Hello! My car 2006 530i sports, 48,550 miles, warranty expires end of this month. Just visited dealer and was presented with third party extended mechanical warranty for $2,876.00. This will cover the car up to 75,000 miles untill 2012 with $50 deductible. Its called United Auto Care extended Service protection. Its platinun plus and covers almost everything except nomal maintenance service and parts like spark plugs, wires, brakes, rotors drums, suspension allignment, shocks, etc. I wont be driving the car that much since I have other cars. Has anyone heard about them and am I getting a good deal? Thanks as always

 

I doesn't sound like a good deal. I got the cpo warranty though BMW and it was 3400 with everything covered including maintenance.

 

the basic stuff is what will lead to larger failures

take care of the basics and change things out pre-emptively and youll be fine

 

1. Sales commission = approx $1,000. Not bad for 15 min of typing name, address, etc.

2. Are you sure about the exact name of this co?

3. Have you goggled the name?

4. Is it an exclusionary or an inclusionary product (service)? Exclusionary is much better; fewer opportunities for loopholes.

5. Third party extended warranty notes to self:



1. Read the contract. Three or four times.
2. Check BBB.
3. Ask any friendly service mgr to read it for/with you. Buy him lunch.
4. What specifically does warranty cover?
5. What does it exclude?
6. Does it require actual breakage, or will it pay for worn rings, noisy rear end, etc?
Many warrs cover ONLY BREAKAGE.
7. If the repair costs exceed the value of the vehicle, how much will Alpha pay?
Many pay only up to the wholesale value of vehicle.
8. If the problematic item has a TSB, will the warr pay for it? Some will not pay
anything if there was ever a TSB on item. Cars typically have thousands of TSBs
on each model.
9. Does the warr provide new parts or used parts? If the used item fails, will warr
pay for labor on the next go around? The warrs will likely refer you back to junk
yard or shop that installed the item, hoping they have a warranty.
10. Repeat item. Have you asked your service mgr to read the contract with you?
Best advice you can ask for. He/she is the guy/gal who knows what is and what
is not a great contract.
11. What have you found on an internet search?
12. What is the best book rating on this company?
13. Are you aware that third party warrs go bankrupt at the rate of about 12 per
year? More now than ever.
14. If you ask for a refund, where does the company send the refund? To you or to
the dealer? What if the dealer goes out of business or goes bankrupt? How do you
get your $$ back?
15. What other questions do you have about or for the warr co?
16. Does warr pay entire labor cost, or just a portion?


The internet is your friend; put it to work.

 

If your car is running fine for the past 4 years, then I'd save that money and put it away to earn interest somewhere (low risk and liquid). And use that money for any majors when the time comes. My guess is you won't touch this for awhile. Again, do your regular maintenance like PTL said, you need to find a good BMW mechanic locally for these services if you want to save more money (dealer would rob you blind).