EasyCare, where to get and how much should it be?

[414bhp]

I just spend an inordinate amount of time researching extended warranties. It was a pretty frustrating experience because these warranties are marked up so much by dealers - often "MSRP" is 50% over cost - and finding the dealer's cost is next to impossible. I have a friends-of-friends in a few dealer finance offices and was surprised to learn that even the "family price" on third-party warranties they sell is $500 over dealer cost.

Here is an example of the range of costs for Platinum coverage ("bumper-to-bumper" warranties with a list of exclusions) on my 2011 M3 with 44k miles and Nav. My car is still under factory warranty right now, and I believe that impacts the pricing:

$7130 BMW, $50 deductible, 3 years, 100k on odometer. I believe this is ~$450 over cost.

$6775 EasyCare (TotalCare), $250 deduct, 4 years, 104k on odo. This is purportedly $110 over cost, and I am a little doubtful. Still, another dealer quoted me $7508 for the same coverage.

$5280 Fidelity, $250 deduct, 4 years, 104k on odo. This is greater than $500 above cost, but I am not sure how much more.

$4790 Mercury Insurance, $100 deduct, 5 years, 100k on odo. I believe this is $250 over cost.

$2656 Safeguard, $250 deduct, 3 years, 89k on odo. I am guessing this to be very close to cost.

I made my ultimate decision (Mercury, which I bought from Bruce at Becks Imports) because the service department at my local dealer had good things to say about the Mercury claims process and because I thought the price was good for the length of the warranty. Time will tell if the decision was good; I have not had any chance to use the extended warranty as I am still covered by the BMW factory warranty right now.

[W12x]

Originally Posted by 414bhp

I just spend an inordinate amount of time researching extended warranties. It was a pretty frustrating experience because these warranties are marked up so much by dealers - often "MSRP" is 50% over cost - and finding the dealer's cost is next to impossible. I have a friends-of-friends in a few dealer finance offices and was surprised to learn that even the "family price" on third-party warranties they sell is $500 over dealer cost.

Here is an example of the range of costs for Platinum coverage ("bumper-to-bumper" warranties with a list of exclusions) on my 2011 M3 with 44k miles and Nav. My car is still under factory warranty right now, and I believe that impacts the pricing:

$7130 BMW, $50 deductible, 3 years, 100k on odometer. I believe this is ~$450 over cost.

$6775 EasyCare (TotalCare), $250 deduct, 4 years, 104k on odo. This is purportedly $110 over cost, and I am a little doubtful. Still, another dealer quoted me $7508 for the same coverage.

$5280 Fidelity, $250 deduct, 4 years, 104k on odo. This is greater than $500 above cost, but I am not sure how much more.

$4790 Mercury Insurance, $100 deduct, 5 years, 100k on odo. I believe this is $250 over cost.

$2656 Safeguard, $250 deduct, 3 years, 89k on odo. I am guessing this to be very close to cost.

I made my ultimate decision (Mercury, which I bought from Bruce at Becks Imports) because the service department at my local dealer had good things to say about the Mercury claims process and because I thought the price was good for the length of the warranty. Time will tell if the decision was good; I have not had any chance to use the extended warranty as I am still covered by the BMW factory warranty right now.

TotalCare is a little less than what the dealer told me, you also have lower miles on your car tho, but the price is within a few hundred dollars of the quote I got. (Retail is over $13K for a TotalCare on M3 with 4 year and 60K miles I was told)

Going to the dealership tomorrow to get exact numbers.