BMW and M Power Owners

[TW]Fox;27127224 said:
A warranty on a 12 year old 2.5k car? You even need to ask? :p
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xs2man said:
I was wondering the same thing. Should be picking up my 2002 330i next week, and a warranty never even crossed my mind. It's simply too old for such a thing to be viable.
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Well, thought the older the car the more it would warrant one (gear box changes etc). So you guys are saying best to see how it comes, and if the gearbox goes and costs £1,200 (example) just deal with it?
 
Pretty much deal with things as they happen.

The gearbox is just about the worst thing that could break. If it did, and you planned to keep the car for a few years then £1k wouldn't be the end of the world - and if you thought you'd only have it for a short while it could be replaced with one that basically works for the moment for a lot less.

These aren't cars that you can run without getting your hands dirty in general if you want to keep repair costs / preventative maintenance costs down.
 
rodenal said:
Pretty much deal with things as they happen.

The gearbox is just about the worst thing that could break. If it did, and you planned to keep the car for a few years then £1k wouldn't be the end of the world - and if you thought you'd only have it for a short while it could be replaced with one that basically works for the moment for a lot less.

These aren't cars that you can run without getting your hands dirty in general if you want to keep repair costs / preventative maintenance costs down.
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Pretty much this. You will struggle to get a half-way decent warranty on such an old, high mileage vehicle anyway, and if you could, it would likely be rather expensive. Probably easily £700+ per year.

So in that instance, you're better off "winging it". If you kept the car 3 years, and nothing went wrong, you'd have saved enough money to buy another. If something serious did go wrong, well that's one of the hazards of buying a 12 year old, 120k+ car. Either fix it or sell it.

To me, at least, the warranty is only worth it while it is relatively cheap compared to the cost of the car. Once the yearly cost of a warranty is over a percentage of the cars value (say 15-20%) then it is no longer really viable. Unless you get a great deal on a manufacturer warranty, on a car known for horrendously expensive bills. In which case, why would you buy one?
 
No my Z4. Not the best time of year to sell, but this is probably the most hassle I've had selling a car! Not many takers and those that are want to pull your pants down.
 
xs2man said:
To me, at least, the warranty is only worth it while it is relatively cheap compared to the cost of the car. Once the yearly cost of a warranty is over a percentage of the cars value (say 15-20%) then it is no longer really viable.
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I cannot see how the cars value has any bearing at all on whether a warranty is worth purchasing. It is completely immaterial unless the cars value is say £300 which obviously it's not.

A warranty is worth purchasing when the value of the risk plus the intangible value you place on peace of mind and zero hassle exceeds the cost of the warranty. Of course how you value the risk is a personal decision as is the value you place on the intangible aspect.

But car value is meaningless, if your car goes wrong it doesn't really matter whether its worth £6k or £60k.
 
panthro said:
No my Z4. Not the best time of year to sell, but this is probably the most hassle I've had selling a car! Not many takers and those that are want to pull your pants down.
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As a few posts above, I'm currently considering one. Watcha got??

Edit: Ah I see it on z4-forum. Maybe a little out of my budget for now! Lovely looking car though.
 
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[TW]Fox;27133696 said:
Of course how you value the risk is a personal decision as is the value you place on the intangible aspect.

But car value is meaningless, if your car goes wrong it doesn't really matter whether its worth £6k or £60k.
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Well, I value the risk based on the value of the car really. If I have to pay out £700 per year for a reasonable warranty on a £2k car, I simply wont do it. If I have to pay that on a £30k car, I probably would do it.

The reason being I figure 3 claim free years on the cheaper car, and if it fails big, I can just buy another with the £2100 I have saved on warranty. Doesn't work like that on a £30k car does it? I basically look at it as a 3 year gamble.

So yes, in fact, the cars value does have a REAL and DIRECT impact on whether a warranty is worth it.
 
xs2man said:
Well, I value the risk based on the value of the car really.
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Which is really silly.

If I have to pay out £700 per year for a reasonable warranty on a £2k car, I simply wont do it.
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Nobody is going to sell you a reasonable warranty for a £2k car that might make a sensible purchase so this is completely academic. You cannot buy a good warranty for the sort of car you could simply deposit in the nearest dustbin and buy a new one should something big go wrong with it. Which is why car value has no real bearing on whether you should buy a warranty, only in the sense that by the time car value matters, you probably cant buy one anyway.


The reason being I figure 3 claim free years on the cheaper car, and if it fails big, I can just buy another with the £2100 I have saved on warranty.
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See above for why this is irrelevant.

Doesn't work like that on a £30k car does it?
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No, or an £8k car. Or a £15k car. Or infact any car you'd actually consider buying a warranty on.

So yes, in fact, the cars value does have a REAL and DIRECT impact on whether a warranty is worth it.
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No, it doesn't.

The type of cars you would and could purchase decent warranties for are all worth sufficient money that car value is simply not a factor.
 
My neighbor bought a 2009 E91 325i. It's got some kind of nav in it. It's not integrated into the dash board - he needs to remove it/put it in its slot to use the nav.

I thought that was a bit crap.
 
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