Extended warranty or not when buying 4 year old M3?

[Definitive]

Hey guys. So I have a dilemma. I am buying my car at the end of my lease so that I can get through the next year or 1.5 years till the next M3 comes out. My options are to buy direct from BMW or buy from the dealer, and if I buy from the dealer I can get the extended warranty bundled into the loan.

The extended warranty is around 3k and would cover the car for I think 7 years. If I don't get the warranty the car would be out of warranty for about 6 months with the estimated release of the new M3.

So the question is, would buyers be more interested in a car with the warranty but for a few grand more, or no warranty but a few grand cheaper. I don't want to have a hard time selling the car cause it doesn't have coverage, but I also don't want to get stuck owing a few grand because I cant sell the car for what I need to.

What do you guys think?

D

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by Definitive

Hey guys. So I have a dilemma. I am buying my car at the end of my lease so that I can get through the next year or 1.5 years till the next M3 comes out. My options are to buy direct from BMW or buy from the dealer, and if I buy from the dealer I can get the extended warranty bundled into the loan.

The extended warranty is around 3k and would cover the car for I think 7 years. If I don't get the warranty the car would be out of warranty for about 6 months with the estimated release of the new M3.

So the question is, would buyers be more interested in a car with the warranty but for a few grand more, or no warranty but a few grand cheaper. I don't want to have a hard time selling the car cause it doesn't have coverage, but I also don't want to get stuck owing a few grand because I cant sell the car for what I need to.

What do you guys think?

D

If you bundle the extended warranty into the loan you cannot return it for a pro-rated refund.

[Da Hapa]

1) Double check the coverage of the warranty that the dealer is offering. 7 years from today or 7 years from in service date. Also, double check to make sure it's a BMW warranty. All extended warrantees are not created equal.
2) I can only offer you my input and each potential consumer may well differ but I wouldn't buy a used M3 without a warranty. These are well engineered, but highly technical cars and when/if something breaks it's going to be very, very expensive to fix. I fully appreciate that extended warrantees are money makers for the sellers (why else would they be offered in a free market) but it's peace of mind for many buyers like me.

Good luck.

[info@trinityautosport]

Originally Posted by Da Hapa

1) Double check the coverage of the warranty that the dealer is offering. 7 years from today or 7 years from in service date. Also, double check to make sure it's a BMW warranty. All extended warrantees are not created equal.
2) I can only offer you my input and each potential consumer may well differ but I wouldn't buy a used M3 without a warranty. These are well engineered, but highly technical cars and when/if something breaks it's going to be very, very expensive to fix. I fully appreciate that extended warrantees are money makers for the sellers (why else would they be offered in a free market) but it's peace of mind for many buyers like me.

Good luck.

+1 well said

[s65e90]

extended warranty goes back to in service date

[halfpast3]

Originally Posted by dmk08

If you bundle the extended warranty into the loan you cannot return it for a pro-rated refund.

Yes you can. The money just goes to the bank if the note is not paid off. It lowers your balance so you are in fact getting the refund.

I'd get it. If the new buyer isn't interested cancel it and get some money back. At least this way you can appeal to both buyers later down the road.

[FVM3]

Get it. No worries at all

[Da Hapa]

Originally Posted by s65e90

extended warranty goes back to in service date

Not always true. MaxCare, the product sold by carmax, begins coverage from when you buy the car used. The mileage aspect, of course, is aggregate.

[bkrM3]

I bought a 4 year old M3 without warranty after owning a CPO 335 that required what I would call "way too many" dealer visits. It would have been neat if the M had some warranty left (it ran out based on time, not miles), but I wouldn't have paid more for it.

My impression is that second/third owners of M3s are much less frightened by this platform than purchasers of used N54/N55s. I wouldn't spend extra money on the warranty unless you personally want it. I would not expect it to add anywhere close to its initial cost to your resale price. I have no experience with "returning" a warranty to get some money back - I can tell you that as a recent buyer of a used M I would not want to pay a premium for a car on which I didn't even want a warranty and then try to deal with some hassle of a pro-rated return.

[///M3THOD]

Could some explain in-service date to me?

My car's warranty jus ran out in March. I wouldn't buy a warranty that wasn't offered by BMW.

As far as resale, it may limit the appeal to people who are just looking for some cost savings as opposed to buying new, but basically want to treat it service wise as a new car.. meaning all dealership visits.

There's also a large group of enthusiasts who will be interested in the vehicle. Many of them know as long as your willing to turn a wrench, trouble shoot, and take the car to indy's.. servicing M3's doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. Buying parts from Tischer alone or online often saves 20-30% of dealer cost.

[Da Hapa]

Originally Posted by ///M3THOD

Could some explain in-service date to me?

In service date is effectively the date the vehicle was first registered to the original owner. It's the date that the OEM warranty begins. Most CPO warranties coverage is "backdated" to that period as well.

[Staypuft_E92]

Hey All - second post ever

I bought my 2009 Silverstone DCT e92 over the weekend and I am @ 48K miles so I have just under 2K miles until the factory warranty wears out.

I can get the full extended maintenance but the price quote is quite a bit higher than the one listed by the OP.

How many of you have needed 5K+ worth of work to your DCT M3s? After the 50K mile marker? I am still doing some searching on when people are having their clutches replaced in the DCT but my feeling is that it is likely good for 100K?

What is the general experience with repairs over 50K?

Thanks to the OP for the post!

[LightWerkz]

Originally Posted by Staypuft_E92

Hey All - second post ever

I bought my 2009 Silverstone DCT e92 over the weekend and I am @ 48K miles so I have just under 2K miles until the factory warranty wears out.

I can get the full extended maintenance but the price quote is quite a bit higher than the one listed by the OP.

How many of you have needed 5K+ worth of work to your DCT M3s? After the 50K mile marker? I am still doing some searching on when people are having their clutches replaced in the DCT but my feeling is that it is likely good for 100K?

What is the general experience with repairs over 50K?

Thanks to the OP for the post!

Extended maintenance and extended warranty are two different things.

I'd skip out on the maintenance for sure. Warranty, it may give you a piece of mind.

[jchristianp]

I went with a 3rd party warranty and have no regrets. I'm friends with my service adviser(pre-BMW) and he admitted that the platinum package I got was just as comprehensive as the BMW one he could offer. There are good ones, you just have to search. This particular one he had dealt with several times and had no complaints about what they covered and how dealing with them was.

Also worth noting that the cost was approximately 2400 for 60 additional months and 75,000 additional miles, while the BMW one was close to 6k for an additional two years. Some may even transfer, mine just pro-rates a payment back to you.

Best of luck.

[BimmFiniti]

Originally Posted by bkrM3

I bought a 4 year old M3 without warranty after owning a CPO 335 that required what I would call "way too many" dealer visits. It would have been neat if the M had some warranty left (it ran out based on time, not miles), but I wouldn't have paid more for it.

My impression is that second/third owners of M3s are much less frightened by this platform than purchasers of used N54/N55s. I wouldn't spend extra money on the warranty unless you personally want it. I would not expect it to add anywhere close to its initial cost to your resale price. I have no experience with "returning" a warranty to get some money back - I can tell you that as a recent buyer of a used M I would not want to pay a premium for a car on which I didn't even want a warranty and then try to deal with some hassle of a pro-rated return.

+1

I looked at many used M3s before I bought mine. Never considered an extended warranty a big selling point; condition and miles was way more important.

[Ezio]

there are plenty of people who don't care as much, and plenty of people who do care. Its as simple as that.

Personally i wouldn't want a car with a motor that cost 20k or transmission (DCT) that also is a lot of money. out of warranty in used forum. I would want at least a year left just to cover abuse the owner might have caused before selling. Again thats me !

nothing wrong with getting one out of warranty!

[Da Hapa]

Originally Posted by LightWerkz

Extended maintenance and extended warranty are two different things.

I'd skip out on the maintenance for sure. Warranty, it may give you a piece of mind.

Exactly.

If you have a good independent shop in your local (luckily BMW is a popular marque and seems to have more, high quality and reputable shops than some other brands), you can save a lot, and I mean a lot, of money by having your car not serviced at the dealer.

[Definitive]

Thanks for all the input guys. I ended up buying it direct from BMW no warranty. One of the main reasons was having to put the car back to stock to get them to CPO the car for the warranty.

Hope it doesnt bite me in the ass later.

D