# The deal with BMW extended warranty and service plans



## Oaker55 (Mar 7, 2014)

anselansel said:


> this is the problem when we buy cars made by people who value complexity over reliability and the resulting consequences.....its always been lurking in the german character. even in ww2 they built over engineered tanks that were unreliable, expensive and difficult to produce and maintain and those were meant to be expendable and to be blown up by the enemy!


But BMW is perfectly capable of building trouble free cars. I have two of them now. Both cars I presently own have been trouble free. One was purchased new and the other was purchased used. What we read about here are the handful of trouble cars out of thousand and thousands that they build each year. But, and that is a big but, what they do with their trouble cars is what leaves a lot to be desired. The CPO program of any manufacturer is a marketing program that was originally designed to give the buyer peace of mind when buying a previously own car from that manufacturer. The problem is, along the way, it seems that it has also become the dumping ground for their problem children, also. Is this the total fault of the manufacturer or are the dealerships to blame, also? After all, it is the dealership that makes the decision as to whether or not a car is CPO'd or not.


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## anselansel (May 5, 2016)

Oaker55 said:


> But BMW is perfectly capable of building trouble free cars. I have two of them now. Both cars I presently own have been trouble free. One was purchased new and the other was purchased used. What we read about here are the handful of trouble cars out of thousand and thousands that they build each year. But, and that is a big but, what they do with their trouble cars is what leaves a lot to be desired. The CPO program of any manufacturer is a marketing program that was originally designed to give the buyer peace of mind when buying a previously own car from that manufacturer. The problem is, along the way, it seems that it has also become the dumping ground for their problem children, also. Is this the total fault of the manufacturer or are the dealerships to blame, also? After all, it is the dealership that makes the decision as to whether or not a car is CPO'd or not.


respectfully, i disagree. Look at resale value and that will tell you what the market thinks of the cars reliability ....


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## Kevinjp (Nov 26, 2017)

anselansel said:


> respectfully, i disagree. Look at resale value and that will tell you what the market thinks of the cars reliability ....


BMW fills the roads in the coastal california area where i live...so i thought they must be high quality reliable cars, or why would so many people but and drive them? I recently bought a used 2007 X3 with 122k miles. It is a wonderful car to drive, when it's running. In the rest of the car market that's not horrible mileage. For this X3, it's a death sentence. Every week the "check engine soon" light comes on with a new item failure. In two months it been the PCV valve, which requires the entire valve cover to be replaced for several hundred dollars, the thermostat (which is electric, buried underneath the motor, and failed because of a cheesy electrical wire connection), the Engine Crank Sensor (causing the engine to fail on the freeway), the emissions Leak Detetion Pump, and the anti theft chip in one of the keys. Each one of these repairs is several hundred dollars at the dealer to fix. It also has developed a small oil pan gasket leak...2,500 to replace the gasket! The car is amazingly sophisticated, and stunningly unreliable.

On the other hand, we have owned Fords, Toyotas, Nissan, Dodge, VW, and Honda among others, and we haven't been to a shop for any major repair for 20 years before this X3.

A 'rare' isolated lemon case? I doubt it. A friend with a BMW Mini report the same level of reliability: in the shop all the time. I asked another friend last night with a 3 series 2014 diesel how his car is for reliability? In the shop right now, wife is driving a loaner.

It seems to me that BMW has hoodwinked an entire population into believing that the status and perfomance of their cars relieves them of the responsibility to make a reliable product. If you dont mind frequent trips to your dealer, it's not so bad while you have a warranty and full maintenance plan, but you pay for that up front, it's not free either.


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## xdriv3 (Dec 10, 2014)

Is the extended maintenance plan worth it for me? 

I have a '15 X3 @ 45k miles. I routinely get oil changes every 7-10k based on what the car tells me. I've had 1st break fluid change 5k miles ago. According to the computer, the front/rear brakes are not due for another 25k.

The car is driven 80% highway -- 100 miles per trip 5 days a week on mostly traffic free highway.

Assuming I keep my car till 100k, I can technically get 10 more oil changes, front/rear brakes --- just for those services, would I come out ahead on the extended maintenance plan?

Other important variables to me -- getting service done at BMW, access to loaners, peace of mind. You can make an argument that you can go to an indy/DIY. I'm not that type and to me, paying that premium is worth it.


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