honda Civic Si instead of a just-a-mini, you’d pay half the price for the same extended warranty I was quoting earlier, $428. Makes you think....

BTW, these are quotes for exclusionary warranties.

And beware: many extended warranties out there are really shady. A friend bought one at the dealership and the warrantor went belly up (she assumed, incorrectly, that it was a company connected to VW).

Rob

 

My .02 cents...

1. Ext warrantys are financially irresponsible and money invested is (generally) a lost cause. If you count up what is normally covered and divide it by how many parts could fail, its usually less than 1%. Take the $2500 (and don't forget to add the 6% interest compounded annually for your 72 month loan) and put that $3,000 in a MM yielding savings accout or put it in a fund account with a major company. Then when the warranty expires, use that money if you need it, if not, it will make a nice downpayent for a new MC.

2. When the warranty is up, just buy a new one.

Oh, change the brakes your self or buy the parts (upgrade of course) and take it Sears, Mineke, whomever... let them install and enjoy the parts warranty.

 

Really, I had an $8,000 transmission replaced under an extended warranty and am going in for an oil leak that should cost between $2000-3000 dollars to repair because they have to Remove the engine and transmission from a car (please do not panick for those reading this it's not a mini).

Extended warranties are like collision insurance... You pay for them and hope you don't need it, but if you do and you have one you count your self lucky.

To many a few thousand dollars spent to know they won't have a monetary surprise is well worth it.

Does it mean I buy every extended warranty when they offer it at "Best Buy" when I buy a $50 DVD player.... NO I DON'T.

But when I bought my Plasma TV back in 1999, you bet I did. Did I use it... No... but it did make me feel better having it... Yes... I didn't yell at everyone to Zoom in the picture so I wouldn't get burn-in because it was covered in the warranty. It's about cost vs repair/replacement.

Did I buy the warranty on my LCD TV I bought this year... NO the cost of the item vs repair/replacement didn't justify it if something went wrong. I'd just buy another one with newer technology since they are relativly cheap and getting cheaper by the day.

 

Corey, sounds like you got lucky you had the ext warranty. Your one of thousands though, it's all based on sample size. How long was your vehicle out of warranty? You just have to wonder with the money invested and how much later in the game you had utilized it. It wasn't a chrysler was it?
Then even I would consider purchasing the major component ext. warranty, maybe.

 

Well my thought on the extended Maintenance is this. I will break even on it and upon expiration it will be time for a replacement. The extended warraty, generally I feel if you maintian the car, most problems do not arise and if they do, thee will arise befor ethe 50,000/ 4yr mark

 

ummmm...



That's one's not dumbed-down enough for me, is there a good one somewhere with photos and whatnot?

They're covered up to 36k, mine lasted 38k. I'm thinking Brembo rotors and EBC greens.

 

Woops I just found OctaneGuy's write-up. In the interests of contributing to this thread rather than cluttering it up, here's the link:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=38346

 

the brake sensor on my 2004 MCS came on this weekend at 24,450 miles, so i went to Midas today to have them check it out, assuming i'd need pads, and maybe $300-$400 in costs. but no...

$1300. the pads and rotors have to be replaced (the guy took me out and showed me with the calipers the thickness of the rotors). according to him, Minis and Mercedes both come with OEM rotors made of a softer metal that wears at roughly the same rate as the pads. if someone had told me this without my having seen the rotors myself, i would have called ********, but seeing is believing. for whatever reason, those rotors are completely worn out.

the price still seemed very high to me, but i called around to several places who would warranty their work, and they all quoted me prices in excess of $1100. Midas at least guarantees all parts for as long as i own the car; if i have to replace the brakes every 25k, i guess i'll maybe get my money's worth eventually.

 

Yep, sounds like a dealership.

The price unfortunately is about "right". The dealership is NOT for everybody.

I get my work done there mainly because it is convinient and straight forward. Sure I pay a premium, but I dont have to shop around for Joe Shmo's garage nor do I have to jack the car up and get greasy, not to mention that potential hazard of getting injured.

 

REALLY straightforward to DIY brakes on the MINI... if you're not mechanically inclined, find a neighbor or club-mate who is and buy them a case of beer. I just did all four wheels with better pads and rotors than stock for $410 in parts, a $25 tool from harbor freight, plus 2 hours of time. Add a few more bucks for new sensors if needed.

I would do brake jobs for members of our club for a case of beer... it's that easy.

 

now you tell me!

 

Be careful about those lifetime warrenties.
I suspect it is for the parts, not the labor.

 

Wow I have 63,000 and still a bit of stock pad left on my Mazda3.... but then again I do a lot of highway driving. Can I expect more than 25k on my MC if it's similarly driven (by my wife)?

 

Tech w/ a hoist, Beer or Pizza, for anyone in the Seattle area

The rear pads require a retractor to turn/press the calipers back in place, so not everyone can do it at home, but it is a pretty quick & simple job. Once I'm out of warranty (or maybe sooner given the nasty dust), I'll be swapping over to some pads from Autoxcooper & some aftermarket rotors.

 

I bought one of those brake piston compressor from Autozone for $10, just to make life easier. That, or if you have some big C clamp around you can use that too, using the old pad to compress the piston back into the caliper. But it's 100% doable at home. I'm no mechanic, but I did complete my gf's MC fronts in about 1.5 hr, changing pads and rotors.

Interestingly, however, the rotors and pads for the MINI are like 2x the price of my dad's Mazda MPV van's front rotors and pads of the same brand (Akebono and Brembo). What's up with that? The MPV's rotors are also significantly larger than the MINI's too.

 

no the retractor for the rear pads, it's a compressor that turns the piston, there's usually a car-specific adapter w/ the matching pins. It's pretty standard for any disc-brake/e-brake rear calipers.
eg.

for the fronts, a large set of channel lock pliers, a c-clamp, or just about anything of that sort to compress the piston will be fine.

 

Ah, I see. I have only done the fronts, so didn't know the rear works differently. Interesting. I wonder why can't we just push it straight in. Hmm... I guess you have to turn the piston at the same time.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ke+replacement

And the tool costs $25:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=40732

Well, plus whatever shipping is, I guess. With that in mind, and the fact that I've never done rear pads (however other NAM member certainly did), I'd still say this is completely doable at home. Just my 2 cents. I'll certainly find that out when the rear needed replacement!

 

Yep, Harbor Freight tool works fine... that's what I use.

 

I'm picking up my new Clubman S in a couple of days. I'm struggling with the extended maintenance and warranty as to whether they are worth it.

I've pretty much decided the maintenance plan is a sham. They have it set so they don't really have to do anything for the first covered 36K miles except oil changes (2 maybe 3). I'm sure most first brake jobs are occurring after 36K. If I go for the extended maintenance my dealer wants 1895 for 6 years 100K miles. I'm probably only going to get the brake job plus a couple of oil changes out of it. My thinking is I can bank the 1895 and use it to upgrade to say the JCW brake kit on the first brake job and do it myself. That sounds a whole lot more fun that paying the dealer 1895 to get a stock brake repair job and a couple of oil changes.

The extended warranty I'm sitting right on the fence over. Dealer wants 2661 for 7 years 100K. This is really only 3 extra years and 50K. My only real worry is the clutch as I approach 100K. Does anyone know what the clutch reliability is over higher miles and how much a clutch replacement is? I also wonder how many other upgrade parts I could buy for 2661 if the car holds up.

David

 

If the brakes (pads and rotors) are included in the full maintenance then have the dealership do it for FREE save you alot of trouble!

 

X2...

Mark

 

ONLY true if you don’t have a mechanic who’ll do it for less. Not only that, but you’re stuck with the dealership; if you don’t happen to live near one or don’t like it, you’re stuck.

I thought the extended maintenance thing wasn’t worth it either.

On the extended warranty, check out Warranty Direct. You can probably get out to 100K miles and/or 6 years for less than $1000 with very complete coverage. I had them on a Ford van, and they were great: fixed door latches that were out of the factory warranty, and the work was done at the Ford dealer with them paying directly. I don’t think their coverage is quite as good as it was on my Ford, but it’s probably the best you’ll find.

Rob

 

The brake job is included in the standard service package. Pretty nice too, being that i brought it in for an oil change and they said that it was time for full brake job.

I have had a pretty nice experience with my mini dealer (Baron Automotive in Kansas City)