[hoojkel]

Yeah will do, I agree, whats the point of getting the warranty if the excesses are so high.
Thanks again

[Vitesse]

"Basically after telling that I had a modified supercharger pulley and would that affect it he said modifications themselves are classed as uninsured parts, and under the terms if a failure is caused by an uninsured part, all insured parts and labor will be paid for and you would only have to pay for the uninsured part (pulley).

He said as an example if the smaller pulley caused a belt failure which in turn ruined several other engine components the only parts I would have to pay for are the pulley and belt".


Batou, Sounds interesting. Is that written into your policy as well or was that just verbal? I know BMW wouldn't think the same.

[Chellle]

have been told that depending how long that spend "investagating" that i might have to pay the £100 excess on the mini warranty

[ratherbewindsurfing]

Still think they are a waste of money.

Come on guys live dangerously for once!!

[Vitesse]

The Mini Extended warranties are with Mondial Assistance as opposed to direct with Mini. 3yr warranties on new cars are direct with Mini aren't they?

Does make me wonder if there are going to be any problems making claims if a 3rd party is involved.

I spoke to my dealer about these extended warranties and they did seem more enthustiastic about Mini warranties than WD, they did say they had had numerous problems with getting WD to payout. But I wouldn't really have expected them to say anything different!!

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Quote: Originally Posted by batou (original)

Just ensure you clarify all this beforehand on the phone, they typed this onto my policy document just to be safe I suggest that you ask for the same.

I'm sure the mini warranty is great but personally I am never in a good enough financial situation to write off £250 in excesses that could go towards savings or a holiday if my car breaks lol

As above make sure you get the agreement in writing form Warranty Direct - verbal is simply no guarantee!!
I spoke to 3 different members of their sales team on 3 different occasions and they all gave me a different line in terms of how much of the car would be covered and they were not at all sure about mods - I finally gave up after I talked to a 4th person (supervisor) and was given a slightly different story yet again.

I don't know what these excesses are that you all keep going on about - my Mini warranty has NO EXCESS on any claim (up to the original price of the car not a £5000 limit as per WD) and it works (so far) exactly the same as it did when it was the initial 3 year warranty - take it to the dealership if they conclude the problem is a warranty issue it gets fixed, simple

Again re what's covered, directly from the documentation:
"Your Comprehensive Component Cover covers ALL factory fitted mechanical and electrical components of the insured vehicle with the exception of the following" - and then a short, concise list of wear and tear items that aren't covered (battery, tyres, wiper blades, exhaust, brake pads/disks etc, common sense stuff).

As an insurance document it could not be clearer.

Either way I hope everyone who is either with WD or Mini have a smooth ride - we all know how often these cars seem to unfortunately have "issues".

I went Mini because I think it's better value when you take the no excess and Europe-wide breakdown assistance into consideration and believe it will be easier to deal with in the long-term re claims, also I want to keep the car main dealer repaired/serviced all the way.

Cheers..

[MINIMANIAUK]

Each owner has to make his/her choice regarding warranty options and the possible benefits/costs.
Warranties are not all encompassing and most problems occur through wear and tear or dam
age caused whilst driving,
The older the car the more likely wear and tear will be found to be the cause of the problem.
A dissadvantage of the recovery is that they recover your car to the main dealer who will then charge their famous prices for the same job that could have been carried out by an independent cheaper.
Say your exhaust falls off and the cause is due to it having been hit by a speed hump previously, your car is now stuck at the dealers (where they want it!) the warranty does not apply and you get a fat bill.
Servicing is the route to a reliable car. after 3 years the car requires an MOT test and gets inspected regardless, Why not get the car serviced at the same time? £500 would pay the MOT,oil,filters,plugs,belts,brakes,wipers,coolant, brake fluid,.....
The MOT inspection covers a lot of the items likely to cause a breakdown and an early warning of possible future troubles.
Prevention is always better than cure. Your cars' condition is dependent on it's care and maintenance not its' warranty.
After years of picking up "warranty casualties" including recovering cars from dealers,
I recommend that you read the smallprint and give honest consideration of what you expect from a warranty and if your money is best invested to suit your circumstances.
You could be buying a quibble with the dealer and the hassle of recovering your car to somewhere more cost effective.

[batou]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vitesse (original)

Batou, Sounds interesting. Is that written into your policy as well or was that just verbal? I know BMW wouldn't think the same.

Written on policy in so many words

Personally I think wear and tear is the most important thing because thats what my car 2003, 35,000 miles will start to suffer from, from now on.

Geoff, I meant even with the no excess policy its still £225 extra over the highest excess premium. If you read the post again and do the math it will be clear.

Not surprised you spoke to 4 different people and then a supervisor... you come across as a call centres worst nightmare. No offense.

[ALD0]

Has the actual Policy itself changed, as I have been reliably informed that it's not worth the paper it's written on?
This goes for whats actually included and covered in the warranty?

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Quote: Originally Posted by batou (original)

Written on policy in so many words

Personally I think wear and tear is the most important thing because thats what my car 2003, 35,000 miles will start to suffer from, from now on.

Geoff, I meant even with the no excess policy its still £225 extra over the highest excess premium. If you read the post again and do the math it will be clear.

Not surprised you spoke to 4 different people and then a supervisor... you come across as a call centres worst nightmare. No offense.

No warranty even the manufacturers one covers you for wear and tear items, so everyone is in the same boat there from day 1.

Ok, so you go for the lowest premium with the highest excess and the first time you need to use the warranty you'd already be better off with the no excess policy......what's the point.

My S was at the dealers for aprox 10 different things in the last 12months:
Steering Column
Sunroof Mechanism
Gearbox/Clutch/Flywheel/Clutch master cylinder
Accel pedal
iPod adaptor
Seat frames...........and several other minor things.
It has 17k on the clock - think of the cost of the above items - it's frightening !!

As much as I love my Cooper S these are complicated and simply not very reliable cars (despite pampering them) and are expensive to repair if you want to keep a full main dealer history (as I do) hence why I want the extra warranty - as I've previously stated, in a year's motoring what is £500??.
I have an 89 MB 300SL that I would never want (or need) an additional warranty for, I service it as per the manufacturers guidelines and it has never let me down, doesn't break a sweat driving to the Sth of France.......nor does it rattle, squeak, constantly have little niggles etc.
To be honest it feels like a car that will stay in your possession forever as opposed to the Cooper S (which I do really love) feeling more like a car that you drop off to the recycling facility after 10 years - the SL may again become my daily driver if the S still needs to visit the dealership as often as it has during the man' warranty and the fuel consumption of both is basically the same.

As per the call centre comment - yes ha ha, no offence taken..
A call centre employs people to answer customers questions on a product or service they provide - if 4 people cannot give the same answers especially when it comes to insurance what are they actually being paid for??

When are people going to realize (and it's worse here in the UK where historically standing up for your rights is considered impolite) that insurance companies of ALL kinds are in business to make a profit and will refuse to pay out over any minor quibble they can possibly find.
I have every single policy, house, car, business insurance etc in writing in regards to what myself and the insurance company have agreed re cover.

I've seen too many friends and colleagues get utterly screwed after assuming things were a particular way because "it says it in so many words".......

I'm more than happy to be a call centre nightmare if it means both myself and my insurer are 100% clear about the details of my cover - anything less, why both with insurance at all.

[Vitesse]

How old is your S Geoff and have you had it from new? I assume you don't do many miles in it in a year?

I must have been really lucky with my Mini's. I have had 2 MCS Works from new, so since Jan 2003. The first one had the power steering pump replaced, which was quite common, that is all in 3 years.

The second one a Sept 2005, has had a problem that was "self inflicted" nothing major. I am quite surprised by the number of visits you have had in the last 12 months. Was everything fine and then they all started to go wrong one after another?

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vitesse (original)

How old is your S Geoff and have you had it from new? I assume you don't do many miles in it in a year?

I must have been really lucky with my Mini's. I have had 2 MCS Works from new, so since Jan 2003. The first one had the power steering pump replaced, which was quite common, that is all in 3 years.

The second one a Sept 2005, has had a problem that was "self inflicted" nothing major. I am quite surprised by the number of visits you have had in the last 12 months. Was everything fine and then they all started to go wrong one after another?

The S is March 2005 build, pretty much every optional extra £24k new (another good reason for the warranty), I bought it from the original owner at 12k miles.

I'm super fastidious with my cars so despite the S being "as new" when I bought it and the original owner never taking it back to the dealership there was a bunch of stuff that needed doing.
During the last year it's been the case that the sunroof started making a grinding noise when opening and closing, seat's wouldn't retain their memory position, steering column clunking, gearbox extremely difficult on occasion to get into first etc - now these are problems that the Mini owner who buys the car as more of a fashion statement, cool thing to own (nothing wrong with that) may not notice or care about in comparison to someone who is a car enthusiast with good mechanical knowledge.

On each occasion the problems were fixed under warranty so no complaints there, just annoying taking it to the dealership all the time.

There may be people who think I'm too fussy, but I don't think so, it's a fairly new car and shouldn't have these sort of issues considering what it cost to buy.
My 2005 Cooper which I bought from the dealership with 4k miles had a similar amount of problems over 2 years of ownership.
The SL300 is 19 years old and I can't fault it - totally solid and drives beautifully.

The S also drives beautifully and from a engineering/design point of view is an amazing car - I just wish it felt as solid - it's nice having 2 cars that are so different , would be a shame for the S to not be a hassle free long-term ownership prospect as I'd love to keep it forever.

Cheers, Geoff.

[Drewuk]

Geoff

Took you advice and went for the comprehensive package with breakdown and no excess options. Really glad I did. 1 week on from taking out the policy and they have just paid for new power steering pump, alternator and an electric window motor.

Drew :-)