Waiting-4-550

Dear Forum,

I'm in need of your expertise.. Which 3rd party insurance company do you all suggest for extended bumper to bumper warranties.. I'll be keeping my BMW 750 LI at lease end and just learned that BMW won't extend the warranty.. (info is of the essence since I'm at 45K and warranty expires at 50K)

I hope MB doesn't pull the same crap at 50K miles..

Thanks again,
W-4-550

JDT1

Don't know how much help this will be since I bought my vehicle, in lieu of leasing it, but my MB dealer sold me a third party policy by CNA National Warranty Corp. that gives me coverage for 7yrs/70,000. It does require a $100 deductible once the original MB warranty expires. I don't put a lot of miles on a vehicle, so this third party policy saved me money up front (remains to be seen overall, due to deductible) and suits my style of driving. Good luck

tm4exc

Cost?

Newbie_2_MB

I just got my extended warranty info. in the mail today; took a while because the insurance co. didn't have any info. for a GL450. It's through General Fidelity Insurance and is for 72 months/75K miles $200 deductible and covers virtually everything. Cost was $1,989.

JDT1

I got my warranty for a negotiated price of $2,350. Looks like Newbie got an even better deal on his warranty depending on how you want to look at it.

oinick

Why won't BMW extend the warranty? Is it because you are not taking it after your lease as a CPO car? If that is the case, you really should consider buying it as a CPO and also adding the maintenance out to 100K miles. I have had a 745i and let me tell you that it's really expensive to maintain as it gets over 50K miles on it.

I would calculate how much it would cost to buy it as a CPO (usually about $2000) plus whatever the extra BMW warranty protection would be (about $3500) and weigh that against the cost of another warranty plan. You might find out that it's not a much a difference as you think, especially when you factor in the included maintenance and the peace of mind of having the BMW warranty.

Newbie_2_MB

Her warranty

I bought my GL through my credit union & got the extended warranty through the credit union as well. So, I don't get the neat gifts from MB like STP gets!

JimBarnhart

Don't let them sell you an MB extended warranty.

I got burned on an MB extended warranty on my '03 ML500. I had a 4 year, 50K factory warranty and purchased a 5yr, 100K extension. Turns out it really isn't a 5yr 100K warranty but a 1 year or 50K extension.

Here's what happened to me. At about 60,000 miles I head a front wheel bearing go out. Since I was over my factory warranty on miles, it used my extended warranty. It was about 3 years old at the time.

15 months later, at 80,000 miles I had a water pump go out. The truck was 4 years old and 80K miles. The dealer told me my extended warranty was expired since I only get an additonal year after the factory warranty expired.

I have to say my dealer was good. They gave me a substantial discount on the service, but I'd never get a MB warranty again, in fact when I bought my GL450 a few weeks ago the dealer wasn't even selling them. I bought a different warranty but have no experience with it yet.

scottybdiving

Saying the MB extended warranty is "no good" is like saying the MB factory warranty is "no good" because it is just an extension of the same. I'm having a hard time understanding why, if you extended your warranty to 5 years 100K, they would say that your extended warrranty had expired at 4 years and 80K. Sounds like a dealer issue to me.

JimBarnhart

It's confusing to say the least.

What I ended up buying was essentially an additional 1 year (4 year factory plus 1 year extended) OR an additional 50,000 miles (50,000 mile factory plus 50,000 mile extended) which they sell as a 5 year/100K warranty. The OR is the key word.

I'm an engineer so please forgive me, but here is the terms of the warranty.

1) if you never have a warranty claim, your warranty would have covered a claim anytime during the 5 year/100K mile window - just what I wanted but you never had a claim.

2) When you have a warranty claim after your factory warranty has expired (from either 4 years or 50K miles) you are covered for this first claim as long as your vehicle is less than 5 years old and has less than 100K miles. This is just as you would expect.

Now the confusing part. At the time of your first claim on the extended warranty, the warranty is good for one year from the date of your first claim or until your car is 5 years old, or until your car has 100,000 miles - whichever comes first. This one year term is what in my opinion isn't right, but is in fact what MB does.

infamily

Jim, not sure which dealer you deal with.. we bought our 320 from Sears Imported Autos and got 7 yrs 100 K warranty from MB. which gives us additional 3 yrs and 50 k miles

scottybdiving

So it sounds like you are saying that if you surpass your 50K miles on your original warranty in less than 4 years, the 1 year addition begins at that point? That sounds very deceptive. I specifically asked for a 5 yr / 100K warranty. I didn't ask for an additional year after I passed 50K miles. I have a call into my dealer.

Here is the warranty.

philip12

Scotty, I also bought the extended. The way it was explained to me was, once the orig. was over, whether it expires from the 4 year or the 50,000 miles is hit, the orig. is done, then the Extended comes on board, it will always bring you to 100,000 miles, no matter what the years purchased dictates, but you will either choose 1, 2, or 3 additional years, and up to 100,000 miles, it will always end at 100,000 miles, no matter what the time period is. if you never hit 100,000 miles, you will still expire at either the 1,2, or 3, depending on what is picked,, is this how you see it??
Philip

scottybdiving

That's what it is starting to sound like but that was not the way it was explained to me. If this is the case, and you average 20K / year, you would exceed 50K in 2.5 years. Add 1 more year and at 3.5 years and 70K miles, your 5yr / 100K warranty is done. Sounds like BS to me.

We will see what the sales rep says.

oinick

[/FONT]Check. The MB warranty that came in the mail after the delivery is complete and comprehensive: 6 yr/100K miles.

Here is what the "identification page" of the extended warranty booklet says:

New vehicle warranty start date: March 19, 2007

Length of Agreement: 24 months or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first after the new vehicle warranty expires

This means that the total warranty (factory plus extended) is at most for 72 months or 100000 miles, which works out in a perfect warranty contract to 16,666 miles a year. The additional warranty is for 24 months and 50000 miles.

So you can drive 50000 miles, when the warranty expires, and you get another 50000 miles, up to 24 months after you drive the first 50000. It looks like a pretty good deal for people who drive 15000 - 20000 miles per year. It is NOT a good deal for people who drive a lot of miles a year.

If you drive less than 50000 miles in 48 months, you have 50000 more to drive in the next 24 months under warranty. IMO, this is NOT a good deal for low mileage drivers.

scottybdiving

I guess it will depend on the interpretation.

Check out the highlighted portion in the first paragraph.

oinick

Yes, Scotty, I agree. But the language in the booklet is pretty clear. (But, hell, I'm a doctor, not a damn lawyer...) See my previous comments that quote directly from the booklet, with my interpretation.

scottybdiving

Hey Doc, it says the same thing as mine. 50K miles + 1, 2, or 3 years up to 100K. Is that what you intended to purchase?

JimBarnhart, thanks for bringing this to our attention. I can't speek for anyone else but this is not what I intended to purchase. I find this extemely deceptive because I specifically ask for, and I quote, "5 years and 100K miles", not "50K + 1 year." I even questioned it at closing because the warranty only said 1 year. I was given the explanation that it was the same as 5/100K, because it added 1 year at the end of the original 4 years.

My sales rep is out today but I will be taking this up with him and hope for an acceptable outcome.

oinick

To be honest, I did not really think about it when I bought it. I was thinking 6 years/100k without regard to having the extended warranty start before four years had expired; the dealer made the 50K miles of the original warranty seem moot if I bought the extended warranty. Nonetheless, I think it will work out okay in my case, as I am putting about 18000 mi/year on the car...If I put that number on it yearly, the manufacturer warranty will expire late in the third year I own it. Then I'll have another 24 months of warranty coverage. I will not put 100K miles on it by the time the next 24 months ends. It looks like my situation will translate into 72 months and about 86 to 90K miles. In retrospect, I should have taken the 7 year deal. In fact, I may call the dealer to see if I can change to 7 years.

I agree that there is a little bit of deception in the way the thing works. I agree that the dealer did not explain it as thoroughly as he could have. But I still maintain that with moderate (15 - 20K miles/year) driving over six or seven years the MB warranty is the way to go. It is not a good deal if you drive a lot of miles or only a few miles every year.

Do you agree, or do you see it differently?

scottybdiving

I agree. Had I been made aware, I would have elected to go with the 6 or 7 year deal. That would have made it work for me as well. Kristen has averaged 18,000 miles per year for the last 10 years. Given the option, I will probably elect to purchase the additional years. My goal from the beginning was for her to drive it for 5 years, put 90K miles on it, and have it covered for the duration.

patsy1099

That's very informative stuff guys. Thanks to Jim for pointing it out. I didn't purchase a warranty at the point of sale but I have been thinking about going and getting one third party. The finance guy didn't try to sell me anything! I thought that was weird. He must have had a hot date and wanted to get out of there.

scottybdiving

My sales rep called back today. He was confused and thought it was a 5yr / 100K warranty. Later his finance manager called and he was also under the impression that it is 5yr / 100K. I told them that if it is indeed, I want it in writing, so that when the time comes that I need it, there will not be any questions. He is going up the chain of command and calling me back.

Needless to say, it is very confusing, even to people at the dealership. I will update.

oknish

The extended warranty I was offered when I purchased my 450 was going to give me coverage for 3 extra years and 50 K extra miles. IOW, I would have been covered for 7 years or 100 K miles. I believe it was around 3K list price. No deductible from what I remember.

oinick

The overall concensus is that technically the extended warranty begins when the factory warranty ends, with time (48 months) or mileage (50K) and then, in the case of a seven year warranty, would run another 36 months or 50K miles, whichever comes first. In reality it is only a 7yr/100k warranty if your car turns over on 50K on the last day of your fourth year of ownership. If you roll over on 50K before that date, you've just got 36 more months and another 50K miles from whatever date that is. Conversely, if you are a low mileage driver and have only 30K on your car at the end of the fourth year, you will get 50K more miles in warranty for a total of 80K up to the end of the 84th month.

The net is that the additional term in years starts when the original warranty ends and adds no more than 36 months and 50K to what you've already driven. It is easy to see why folks are confused about this. It would be more accurate for MBUSA to sell the warranty stating clearly that it is good for up to 72 months and 100K miles, with a clear explanantion of what this means.

The wording in the contract has been lawyered-up to the benefit of MBUSA.

lwain56

So, anyone out-there with a third party warranty that is any good?