BMW warranty or AA/RAC?

[snerkler]

Due to the mileage of my X5 my annual BMW approved extended warranty is going up from £820 to £1160 with a £250 excess (it's over £2k without an excess) so I've looked into other warranties. Both AA and RAC are around the £900 with no excess, but is it worth the extra £260 plus £250 excess for the BMW warranty? I'm just wondering what benefits there are with the BMW warranty vs AA or RAC?

Any thoguhts would be appreciated.

[d_a_n1979]

BMW every time... I took it out for my F31 in Jan and it's paid off in dividends so far; just ensure that your car is looked after and not modified (ideally) and you shouldn't have any issues... Don't declare that you read your own codes or similar; play dumb with it...

My local BMW dealer have been brilliant with my F31 and they've carried out the warranty work that its needed with no quibbles; obviously it's all OEM BMW parts they use/fit and if they find any other issues, they'll get them included and sorted also...

Re AA/RAC warranties; IMO they're not worth the paper they're written on, I'd avoid at all costs

We got 6 months RAC Platinum warranty with the F31; I binned it and took out the BMW warranty the afternoon I collected the car; plenty of info online to say how these 3rd party warranties will do anything to not pay out etc

[snerkler]

Thanks, appreciate the feedback.

[Court_S]

If your car is stock, definitely go with the BMW warranty.

The third party ones are ste in my experience.

[snerkler]

Court_S said:

If your car is stock, definitely go with the BMW warranty.

The third party ones are ste in my experience.

Thanks, yeah it's stock 👍🏻

[DanL]

I’ll add my voice to the BMW warranty recommendations. If nothing else, it’s loads less hassle as it’s all (more or less) in house. I know it’s really a third party, but the BMW dealer sorts it all out for you. With a third party, there’s doubtless an inspection first to work out what’s wrong, then an approval request to fix it, then the fix and payment. Much more effort…

[snerkler]

DanL said:

I’ll add my voice to the BMW warranty recommendations. If nothing else, it’s loads less hassle as it’s all (more or less) in house. I know it’s really a third party, but the BMW dealer sorts it all out for you. With a third party, there’s doubtless an inspection first to work out what’s wrong, then an approval request to fix it, then the fix and payment. Much more effort…

Thanks, it is convenient for sure.

[smashy]

BMW warranty is never a problem,my frustration is I set my last car up a 330d with £100 excess and in 36k miles never used it .My car I have now 335d set it up for £250 excess and on september 4th will be the third time this year .

[MikeM6]

I have a BMW warranty on my 17 year old 6 series. Would not be without it, it has already paid out for a new differential, front brake calipers and a heads up display this summer alone.

I pay £120 per month, as the price stays the same save for a couple of quid for inflation. Annual policies shoot up over 60k miles which I have recently passed.

As for other warranties, I would not waste your time on them, but others have already mentioned this.

[snerkler]

Definitely sticking with BMW, thanks for the replies.

[loskie]

BMW ought to be ashamed.

Are their cars so unreliable that they have to charge so much for a warranty?

They cannot have much faith in their own products.

[stevemiller]

The BMW warranty and the extended warranty through BMW have been exceptional for my son and me. I have been the part-time owner whenever he needs cash/change you get the picture. The car is a 2006 manual 335i saloon. We have owned the car since around 2013 and covered around 75k miles now sitting just under 130k and still in warranty. The bad news is the car has been the most troublesome car we have ever owned and were it not for the warranty would have been sold a long time ago. Most of the engine has rebuilt many times, twin turbos replaced to mention just two of the larger ticket items. I can whole heartedly recommend the warranty. The car not so much if it was not for the power/economy/sound from that engine it being both the pleasure and the pain!

[d_a_n1979]

loskie said:

BMW ought to be ashamed.

Are their cars so unreliable that they have to charge so much for a warranty?

They cannot have much faith in their own products.

Aye; because all the other makes are so reliable eh

[snerkler]

stevemiller said:

The BMW warranty and the extended warranty through BMW have been exceptional for my son and me. I have been the part-time owner whenever he needs cash/change you get the picture. The car is a 2006 manual 335i saloon. We have owned the car since around 2013 and covered around 75k miles now sitting just under 130k and still in warranty. The bad news is the car has been the most troublesome car we have ever owned and were it not for the warranty would have been sold a long time ago. Most of the engine has rebuilt many times, twin turbos replaced to mention just two of the larger ticket items. I can whole heartedly recommend the warranty. The car not so much if it was not for the power/economy/sound from that engine it being both the pleasure and the pain!

Crikey, sounds like a lemon. I had the air suspension replaced last year, but the job was ‘only’ £900 and I had £250 excess so I didn’t get my money back so to speak on the premium, and it’s the first time I’ve claimed in the 6 years I’ve had it, but it’s piece of mind.

[stevemcs]

Go BMW, we refuse to deal with any aftermarket warranties as they are a waste of paper

[MikeM6]

loskie said:

BMW ought to be ashamed.

Are their cars so unreliable that they have to charge so much for a warranty?

They cannot have much faith in their own products.

Haha don't be so silly.

We are taking about cars outside their initial 3 year warranty period. As I said, mine is 17 years old. How many manufacturers will back a warranty on a 17 year old V10?

[Jamescrs]

I previously had an AA warranty on a Seat Leon I owned and they were terrible to deal with, the local garage were good but they didn't like having to deal with AA warranty either, I wouldn't buy a warranty from them again, I'd go BMW or just save your money in an account.

[Muzzer79]

loskie said:

BMW ought to be ashamed.

Are their cars so unreliable that they have to charge so much for a warranty?

They cannot have much faith in their own products.

Can I have some of what you’re smoking?

Bumper to bumper warranty on a car over 3 years old for a few hundred pounds a year?

What do you think they should charge?

I always thought it was very good value.

[MitchT]

BMW warranty or don't bother.

Aftermarket warranties aren't worth the paper they're written on. You'd be better off sticking some cash in the bank, just in case. At least you'll be able to get that back when you need it!

I was looking at a 4 Series recently at an independent dealership. Came with a six month RAC warranty. The dealer's website proudly explained all the options for having a longer RAC warranty. Had a look on Trustpilot - pages and pages of one star reviews from people who couldn't get them to pay out.

[MitchT]

loskie said:

BMW ought to be ashamed.

Are their cars so unreliable that they have to charge so much for a warranty?

They cannot have much faith in their own products.

Notwithstanding the earlier negative responses to this post, I do kind of agree with it.

I got a warranty quote for a BMW 840i. £2,600 a year! Add to that the annual servicing costs and you're looking at the best part of £3k a year for servicing and cover against unexpected mechanical repairs.

Now, to put this into perspective, there's a guy on YouTube with a channel called "Number 27" who, every now and then, gets hold of a Ferrari and goes through all the records and receipts and concludes with the average annual servicing and mechanical repair cost over its lifetime. Every Ferrari he's looked at seems to have averaged out at about £3,000 a year.

So, is it really acceptable to have to spend the same as the cost of running an old 5.5 litre V12 Ferrari 550 to cover the cost of servicing and unexpected mechanical repairs on a three year old 3.0 straight six BMW? I think not.

As above, BMW clearly don't have a great deal of faith in their product. That said, I'd still choose their "expensive" warranty over an aftermarket one.

Edited by MitchT on Saturday 19th August 11:45