I'm about to pick up my first Mini tomorrow (I hope) and the dealer is trying to sell me road hazard "insurance" for the wheels and tires. He says (no pressure, mind you) that the aluminum wheels are not alloys and, thus, more prone to bending and cracking if I hit a, say, pothole or something. This "insurance" for three years is over $800. Were I to take him up on it and go all the way to 5 years--$1400!

The dealer says that their customers average TWO claims a year due to cracked / bent rims. WTH? Are Mini wheels that fragile, or is this merely a sales tactic (like undercoating) to squeeze a few more bills out of me?

 

I was "suckered" into this too...DON'T believe their BS. Only mine was only $300, they try to talk you into it because it is $$ in the Bank to them. "RFTs are $260/tire, a Wheel $$$!!" Just say NO!! The only problem I had with my OEM Wheels (16" Bridgespoke) was how the Dealer would move the Weights when balancing and left gouges in the paint, I even asked about moving the weights to the back of the wheels, Dealer said "can't be done"...I fixed that by getting my 16" Enkei T Fork Wheels 2yrs. later!!

 

I would be disappointed if my dealer did any more than just make me aware of that service...if they're trying to SELL it to you I would never trust them again. I complained to my MA about how absurdly heavy the factory wheels are...his response was that they're that way to be bulletproof and never result in warranty costs. I suppose that a person could break one, but that would be a good excuse to get a much better wheel for a fraction of the cost of a factory wheel.

 

Depending on your location, Tire and Wheel warranty is a GODSEND!!!

Sometimes it is not about breaking a wheel as bending it is just as bad.

Chicago has way too many roads that are (how do i say this tactfully...) poorly kept.

You don't complain that you have life insurance, or car insurance with windshield and GAP protection... you want warranties on your electric razor and cell phone. Wake up, it is not a gimmick!

Sure, there are going to be a few people who never need it, GREAT!!! It was a peace of mind purchase like flood, fire and others with your house.

A typical runflat tire is $260 per tire, add to that a $250-500 wheel, labor and the probablility (depending on area) of at least one nasty pothole in 3 years... $800 sounds like a GREAT thing!!!

Just speaking from what i see, it happens all the time. (ie 2 per day or more in service at my local dealer)
:-)

 

My dealer's finance guy mentioned it, no pressure.

I passed; I've haven't had a car with steel rims since...mid 90's? I've never bent a alloy /aluminum / not steel rim in all this time, so figured I wasn't a good candidate.

 

LOL! What a scam!

For $800 you could buy a complete set of brand new wheels and tires. For $100 or less, you could have a wheel with a bent lip repaired.

Mini wheels are no more likely to bend than other wheels of the same diameter. If you are super concerned about bending wheels, then get 16" wheels. They are lighter, and the tires are cheaper anyway.

 

X2

Remember this is all personal opinion but I completely agree. Save the cash and tell the MA to "get bent"

 

I have 2 R-56 MINI's, and also have 2 backup sets of wheels and tires for winter for them. All wheels are alloy, all balanced with weights on the interior of the wheel, the behind the spokes (stick on weights), have driven on some pretty crappy roads and I have not bent a wheel, or had a wheel weight problem!

TireRack sells tires road hazard insurance if you chose to buy it for their tires but in all reality if Fix-A-Flat won't work then AAA will work!

Save your dollars for more interesting things for your MINI

 

Thanks to all for their replies and thoughts. Just for the record, I pass on Gap insurance, electronic "insurance" (except for my computers..$30 a year? Deal!) and am finding that most of it is just a chance to get more money out of me. If I bend / crack / break a wheel, I'll get some new ones, but, since I have never in nearly 40 years of driving had such a problem, I'm not too worried. I just wanted to know if there was something about Mini wheels that I needed to be aware of.

Thanks, again!