So the factory 4 year 50K mile warranty is almost up on our 09 Cooper S. The car has been somewhat reliable but has had a few small issues (coolant and oil leaks) that were resolved. We're thinking about buying the factory extended warranty through the local Mini dealer but wanted to hear your thoughts.

Is it worth it for the peace of mind with all these cold start death rattle threads etc going around?

Also did everyone have their local dealer check out the car for any stuff to fix just prior to the warranty ending? The dealer said they wanted 1 hour of labor. I'm guessing they'll probably have a tech take a 5 minute look and say everything's fine, thanks for the $100 bucks.

 

Only you can answer that for your own feelings, to me the amount spent on an extended warranty bothers me more than not having it. (Even though the price is negotiable as with anything).

Most money people do not recommend extended warranties. They make the seller's money, why else would they offer them. I never buy them for cameras, TV's, appliances or cars. I figure if it starts giving me that much trouble, I won't be keeping it anyway.

 

I never buy extended warranties on anything but given how expensive Minis are to repair, one single repair, say...water pump (I've read that they can be as much as 1000.00 or more..), or AC (I think I've read 1800 for a compressor..) and the warranty would pretty much pay for itself in many cases. And god forbid something like your transmission takes a dump. That type of repair can put many people in the poorhouse!

But, it is definitely a gamble. That's how the insurance/warranty companies make their money. If you buy a warranty, they're betting that your car won't break down, you're betting that it will. And since they're the house, they always calculate the odds in their favor and that's how they come up with the price.

 

I would agree. Extended warranties are generally not worth the money. Our experience has been mixed. We had a 92 E150 conversion van that we used as a daily driver when gas was cheap. It was great for weekend camping and pulling sailboats. We purchased used. Even though we didnn't know it at the time, the original owner had purchased an extended warranty that was transferable (very rare). That paid off in spades as we had a transmission replaced, air conditioning system rebuilt and an oil pump failure repaired all using that extended warranty. We replaced that van with a new 02 Chevy Trailblazer. After our experience with the van we opted for a 7 year / 100,000 mile extended warranty. In 130,000 miles, we never came close in cost of repairs to the 3K we spent on it. When we bought our Mazda and the MINI, we opted out. I figure it's better to pay myself the cost of the warranty than to buy the plan. When we bought the MINI, we were shocked at the proposed cost of the extended warranties we were offered. 4K to 6K depending on coverage. Of course all things are negotiable, but any way you slice it, these extended warranty plans are big profit centers to new and used car dealers.

 

The car we sold to get the MINI was a 2004 PT Cruiser GT HO. It was starting to nickle and dime us $500 here (door locks) and $1,000 there (A/C hose and motor mounts). It's camshaft sensor failed twice also, easier $150 fix that I did myself both times for the $50 cost of parts. Learned the hardway that the aftermarket camshaft sensors lasted even less time than OEM. It does add up fast and was part of the reasoning to get rid of it in 6 years with only 36,000 miles on the clock. We generally keep a car 10 years.

Still see that PT around town, the lady that bought it was tickled pink. Her husband plopped down $8,500 cash without them even driving it, just had me drive it on the test drive. Now that's a great buyer!

 

I would recommend any extended warranty when buying a more "expensive" to repair vehicle, but I would for sure check the fine print. I bought an extended warranty from the small dealership ran me 1,600 just to later find out that it doesn't cover ANY of the issues I've had with the car. And when my timing chain decides to go, they won't cover that either because it was a posted bulletin from BMW. So I basically screwed myself on that.

 

I bought an extended warranty from an independent insurer through the dealership. I wish I would have just kept the money in my pocket, frankly, but if I don't make any claims I do get the bulk of it back, less a $500 or so admin fee. It was just over $3k and includes roadside assistance, etc, and covers nearly everything that could go wrong. It's basically cash in the bank for peace of mind, in a sense.

Still, I wish I had it in cash to spend on mods.

 

Hmmm. I did a quick peruse through this thread, but I didn't see anybody mention that if you never use your extended warranty, you get your money back (I did buy the extended warranty when buying the car new). If you ever pay the $50 deductible (or whatever it is), you won't get your money back, so you have to make sure what you're trying to get fixed under warranty would be cost-effective to use warranty service on. I figure 1 blown air conditioner or some sort of computer failure alone would justify the money for the extended warranty. So for me, it came down to peace of mind and knowing I'll get my money back if I never (hopefully) have to use it...

 

There are 2 options when your R56 hits 50k......

1) Sell it and get a new one or something else

2) Buy an extended warranty.

It will easily pay for itself if you buy one. Like others have said, I generally will never buy any extended warranty, but on this car it will easily pay for itself, trust me. Most of the common issues are all $1k+ repairs. (At least the HPFP is covered to 120k...)

 

Sayyyy wuuuuut. You get ur money back if you don't use it? More info on that would be nice.

 

in Dec 2010. Not recalling exact # just now--a few thousand IIRC--but it was meaningfully higher than the Toyota Sienna, Audi's, and Smart car warranties I was pitched (and sometimes bought), dealer retail to dealer retail and for similar total years and miles, and scope of coverage. And, both the Audi and the Toyota at least have a lot more electronic and motorized stuff prone to issues than the Mini. It was so high, I thought it was almost laughable; first time where I had trouble coming up with likely repair scenarios where I would break even on it, even knowing I can go over a car with a fine tooth comb and get more repairs out of a warranty. Usually it's the gizmo stuff that has me consider buying it more (if the price doesn't vary depending on which options you have, and my cars are usually toward the loaded side), since I expect core drivetrain typically is reasonably built, at least for the first 75-100K miles.

Of course, I'm a DIY'er who will fix much stuff anyway. Reading about death rattles and such does give me more cause for concern, but isn't clear yet those issues go into the 2010's that I have. Must say I don't expect cars to have core motor reliability issues like the Mini seems to with the cam drive system--that is more like 30 year old low quality stuff of yore. Water pump or thermostat maybe, cam drive no that's ridiculous they have frequently reported issues like that. And yes, I expect most any warranty would cover these.

If you aren't a DIY'er and plan to keep the car, yes, makes sense to consider if you then keep your car up, especially given the so-so apparent history of reliability. BUT, need to look at price. I for one thought Min's price was way, way too high, and thus suggest you look at reputable third party offers out there.

 

I declined the $2400 EW. I would have considered it for $1500 but considering I drive 20,000 miles a year that would have only extended me another 2.5 years (from 50k to 100k). That was my reasoning but everyone needs to figure out their own situation. (plus if I'm dropping another $2400 I would be better off paying down what I owe on the car)

 

Okay, I dug through my paperwork and here's what I found:

I don't think this is the "factory" extended warranty necessarily. I did purchase it at the dealer (Ralph Schomp MINI) when picking up Lil' Chili brand new. It is from Wachovia Warranty Corporation (insured by Heritage Indemnity Company). Nothing in that contract mentions anything about getting your money back, but the money back thing is offered through the dealer. The terms of the Extended Warranty are:

- 84 months/100k miles
- $50 deductible
- $40 per day for rental car
- $150 per day trip interuption
- Total cost = $2395.00

I don't have a scanner to scan it, but here's what the seperate contract titled Service Contract Refund Agreement from Ralph Schomp MINI says:

"Ralph Schomp Honda Mini agrees to refund the full purchase price of the service contract to the original purchaser named above only if the service contract runs the full term and is never used. This agreement will only apply to new and used car buyers who purchase a service contract on or before the deilvery date of the vehicle described herein.

This agreement is nontransferable and all refunds will be paid by Ralph Schomp Honda Mini in accordance with the refund guidelines contained herein..."

Here are the stated conditions of Ralph Schomp MINI's contract:
- Refunds paid only to the original purchaser / lessee as named on the Service Contract
- Refund paid only if the service contract runs the full term and there have been no claims paid during this period.
- Request for refund must be received within 30 days of service contract expiration date (my note: they might rely on people forgetting that they have to be proactive in order to get their money back).
- Contracts that expire by mileage will require a current Department of Motor Vehicle official odometer statement.
- Refunds paid only on cars sold and registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles and proof of current ownership can be determined.
- Refunds paid within 4 to 6 weeks upon receipt of Refund Request Form, Dealer Sales Invoice, Service Contract, and Service COntract Refund Agreement.

Exclusions:
- Use of any benefits of the service contract, including rental car, towing, travel reimbursement, or Auto Club benefits.
- No refund due to repossession, cancellation or total loss
- No refund if the service contract is transferred to a second owner of your vehicle.
- Any modification or alteration of your vehicle not approved by your service contract that excludes you from receiving the benefits of that service contract will also exclude you from receiving the benefits of this agreement.
- Any abuse, negligence, or lack of proper maintenance that exclude you from receiving the benefits of your service contract also exclude you from receiving the benefits of this agreement (my note: the service contract states that maintenance only has to follow published maintenance as spelled out in the Owner's Manual...nothing more required than what MINI publishes).

So that's the Extended Warranty I'm operating under. It seemed like a reasonable deal at the time...I get the peace of mind out to 100k miles and if I don't use it, it's basically a $2400 0% interest loan to Ralph Schomp MINI that I'll get back in 7 years.

 

All that fine print makes it a good gamble - for them. You can't even sell the car for 7 years or you loose it.

 

My extended warranty is transferable to a new owner, but is only refundable to the original purchaser. I asked if I could, in theory, sell the car to someone but NOT transfer my warranty, and just wait out the clock and get my refund, but they said that wasn't an option.

 

So I got my first MINI in Nov. 2010. I asked getting a warranty from my MINI dealer that I was purchasing from and I was floored when they quoted me almost the price of the car

I honestly don't recall the price because I was not going to spend that much for a what if.

I bought a 2005 cooper base and it was basically a $10K car. They wanted $7-8k for a warranty.

After 2 trips to their dealer service I learned to find a qualified independent mechanic or do it myself.

Id rather scrap the car for parts if it is that bad and move on to a different car.

 

Or 100k miles...whichever occurs first. Forgot to add that tidbit.

Regardless, the plan when purchasing our MINI was to keep it long term, so selling it before 7 yrs/100k miles wasn't really a factor...

 

As an internal service advisor for Mercedes Benz, I'd say do the one-hour check. I write probably ten ROs a day for one-hour checks, and they're absolutely worth it, especially if you are at the end of warranty. I can't tell you how many steering racks we've changed out on an off-lease or wholesale MB with 49k miles on it...think if the new owner got that bill?

It won't take the tech five minutes. At MB, the tech will check literally everything, and will spend a substantial chunk of time on the diagnostic computer checking various modules. While the book time is an hour, the actual labor is pretty close to that. You're not getting ripped off.


$100 would be a deal. The used car manager pays us $118 per car.

 

The refundable warranty is novel, but you must keep the car for 100K miles, that's the asterisk. I bought one about 10 years ago on a Jeep, and they nickel and dimed me to death excluding things, deductables, what a bunch of crap that was. Then I bought a Mazda and the pimped me to buy it, and everytime I said no they dropped the price of it. It was like a freaking timeshare pitch. I figure they're in it to make money, and you're the odd man out.