USAA Extended Warranty - Cheap on a New M3

[WarrantyTracker]

I have an E83 with one year left to go on the warranty. I was curious what a USAA extended warranty would cost. At this point in its life and mileage, the warranty is a little over $3k for 60 months (that is, an additional one year beyond the BMW 48). No thanks.

Just for chuckles I ran the specs on my new E92, a 2013 with less than 2500 miles. The quote machine says they will cover me out to 72 months (an additional 2 years) for $1,800.

I ran it for the M3 at 25,000 and the price went up to $3,000 for 60 months, no 72 month option even available.

Let's put aside the debate about the scope of the warranty vs. the BMW Platinum warranty, just for the purposes of this discussion. That's a topic extensively covered in recent threads. It's not as good as the Platinum.

I was not aware that third-party warranties might give a discount for people who put them on early in the life of the car. Anybody run into this before? I guess they have the actuarial data to back up their contract price. People must be a lot more likely to buy a third-party warranty once they have some experience and think they have a lemon? But I'm just inferring that; I haven't seen any journal articles describing the pricing models.

$800/year for an additional two years is the kind of crap shoot I might think about taking for five minutes (wereas $3k seems like something I would never be interested in). If it's actuarial, then the greatest probability is that I'll wind up losing money on the deal, but still, it tempts one to play the odds . . . .

[mjposner]

I think it is because statistically, many people do not keep cars beyond 4 years and if the warranty is not transferable, its no expense to them since the first 4 years are factory.

[rdollie]

I think it is because statistically, the longer you wait before buying an extended warranty the more likely it is you're buying because you're going to need it! In other words, the later the entry the higher the risk for the insurer (or more accurately us the insurance pool.)

Originally Posted by mjposner

I think it is because statistically, many people do not keep cars beyond 4 years and if the warranty is not transferable, its no expense to them since the first 4 years are factory.

[Lagunae92]

I was looking at that, but does it cover the A/C system and electronics if you have idrive? Many "cheaper" warranties don't. That's why I went with the BMW coverage (for twice as much).

[rdollie]

As I recall some (or all?) of the BMW warranties don't cover navigation and HUD (e.g., M5) either. I was surprised to say the least.

[averrec6262]

Do you have to be in the military to get covered by their extended warranty?

[mjposner]

Originally Posted by averrec6262

Do you have to be in the military to get covered by their extended warranty?

You or a family member have to be in or discharged from the military. I was in the reserves in the 70s and just joined this year.

[Lagunae92]

Originally Posted by rdollie

As I recall some (or all?) of the BMW warranties don't cover navigation and HUD (e.g., M5) either. I was surprised to say the least.

"Platinum offers all of the features of Gold plus these additional benefits:
Radio, CD player/changer, entertainment system, navigation system and any components of those systems."

from the BMW brochure....have to get the Platinum coverage.

[TVMA Doc]

Originally Posted by JBasham

I have an E83 with one year left to go on the warranty. I was curious what a USAA extended warranty would cost. At this point in its life and mileage, the warranty is a little over $3k for 60 months (that is, an additional one year beyond the BMW 48). No thanks.

Just for chuckles I ran the specs on my new E92, a 2013 with less than 2500 miles. The quote machine says they will cover me out to 72 months (an additional 2 years) for $1,800.

I ran it for the M3 at 25,000 and the price went up to $3,000 for 60 months, no 72 month option even available.

Let's put aside the debate about the scope of the warranty vs. the BMW Platinum warranty, just for the purposes of this discussion. That's a topic extensively covered in recent threads. It's not as good as the Platinum.

I was not aware that third-party warranties might give a discount for people who put them on early in the life of the car. Anybody run into this before? I guess they have the actuarial data to back up their contract price. People must be a lot more likely to buy a third-party warranty once they have some experience and think they have a lemon? But I'm just inferring that; I haven't seen any journal articles describing the pricing models.

$800/year for an additional two years is the kind of crap shoot I might think about taking for five minutes (wereas $3k seems like something I would never be interested in). If it's actuarial, then the greatest probability is that I'll wind up losing money on the deal, but still, it tempts one to play the odds . . . .

I don't know USAA's terms, but I picked up the extended warranty via Geico. The only issue is that you have to purchase it before the vehicle is 15 months old and before 15k miles.

It covers for 7 years/100k miles for about $70 a year. Even though it is overlapping coverage, it still comes out to a total of approximately $500 (sorry, I posted exact numbers previously, but I can't for the life of me remember EXACTLY how much).

The reviews are that Geico NEVER tries to wriggle out of a valid claim-unlike BMW-and any repair is with a $250 deductible (even if you consider needing to use it, it is still probably under $1000 for a couple major repairs).

Anyone getting a new vehicle consider picking these warranties up at the start. They can save you a TON of money and a lot of headaches. Oh, and by the description by both Geico and customers would put the "mechanical breakdown" (what they call their warranty-sounds more like tow service) coverage at the platinum or above level. It is supposed to cover anything that goes wrong aside from consumables like brakes/tires.

[WarrantyTracker]

Sigh. Only took three posts for somebody to start debating the coverage of whatever vs. Platinum. This is not my point.

TVMA, thanks for the GEICO tip. I'll check them out too.

[WarrantyTracker]

Originally Posted by mjposner

You or a family member have to be in or discharged from the military. I was in the reserves in the 70s and just joined this year.

I married somebody whose father was an active duty officer, but died back when she was in high school. I think they are continuously expanding their membership coverage.

[Lagunae92]

Originally Posted by JBasham

Sigh. Only took three posts for somebody to start debating the coverage of whatever vs. Platinum. This is not my point.

TVMA, thanks for the GEICO tip. I'll check them out too.

I was merely commenting on a previous post saying BMW did not cover navigation. Am not debating Platinum vs. whatever, just clarifying misinformation.