As the title suggests, my dealer uses the Extended Warranty service by/thru GE Finance ... wondering if anyone has experience with it and had real problems corrected under it?

I did a search on 'extended warranty' and have near 20 threads to read thru, but I'm @ work and won't get to until a few hours from now. And 'GE' can't be searched on to look for just them in the set. Can anyone offer any help directly about them?

Thanx much,
-steve

 

I have never used the GE warranty but I work for a Saab Dealer and we have customers who have them. They are not too bad for a aftermarket warranty company. Just a couple of negatives. You will have a deductible for every repair visit under warranty. You might have to wait a few days for an adjuster to come out and inspect the problem on you car before repairs are made. They can opt to use salvage parts when they want to. The biggest problem is make sure you read the fine print on what is and what is not covered. They are (meaning most warranty company's) misleading on what parts are covered sometimes. I like to tell my customers when they ask us about the warranties. How much do you plan on spending for repairs 2-3 years after you warranty runs out. Not including wear and tear and service repairs. More than $2,000? The likely hood of you spending over $2,000 in repairs before 100k is not likely. I tell my customers to put that money aside and use what you need for repairs over the next several years. If you have any money left over when the warranty should expire. You will have a nice little bonus!!!!. It is insurance and it is a gamble but sometimes its worth the peace of mind.

 

Im guessing u bought ur car in freeport they tried pushing me into warranty. Im a salesperson and have never pushed as hard as they did. Remember all these waaranties are easy only when u do the repairs at the location u bought warranty from if not a manafacture warranty. Every car ive owned i bought a ext warranty for no more than 1000 grand. the mini warranties are much more expensive for many reasons. Ive looked into many warranty companies all over 1500 for decent coverage. im only considering warranty cause i average about 19000 a year.

 

i dont know if you can get an extened warranty from mini directly or not. if you can that is the only warranty worth buying.imio. i have worked with them all. the factory one is by far the best. plus if you are traveling and you have an issue that can't wait till you get to you selling dealer,you'll be wayyyyy better off. you wont have to worry about added fees,not having that dealer labor rate 100% covered,use of used part etc. i can go one and one.
i have been a service advisor for 15 years.
just my .02.

 

I am purchasing a 100k/5yr warranty with my car. I drive avg of 35k per year so am more comfortable with the extended protection. It is valid at any mini/bmw dealer in usa. $50 deductible per visit. Anticipate that I could have to replace a clutch, turbo or computer by 100k so it will be covered. Good luck with it.
Cheers,
John

 

what plan did u buy and how much?

 

Check out WarrantyDirect.com. I had been researching extended warranty companies and this is one of the few that has the Better Bus Bureau rating and they're licensed to do business in California, which has tough regulations. You can get an online quote - they offer up to 6 yr/100K coverage and even $0 deductable for everything on the car (except the normal exclusions like brake pads). The key difference is they cover parts due to "wear & tear" failures (if your warranty doesn't, be careful bec. the warranty company will deny your claim if it failed due to wear & tear).

Oh yeah, and you can bring your car into any certified mechanic (even your local Mini dealer) and WarrantyDirect pays the mechanic directly (you don't have to pay, then file the claim for reimbursement).

 

I didn't end up taking anything... except the 5yr rim & tire warranty.

I bought the car Huntington Station, not Freeport. Actually, they didn't push the warranty @ all... I was the one asking. Prices are pretty ridiculous tho.

Thanx for the comments all.

 

I bought the Easy Care Gold vehicle service contract through my Mini dealer. It covers 120/100,000 so 10 years 100,000 miles/ $100 repair.
It cost a lot but to me it is worth is as I can take in the car to the dealership if I have any problems. Peace of mind of sorts. I know it doesn't cover 'everything' like maintenance work.

 

My first post: just picked up my MCS. I drive 25K a year so the dealer recommended an extended warranty via Fidelity warranty company. Sold to me for $1500 5yr/100K; 0 deductable; Not sure if I need or if this is a good deal? Appreciate all comments & help

 

I would probably be *less* likely to buy an extended warranty if I drove 25k-35k miles per year, because it really shortens the time period when the warranty's going to be in effect. To use jedm3's example, you're only looking at about 18 months between the expiration of the factory warranty and the expiration of the extended warranty. For KenJ, it's about two years. "$1500 for two extra years of coverage" doesn't sound nearly as good as "$1500 for five years/100k miles", though.

It might be different if I was going to put 35k/year on the car in stop-and-go driving, but the 25k/year I put on my car is mostly highway driving, which frankly isn't that hard on a car.

Also, high annual mileage means that the car is going to be much newer when the extended warranty kicks in. At 35k/year, the car's only going to be 18 months old when the extended warranty becomes active, and less than three years old when the extended warranty expires.

 

Thanks Scott; your analysis makes perfect sense . I have 30 days to cancel the policy. The dealership pushed me hard on both the extended maintenance & extended warranty. I was worrried about the high costs of repairs after the factory warranty. I'll instead use the $1500 to pay down the car loan. Appreciate this site & your help. Wish I knew about it prior to purchasing my '08 MCS.

 

You're welcome - you actually run into many of the same problems with buying the extended service agreement for a car that's going to be driven a lot. The onboard computer really stretches out the service intervals if you do a lot of highway driving, to the point where you might not get much of anything out of the extended plan.

On my car, the first service came due at 12,500 miles, and the second service came due at 33,200 miles, so those two were the only services I got during the 36k mile factory service agreement period. I got a free extension to 4yr/50k miles when I bought the car, and at the rate I'm going, I'm not going to have a single OBC-recommended service come due during the extension period, so I'd be hacked off if I had actually paid for it.

Even with an extension to 100k miles, that might mean as few as two or three services during the extension period, and at least one of those is just going to be an oil change. If you're willing to do oil changes and the inspection items yourself, about the only way you can come out ahead by buying the extended service agreement is if you need a new clutch during the extension period.

 

It's a great deal compared to the prices I was given... as in double the price @ 20K less miles!!! (but one extra year I believe it was) Hoping your deal isn't restricted in ways such as only covering parts explicitly named in the warranty.

 

The deal at $1500 was 100k or 5yrs. It's called Gold plus through Fidelity warrranty sold by Hassel BMW in NY. Like most 3rd party warranties it had exclusions even though it was sold to me as bumper to bumper. Also purchased the extended maintenace at $2000 BUT after reading posts here, I was able to get $600 back (THANKS)( they would not let me cancel). Also, I will look to cancel the warrenty & get $1500 back. From everything I have read & Scott confirms ;Neither is worth it. Usual dealship profit BS. I should have known better. You can always cancela waaranty they are prorated.

 

I bought the Gold Plus one also but it was for 10 years or 100,000 miles. It wasn't for maintenance though. I don't drive a whole lot and keep my cars a while so for me it might be worth it.

 

That's amazing... the GE warranty that spurred this thread is so much more expensive!!!

...based on the amount of work I had done on my C43 under wrranty, I'd feel more comfortable with extended coverage on the MINI, especially given the '1st series' nature of the JCW engine + other aspects of the drivetrain on the car I have that are '1st run' uses. The next 2 - 3 years should be telling tho to whether I'd really need it or not and should invest in the ext. warranty.