I have a 3 year "silver" Janseen warranty on the beloved beamer, that I bought back in April. Seemed like a very good inclusion from the dealer at the time, and might still be.
Janeen's though, stipulate that the car must be serviced every 10,000k's (and the first service had to be before 5,000k's since purchase). Now I do a few miles :)So i've now had it serviced 3 times since April, having driven it 23,000k.
Hmmmm.i'm going to paying for a lot of servicing to keep that warranty valid for the next 2 and half years!Does anyone have an opinion on.
a) servicing at these intervals - really doing anything to extend the life of the car! - overkill! and.
b) the maths - maybe forgetting about the warranty, still servicing the car every 12 months, and the money saved can go towards any repairs that might crop up.! your thoughts, as always, much appreciated.
vtecintegra,
Dec 12, 4:14am
Depends on what they mean by 'service'.
10k km sounds about right for oil and filter on a second hand car - its only fairly recently that intervals have been significantly extended from that.
cantab1971,
Dec 12, 4:18am
service is oil, filter, air cleaner, fuel filter, inspect fans and belts, inspect auto trans and service if required, inspect cv boots and replace if required, inspect and test cooling system, inspect cam belts and replace according to manufact. recommendations(don't think it has one).
Excess on the warranty is $250 so that has to come into the maths too. If warranty is used will still cost me $250.oh and the servicing is costing between $250 and $300 a time.
cantab1971,
Dec 12, 4:53am
should have added, its a 2003 525 that had 69k on the clock when i bought it.now 92k. ta.
a.woodrow,
Dec 12, 4:59am
unfortunately warranty companies don't allow for the manufacturers recommended servicing, so if you want to be able to claim on your warranty you'll need to follow their guidelines. hopefully one day they will see the light and let the servicing be 'as per manufacturers recommendations' May be worthwhile seeing what the warranty cover is, I've seen free aftermarket warranties included that had maximum payouts of as little as $1250, doesn't take long to use that up, especially on a BMW
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 12, 5:01am
NZ warranty companies are scammers. They do no research and don't even try to offer a decent well priced product. Its a case of a lack of competition I suspect. What they should be doing is requiring you to follow the manufacturers service schedule instead of presuming to know better and trying to generalize everything.
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 12, 5:07am
BTW, I am no BMW expert but I would expect your car has one of those BMW variable maintenance computers. Depending on how you drive you normally may not need to service the vehicle more often than say 30'000km or 2 years (at a guess).
If you wondered how those systems work, I think on older BMW's and the like the cars computer just picks an amount of fuel to be "used" between services and lights up the service light when that amount is consumed. Sneaky aye!
a.woodrow,
Dec 12, 5:07am
+1
I have dealt with many warranty companies and they are shockers, with no idea of goodwill. ai've seen claims denied for ridiculous reasons - one I recall was 600km overdue for service and they declined on that basis!
a.woodrow,
Dec 12, 5:09am
they take into account the speeds you are doing - lots of open road running will extend your intervals, round town will shorten. last I heard the max service interval was 23,000km but they may have increased it since
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 12, 5:12am
I have no idea on the max service interval in terms of km's (you could be well right). However in terms of how the system computes it the older BMW ones just count fuel, in a round about way though it does take speed into account as obviously more town running uses more fuel. That's how they managed to do it way back in the 80's when computers were simple with next to no memory and as far as I am aware it was still the case as of the e39 shape.
thejazzpianoma,
Dec 12, 5:18am
Pathetic aye! I detest how many just choose to charge twice as much for all european makes and models. They take advantage of the silly lies and wives tales told by many in the motoring industry and use them against people who don't know better. Its disgusting really.
cantab1971,
Dec 12, 5:33am
YES! (to the above posts regarding the computer).there are 6 or 8 little lights on the dash when you start it up.they go green to orange to red (from left to right).
and according to the book are based on the way the car is being driven.at orange you should have it serviced.
when I bought it the lights were up to orange, so fair call. for the 2 services since, only 1 or 2 of the green lights have winked out, .there's always been some green lights left!I thought it was a bit gimmicky, but hey.its showing a service isn't due, even after the miles i do.
so its hardly BMW's way of trying to make money for their service agents.!
crzyhrse,
Dec 12, 5:35am
Mechanical warranties are nothing but insurance policies. I personally wouldn't bother with them at all. I believe they are covered by the Insurance and Savings Ombudsman (if the company is party to the scheme) http://www.iombudsman.org.nz and any rulings made by the Ombudsman arising from a somplaint are binding on the underwriter, but not the consumer.
For anyone considering purchasing such a warranty it would be worth verfifying who the warranty underwriters and whether they are a participant before purchasing.
In the case of Janssen, the underwriters are IAG and they ARE a participant in the scheme. I'm sure that if the Ombudsman received a complaint about such an instance he would rule against that. Unfortunately, many people simply accept such ridiculous grounds for rejection when it is not material.
crzyhrse,
Dec 12, 5:41am
At least as far as BMW are concerned. The insurance companies requirements are more strict.
vtecnet,
Dec 12, 6:44am
The warranty only becomes useful if you need a $5000 Tranny rebuild, HeadGasket replacement, engine rebuild, serious electrical issues (faulty airbag ecu, abs etc).
crzyhrse,
Dec 12, 6:47am
AND. it can't be put down to fair wear and tear.
neo_psy,
Dec 12, 6:52am
I'd want to at least be dropping the oil every 10k or so anyway.
Consider it peace of mind.
male_timaru,
Dec 12, 12:01pm
I concur me old mate . my BMW is just finished going through a full on trans service and was just shy of $300 - but money well spent - drives like an absolute dream now .
We thought it had air leak and was using too much fuel due to an issue - until it came to getting the rocker cover off - to find what!Worked cam on it (lol on a 318i ! some people eh)I could well have spent a lot of money trying to find issues - as it was i was lucky enough to have a mate and paid someone else for a 2nd opinion (to verify findings of mate as well through a BMW service agent) that there was no electrical fault (nothing registering) and no mechanical issues (compressions all good and firing was good and delivery perfect of spark etc)so all up $145 to find out what we thought was an error was actually just cam work!VERY RELIEVED and now very impressed with results after trans service .
LOVE my Euros
kazbanz,
Dec 12, 8:25pm
Cantab-setting the warranty company aside for one moment. Just how often do you feel you should service your car! What is the BMW recommended service interval!
smac,
Dec 12, 10:05pm
You haven't clarified what the alternative is - spend ~$300 every 10k to keep the warranty valid, or .what! Do it yourself! Do it less often! Lets say you drop the interval to 20k. You've saved maybe $600 a year doing the k's you're doing! How does that stack up against your fuel bill ($6k!) or what you paid for the car!
vtecintegra,
Dec 12, 10:11pm
Which shape, the older or newer one! (I think both were around in 2003)
cantab1971,
Dec 12, 10:14pm
hiya, its the E39, yeah i think '03 was the last of them. i did a bit of homework and apparenty it was very well regarded, even more so than the one that followed it.the E60!
Regardless I'd be erring on the side of caution especially if you do many urban miles.
smac,
Dec 12, 10:27pm
Ya by all means re-assess when the time comes to renew the warranty, but not meeting the obligations of one you've already paid for in the price of your car seems like bad science.
drew2009,
Dec 12, 10:42pm
10,000km servicing doesn't sound to extreme! Sounds pretty standard really if it was my car i would service it that often regardless. Then again I do all my car servicing myself and if i was paying some bloke to do it I'd probably think different. I take it the service has to be done by a proper workshop under the warranty regulations!
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