Is an extended maintenance package worth it?

[jdor1]

After having just picked up my 05 MCSc this past Friday in a heavy downpour and then spent a beautiful sunny weekend cruising top down, I've just gotten around to looking at all the stuff the financial guys at the dealers want you to buy and which I always turn down.

One thing the guy said is sticking in my craw -- the extended maintenance package that adds a fourth year to the three years Mini gives you. They want $595 for it now. Thinking about it, I see that it's likely the 45,000 mile check up will occur around then and would cost close to that amount anyway. Toss in expensive oil changes and a few assorted other bits and I could see that it might be $595 well spent. Sure I could put the dough in the bank for four years and make a bit of interest, but BMW/Mini service ain't cheap. I guess the question is -- does it make sense to buy the fourth year of maintenance right now?

I expect to own the car for that long.

[Cooper76]

This is a tough one since it is literally a gamble. Will you be needing the maintenance during that extra year? Hmmmm....

Well, let's see. How many miles a year do you drive? 15,000+ and it's a shoe in! 12k-15k and pretty good shot. 12k and under....maybe, maybe not.

You can always drive a few hundred miles for nothing to get the counter to run down to naught. Hahaha...

I would ask how much your dealer is charging for Inspection IIs and then compare the pricing.

Or...you could just take $600 cash right now and buy a three-year bond with it. In three years time, cash it in. Should be plenty to cover maintenance and have some left over.

Good Luck!

[mini vanilli]

why would the maintenance cost $600. what are you planning on getting done to your car?

lets assume it is going to be that much. there is still a chance that you wont use it. maybe a 10% chance , but still a chance. why not just wait till then and spend the money at that time IF you need it. imagine if you dont use it, you will waste $600. NEVER buy extended warrentys or maintenace deals. total waste of money.

[jdor1]

Ah, thanks for the head check. Always put off a payment until tomorrow instead of making it today.

[Cooper76]

Not a total waste of money.

BMW is giving you the option of paying for you maintenance now and getting a deal on it. Much like the newly introduced BMW maintenance extention plan. Sure, you will pay some money, but it almost always a good deal if you will use a maintenance during that period.

You need to ask your dealer how much an Inspection II costs. If he says $800, then take it. If he says $400, then forget about it.

This is not an extended warranty, but extended maintenance. Two different things. I know for the BMW plan, it is a bargain and a lot of buyers are jumping on it.

[ThomB]

I was speaking to an MA last night about the extended maintenance. They said that through BMW/Mini it was not worth it. It basically extended 12 months and 12000 miles for one oil change ($55.00 at my dealer) at a cost of around $400 .
The dealer (Classic) does offer an extended warranty offered by their auto group (It's pretty big) which we were going to get to cover "major repairs" for 75,000 miles with a zero deductable.

[Jim Ray]

Just as the closer was getting to the hard sell about extended warranties and maintenance contracts, the Short One looked at her sweetly and said "No point in those, we are going to trade it in on the Turbo when it is available".

That ended that, the closer just cut the sales pitch short.

Take that $600, put it in the bank, and buy a new MINI when the warranty expires! Way more fun.

Seriously, we paid $23,000 for our 2002 Cooper, and at the end of the warranty trade in value was about $19,500. We did not get that full amount in trade, but close enough to make the jump to MCSCa a lot easier. And we are car Ho's, always a new gadget in the works.

[Sejanus]

I guess I'm going to be the guinea pig for the extended maintenance. I bought it for $399 and my MINI is now at 42,000 miles. It just covered and oil and filter change plus a minor adjustment on the windshield washer jets. So there's some value there, but obviously not $399 worth. My next major service is now due at about 57,000 miles. Obviously, this will be after the extended maintenance plan has expired in mileage terms. So far not so good, however the main reason I bought the maintenance plan was to cover the servicing/replacement of the brake pads. The local service department says they replace brake pads at 3mm, mine are currently around 5-6mm. I'm going to take the car in in about 7500 miles, if the brakes are worn I can still get them replaced under the plan, if not I'll have to wait and pay for the work myself (which as I understand it easily exceeds $400). If I get them replaced under the plan then I figure it will have been worth it, if not I'll probably have blown about $200. One other thing to consider, my brake wear has apparently been rather light for the mileage in question (I guess I don't use them much ) so for folks who do more city driving than I do the gamble on the maintenance plan might be less of a risk.

[pocketrocketowner]

I just happened to be going through my MINI paperwork today and ran into my extended service contract......well, now that I have moved, fat lot of good it is going to do me. I also think that when it comes to my next oil change, when I waltz in to the French dealer claimin free oil change (one litre of the MINI oil = USD 20.00!!), they are gonna die laughing....or laugh me out of the store, one of the three.....

[nclorax]

Bumping this up because getting ready to buy the Mini and want to know if any other thoughts out there on the Extended Maintenance.

I anticipate driving the Mini about 17000 miles a year so should run our of the standard maintenance in about 2.11 years. With that I am thinking the extended maintenance would pay off even at $600.

Any opinions?

[Threat]

My opinion is that they are worth it. My last car (not a mini) had some serious problems that happened just after the factory waranty period. Thank goodness I had the warranty.

On a similiar note has anyone compared the BMW offered extended warranty to some of the online ones? Which was a better value?

[usna92]

Quote: Originally Posted by Threat

My opinion is that they are worth it. My last car (not a mini) had some serious problems that happened just after the factory waranty period. Thank goodness I had the warranty.

On a similiar note has anyone compared the BMW offered extended warranty to some of the online ones? Which was a better value?

I think this is going far a field from the original thread which was extended maintenance rather than warranty, but I'll try to answer your post.

I bought the extended warranty from Warranty Direct Online. The guy on the phone was great and they cover more items than the extended warranty offered by my MINI dealer, which is through GE Auto Services. They also offer emissions coverage, which the MINI dealers did not. Look into the coverages, especially on electrics and emissions. That's where the true differences in these coverages are.

On extended maintenance, our MA said we could purchase it anytime before the 3yr/36K coverage expires, so I am going to wait until I get close. Check with your MA.

usna92

[Sejanus]

Took the MINI in for a brake inspection today, so I should have my answer on the extended maintenance soon.

[cristo]

Anyone know how much "Inspection I" runs? I currently only have 18,000 miles on the
car, and i'm probably not going to get to it (currently estimated to be at 23,000 miles)
by the end of 36 months, when the free maintenance runs out, unless I put on an
extra 300 miles a month over the next 6 months. I doubt it's expensive enough to go for the extra year of maintenance offer, though.

[Sejanus]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sejanus

Took the MINI in for a brake inspection today, so I should have my answer on the extended maintenance soon.

Well apparently buying the extended mainyenace contract paid off. Took the car in with about 600 miles left on the contract and got the brake rotors replaced for no cost. Overall probably saved me 4-500 dollars.