Best warranty to purchase? - BMW Forum

dave4 · 09-08-2012, 10:11 AM

Hello everyone,

I got my 2006 BMW back in January. IT wasn't a CPO, it was a trade in car at a local Ford dealership. I was offered to get extended warranty from them till 100,000miles (it had 64,000 back in Jan), but I didn't get it. It was gonna be JM&A for 1,500$. Too bad I didn't get it because the car broke down in May and costed 2 grand to fix it... And of course original warranty expired a long time ago.

My question is, which is the best warranty that I can get now that covers genning, transmission and other important parts? Has anyone did that before?

Thx, Dave4

Lord Vader · 09-08-2012, 08:21 PM

I'm sorry your repair cost you $2,000. However their is no "good warranty". They are all top offs. Third party warranty providers will try to get out of paying for anything and leave you on the hook. Your better off putting the money into a savings account and waiting till something breaks. Their is no point and I personally would never buy one.

kerryf · 09-09-2012, 08:53 PM

I agree with LV!

Saberdave · 09-12-2012, 02:35 PM

Under normal circumstances, I would agree that you are better off putting the money in the bank. But, when buying a used car where you don't know how it was previously driven and it is out of factory warranty it makes some sense and could save lots of cents. In hindsight, I would have bought a cheaper short term 10K/1yr policy figuring you would run into anything that needs fixing in that period.

I bought one when I purchased a two year old 2006 325xi and I'm glad I did as I was nickeled and dimed by several $500+ repairs that were covered with no arguments from the dealer. I am close to the original $2000 cost that added 50K/5yrs and still have 15K/1yr to go. All of these "fixes" were done in the first 6 months as I discovered them and the car has been a gem since.

I have never purchased ANY warranty before but I was afraid of the costs involved with a BMW repair. At this point, since you have already ponied up for a $2000 repair I don't think I would invest in a warranty. For the most part they are very dependable cars.

Lord Vader · 09-13-2012, 12:52 AM

ANY time you buy a used car expect to invest some money in it right away. Unless you have a completed and full service history you should be doing some basic maintenance right off the bat. If you dont know when the last oil change was, then you should be doing it. You should replace all the fluids and normal wear items. This is common knowledge for a many (but sadly not all) people. If someone is selling a car and says "all it needs is an oil change" then im asking for a full service history. Dont have one? Bye. Anyone that actually takes car and properly maintans their car will have records of what was done. People that dont, are hiding stuff. Especially used car dealers!

Saberdave · 09-13-2012, 01:00 PM

I agree, you will need to do some basic maintenance. That's a given. But, basic maintenace isn't covered under a warranty. The warranty is there to protect you from the real expensive breakdowns, and just about everything done on a BMW is expensive. All it takes is a short in the electrical system and you can be looking at a lot of time to solve it.

If you can do most of the work yourself then a warranty is a waste of money. But, for those of us who don't have the time or skills it can save a lot of money when buying an unknown used car. There is always a voice in the back of your head asking why someone would trade in a two year old car, especially a BMW.

It's all a gamble. Some you win some you lose.