My quote on a BMW extended warranty, is it normal?

[cclinard1]

When I got the contract on Nov 2nd all the paperwork said Warranty Solutions, a Wells Fargo company. They offer different tiers. Mine is bumper to bumper with just a few exclusions. There is an add on option called Eco something that also covers all the smog related parts. It does not cover clutch on a 6MT car, but does cover the DCT. I had my first claim done at my local BMW dealer. There is no limit on mileage or time. It's for the period you own the car. As with any of these type warranty companies, there are going to be some good/bad reviews out there. It's important to read the contract carefully. This route seemed like a good deal based on my research. My 2nd choice would have been Wanted Auto Protect, which came recommended by others here. I was quoted $3600 for their Ultimate coverage plan for 5 years.

[Beemdog]

Originally Posted by cclinard1

I got mine 2 months ago from Warranty Solutions. They are owned by Wells Fargo. I paid $2980 for their comprehensive package which covers the lifetime I have the car and no limit on mileage. The car is 08 6MT with 79k miles. $100 deductible.

How do they make money on a warranty with no mileage or time restrictions? You could daily drive this car for ten+ years and they'd still be covering failures?? On an '08 with 79,000 miles presently? Something strange here...

[cclinard1]

Believe me I thought the same thing. I read the contract numerous times before signing it. I guess like any type of insurance, they bank on you not making claims.

[SS e93]

Originally Posted by cclinard1

Believe me I thought the same thing. I read the contract numerous times before signing it. I guess like any type of insurance, they bank on you not making claims.

Is there a value max, like the MSRP value or current market value of the car? I know some warranties like this will only warranty up to a certain value because past a certain point then it will be a pure loss for them much like insurance companies paying for repairs vs totaling the car. If I knew about this warranty previously I should have looked into it for my 335 before trading for my current m3. Too many pending repairs piling up.

[Kwike92M3]

There are TONS of aftermarket warranty companies out there. I deal with them all to one extent or another on a regular basis. The main thing is to READ ALL OF THE EXCLUSIONARY CLAUSES.
Example: I had customer who owned a 2009 GLK 350. There was an issue with the balance shaft sprocket (timing component) wearing, causing timing DTCs to set for one bank of the engine. After diagnosis, which they will not pay for unless the repair is covered, the warranty company stated they would not cover it, as it was EXCLUDED in their plan.
Many AFTERMARKET warranty companies will not cover what they consider to be "wearable" items. Obviously brake pads, rotors, clutches, oil, batteries, etc.
However, "wearable" can also mean belts, hoses, gaskets (any engine oil leaks), etc.
Ive never seen one cover factory maintenance schedules.

Moral of the story: READ your contracts and ask questions. Take a copy of the contract and talk to your service advisor.
Hell, post it here and tag me in the post. Ill be more than glad to glance over it. I can at least tell you what questions to ask.
I am by no means an expert at them, but Ive seen quite a few of them.

[Nola 32/65]

Originally Posted by kwike92Msport

There are TONS of aftermarket warranty companies out there. I deal with them all to one extent or another on a regular basis. The main thing is to READ ALL OF THE EXCLUSIONARY CLAUSES.
Example: I had customer who owned a 2009 GLK 350. There was an issue with the balance shaft sprocket (timing component) wearing, causing timing DTCs to set for one bank of the engine. After diagnosis, which they will not pay for unless the repair is covered, the warranty company stated they would not cover it, as it was EXCLUDED in their plan.
Many AFTERMARKET warranty companies will not cover what they consider to be "wearable" items. Obviously brake pads, rotors, clutches, oil, batteries, etc.
However, "wearable" can also mean belts, hoses, gaskets (any engine oil leaks), etc.
Ive never seen one cover factory maintenance schedules.

Moral of the story: READ your contracts and ask questions. Take a copy of the contract and talk to your service advisor.
Hell, post it here and tag me in the post. Ill be more than glad to glance over it. I can at least tell you what questions to ask.
I am by no means an expert at them, but Ive seen quite a few of them.

Do you mind posting up which aftermarket warranty companies have you seen with the best coverage/least hassle?

[cclinard1]

There is a value max. It's the price I purchased the car for.

[Nola 32/65]

I got in touch with Steve Thomas BMW which many claim have the best rates on extended warranties but they were actually $20 more then my local dealer, go figure lol.

Has anyone actually paid less then $5,600 for the 84/70k platinum warranty?

[svinfinity]

What did you expect? That they would give you "special" rates? They are a dealer and they will take every advantage they can.

[Strick]

Bank your money, 100k miles outside of warranty here, no big issues to complain of!

[Nola 32/65]

Originally Posted by svinfinity

What did you expect? That they would give you "special" rates? They are a dealer and they will take every advantage they can.

Actually yes, I did think it would be a lot cheaper then my local dealer. I mean they way people talk about the deals they get from that particular dealer here on the forum I was expecting better. Maybe it's just my local dealer also gives good rates and I didn't know that. Maybe most dealers stick to list price. Idk.

Originally Posted by Strick

Bank your money, 100k miles outside of warranty here, no big issues to complain of!

The money isn't the issue, just want to make sure I don't over pay for something. The car is my fiance's and it'll be 100x easier to just put the car in the shop of it ever needs it and have it covered.

[Kwike92M3]

Originally Posted by Nola 32/65

Do you mind posting up which aftermarket warranty companies have you seen with the best coverage/least hassle?

I see A LOT of the C.A.R.S. protection programs of various package levels. Carmax is the king of including them with their vehicle purchases. I recently dealt with a 335i that was covered by a Geico warranty plan that I had never seen before. The car ended up needing a turbo and various other leaks fixed. Not a bit of hesitation on their end. I gave them a total, and the answer was "Ok. Does the customer need a rental?" I was blown away.
I have also seen similar results from USAA.

The CARS protection plans are very difficult to deal with. The aforementioned Mercedes was "covered" by them, but they denied everything.
I also ran into a situation where I accidentally misquoted a labor time on a Volkwagen Passat for doing timing actuators, and they refused to accept my revisions, even though I had them look it up in Mitchell labor guide. After an exchange of words, their supervisor made the necessary changes.

I have a Mini Cooper S that is also a VERY good customer at my shops as well. We have basically resealed her entire motor, replaced a turbo, brake vacuum pump, and random other things. Her plan is one of the best plans I have seen. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of her plan, but I know it was from her local credit union.

To be 100% honest, most independent shops HATE aftermarket plans. They want to dictate their labor rates (I charge $105/hr, CARS "Bronze" plan only pays $65/hr) so I have to pass that cost down to the customer. They also try to dictate parts pricing, which I wont allow. Often times, the aftermarket warranties are not worth it to the shops, which is why many will turn them down.

Factory plans are usually the way to go, unless you can find that unicorn of an aftermarket warranty. It sounds like several of the members here have had pretty decent luck!

I usually dont advise my customers to buy these plans, but there are a few cars that are the exception to that.
If it has BMW or Mini on it, its usually a good idea. Especially with the M3.
The idea of possibly blowing a $25k motor makes me pee my pants a little. But even the more realistic oil leaks, throttle actuators, etc etc can add up.
Just keep in mind that if you plan to alter the vehicle in any way (performance), your warranty goes null and void and they will take pleasure in telling you so.
Keep us updated and feel free to ask anything else! I hoped this helped a little!

[Nola 32/65]

Originally Posted by kwike92Msport

I see A LOT of the C.A.R.S. protection programs of various package levels. Carmax is the king of including them with their vehicle purchases. I recently dealt with a 335i that was covered by a Geico warranty plan that I had never seen before. The car ended up needing a turbo and various other leaks fixed. Not a bit of hesitation on their end. I gave them a total, and the answer was "Ok. Does the customer need a rental?" I was blown away.
I have also seen similar results from USAA.

The CARS protection plans are very difficult to deal with. The aforementioned Mercedes was "covered" by them, but they denied everything.
I also ran into a situation where I accidentally misquoted a labor time on a Volkwagen Passat for doing timing actuators, and they refused to accept my revisions, even though I had them look it up in Mitchell labor guide. After an exchange of words, their supervisor made the necessary changes.

I have a Mini Cooper S that is also a VERY good customer at my shops as well. We have basically resealed her entire motor, replaced a turbo, brake vacuum pump, and random other things. Her plan is one of the best plans I have seen. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of her plan, but I know it was from her local credit union.

To be 100% honest, most independent shops HATE aftermarket plans. They want to dictate their labor rates (I charge $105/hr, CARS "Bronze" plan only pays $65/hr) so I have to pass that cost down to the customer. They also try to dictate parts pricing, which I wont allow. Often times, the aftermarket warranties are not worth it to the shops, which is why many will turn them down.

Factory plans are usually the way to go, unless you can find that unicorn of an aftermarket warranty. It sounds like several of the members here have had pretty decent luck!

I usually dont advise my customers to buy these plans, but there are a few cars that are the exception to that.
If it has BMW or Mini on it, its usually a good idea. Especially with the M3.
The idea of possibly blowing a $25k motor makes me pee my pants a little. But even the more realistic oil leaks, throttle actuators, etc etc can add up.
Just keep in mind that if you plan to alter the vehicle in any way (performance), your warranty goes null and void and they will take pleasure in telling you so.
Keep us updated and feel free to ask anything else! I hoped this helped a little!

Thank you for the detailed response!

The car will stay stock with the exception of exhaust. When I spoke with the manager at my local dealer who gave me the warranty prices he told me that a cat back exhaust won't void the BMW warranty but he said to go ask our service advisor just to be 100%. The car is technically my finances and she's happy with the stock power. She also likes the piece of mind knowing if anything happens with it she can take it to BMW and have it fixed. It seems as if the aftermarket companies are all a hit or miss, basically for every good review I find a negative one also. I will ask our credit union of they offer a warranty or not, that may be an option since the car is financed with our credit union. I would think they wouldn't try and screw us over of anything happens. Personally if it was my car it would already have an ESS system on it and voided the factory warranty lol.

I'll definitely keep posting on what I find out.

[JredM23]

Originally Posted by Nola 32/65

Yea I have a call in to him now, he called me back yesterday but I couldn't answer. I'll try again today.

Can you send me steve thomas' info? Much appreciated.

[flipwils11]

Contact Jim Martinez at Steve Thomas. He's their finance manager and just helped me complete purchase of an extended powertrain warranty on our E93 last week. I opted for the longest I could go which was 3yr/36k miles taking me to 89k or July 2019. Price was $3800.

[serendib]

After 6 months research on BMW extended, Assurant (hen's teeth to find a provider), Warranty Group, and Easycare I purchased a BMW Gold for 3 extra years and upto 100k miles from Steve Thomas. Kenisha Amar provided an excellent customer service experience that stood far above every other (that was too many) BMW dealers I spoke with. If I was military I would have gone with USAA most likely.

[Gesler]

I didn't plan on buying extended warranty till this forum became smothered in threads and posts on bearing failures. Ended up getting BMW extended warranty as i didn't want any headaches with coverage if the engine goes. As far as I could tell there is not a significant leeway with the cost of the BMW plans when considering how expensive these oem plans are. Of the aftermarket ones, assurant, USAA seemed to be the best but have limitations (assurant not available in Ca, usaa not for everyone). For horror stories, look up the thread on wanted auto protect a few threads down.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by SS e93

I believe the warranty can be refunded at a prorated rate. At least that is what an SA told me when he was going over warranties with my other car.

Correct, on the BMW EVP you can get a refund at any time and it is prorated. (e.g. if you paid $4000, and cancel it halfway through, you will get back $2000)

[Apex Everything]

My warranty from CarMax on a 2012 M3 with 30k miles was $2k for 60k more miles.