Good extended warranty for 325I 2003 model.

Anybody here know any good extended warranty that is reliable by experience? There are so many of it and I am confused. I like to know best for the bucks.

Thanks

Reply to
cmrahman
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wrote

*NONE* of them are "best for the bucks". Extended warranties are a scam (legal and very convincingly sold, but a scam none-the-less). Even Consumer Union advises against them for cars.

FloydR

Reply to
Floyd Rogers

Reply to
GLitwinski

"GLitwinski" wrote

Why don't you do your own research: google (consumer reports extended warranty)

FloydR

Reply to
Floyd Rogers

where are you located firstly? you are probably better off saving your $ and waiting for a problem that may never come. They generally don't cover anything that actually ever breaks, they are good at that!

Reply to
Sharkman BMW

Your best bet is to find out how much an extended warranty would cost you, then set that money aside in an interest-earning account as a "slush fund." Leave it alone, and when you need money for a major repair, it's there. I also have a high-limit, low-interest credit card I never use, just in case something seriously catastrophic happens. The reason to not bother is two-fold. Reason one is that the sleazy aftermarket warranties are typically written so that they almost never have to pay-out. The better companies only warranty cars that are unlikely to ever need the payout. In the former case, they're no help, in the latter they're unnecessary. If nothing serious ever goes wrong, you can use the money towards your next car. epbrown

-- "Everybody wants a normal life and a cool car; most people will settle for the car." Chris Titus

2003 BMW 325i Black/Black, 2003 BMW Z4 Black/Black
Reply to
E Brown

The maker's one is usually the best of a bad bunch.

But it's insurance and not a charity so the idea is to make money out of you - not the other way round.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Yeah... what he said.

Reply to
Fred W

I am in Texas. It sounds like, it is not worth getting the warranty. It will cost me for 4 year/ 100K miles around $2500 to $3000. I am trying to figure out if it is even worth it.

Thanks

Reply to
cmrahman

Disagree with the comments of not worth the money...that is subjective. If you buy a computer, TV or other high ticket item that may eventually have a malfunction you usually buy a warranty...so why not with your car? If you have a high dollar problem with the engine, it will certainly be worth the money and the policy will pay for itself! I researched these myself a few months back for a 2000 323ci w/ 60k miles I was purchasing. I would not have driven off that lot with out one, esp. with the higher miles. You do need to be careful to research the underwriter for the policy and make sure it is not a fly-by-night company. I think you also have to ask yourself, what it is worth to have peace or mind, or if you mind future out of pocket expenses if high dollar things happen to go wrong.

I found one that I was happy with:

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they are underwritten by Mercury Insurance Group, SGI was the policy name. It turned out that my BMW dealership was trying to sell me the exact same policy for more money, I negotiated with them, said that I found the same policy online and got the Platinum coverage for the price of the Gold. HTH

Reply to
wolfeee

Why don't you back up what you said?

Reply to
GLitwinski

If we were talking about Lexi or Acuras, I don't think anyone would say that an extended warranty is worth the cost. But we're talking Bimmers and, much as we love 'em, they are by no stretch trouble free or cheap to fix...in fact the opposite, so buying an extended warranty can make a lot of sense to people.

Reply to
GLitwinski

I don't buy the warranty for those things either, for the exact same reason - the odds of ever needing it are very, very low. They also tend to have a crappy cost/benefit ratio. The store sells those warranties because they are almost 100% pure profit - they get money and the odds are against them ever having to provide a product or service. Head on over to any busy BMW forum and asks who's been hit with more than $4000 in repair bills (the cost of the previous poster's warranty) for an E46 out of warranty. There won't be very many, and of those few the tales will likely be a bit dodgy. epbrown

-- "Everybody wants a normal life and a cool car; most people will settle for the car." Chris Titus

2003 BMW 325i Black/Black, 2003 BMW Z4 Black/Black
Reply to
E Brown

So they're run by a charity that pays out 100% of income?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

No, I certainly do *not* buy the extended warranty coverage offered by all the big box discount stores. As far as I know only fools buy that. It's a serious money making scam is never worth what they ask for the extended coverage. It doesn't take a math genius to figure out that, with the relatively low number of claims you would be making against these policies, if you just save your money for the eventuality that one does break you will be way ahead in the long run.

If, if if. The odds are huge that you will *not* have a high dollar failure that is actually covered by the policy. Peace of mind is in the beholder... I have peace of mind knowing I wasn't duped into paying thousands of dollars for insurance that I will in all likelihood never collect a dime on.

The other "negative" is that you will have to bring your car to a shop for routine maintenance to receive the "coverage. I prefer to take care of my own cars. It's cheaper (by far) and I actually enjoy it, being more "in-tune" with them, so to speak. I know some people will say that you can keep meticulous records and do your own maintenance and still get the warranty coverage, but it is just one more hassle that I don't need.

Reply to
Fred W

The extended warranty is *NOT* for 100 K miles. It EXTENDS your existing warranty to 100 K miles - you already have a free warranty that goes to 50K miles.

Similarly it extends your existing free 4 year warranty to 6 years. So really you're paying $3000 for 2 years of coverage. Do you think that over $1500 worth of stuff will break every year?

Note that many popular aftermarket extended warranties require that you get an oil change every 3000 miles, or you will void the warranty. At $100 a pop every 3000 miles, you're spending a big chunk of change.

Reply to
sunderland

Are you the original owner of the car? If so, you have an idea of what has gone wrong so far. It also depends on how good you are with doing stuff on cars. In my case, during the first 50K miles, my car had been in the shop for:

- Failed driver side power window motor.

- 2 times failed fuel sending units (replaced both times).

- Bad ignition coils. I have no experience fixing cars and don't have the inclination to learn so I got the extended warranty. The car now has 60K miles and it has been in for:

- Sunroof assembly not working right - just needed clips replaced.

- A/C thermostat gone bad.

Hard to say if it's worth it or not. It's not a slam dunk decision either way. One of the posters mentioned that Consumer Reports advises against extended warranties. They do recommend against them, but only if the brand of car is known to be reliable. Given what I saw in the first 50K miles, I felt I'd be better off buying the extended warranty. I drive a lot so I will hit the miles limit before the time limit. I bought the warranty sold by BMW. So far I'm losing money, but there's still about 38K+ miles to go. :-)

Anoop

Reply to
anoop

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