Chance of any recourse?

Author
Discussion

ASONI

Original Poster:

245 posts

92 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
Bit of an odd one this and probably nothing I can do now, but it’s always nagged me so thought I’d at least ask.

In feb my 2010 x5 broke down. I knew straight away from the noise it was a serious engine issue.

I had a 3rd party warranty on it.

Got it towed to BMW. I’m going to cut a long story short here, it turned out the bottom end was gone and new engine was needed.

The warranty co were great throughout and agreed to pay out but the limit was value of car (£15k, about right).

Bmw charged just over £17k for the work. I had to pay the £2k+ difference myself.

My gripe is this. Should I have been put in a position where I have to fork out over £2k myself to pay a repair bill thats more than what the car is worth? Surely the whole point of a warranty is so I’m not left forking our huge amounts myself.

I’m obv very grateful for the £15k they did pay, but what if I couldn’t afford the £2k? It’s seems unfair to be forced into a choice between paying £2k myself or scrap a £15k car, when you have pay for a warranty to avoid that.

Does anyone think it’s reasonable in that situation to have given me a cash pay out instead?

Ps before anyone says £17k is too much and I should have taken car elsewhere, when I first towed it to Bmw I never expected a £17k bill and by the time it materialised, my car was in bits and I was already in for about £3/4K with them.



chml

737 posts

108 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
No chance of any recourse. The warranty you took out would’ve made clear what their maximum payout is (value of the car). Given some of the nightmare posts on here from people who have had all sorts of issues with their warranty company paying out I’d be thankful that it didn’t sound like too much of an ordeal for you. Gutting you had to contribute to it but at least you were only on the hook for 2k rather than the full amount thumbup

Jag_NE

2,949 posts

99 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
I’d be thinking the opposite to you....new engine and 17k of work, cost to you only 2k...

DanL

6,176 posts

264 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
Even the official BMW warranty only covers to the purchase price of the car... Given it’s a 3rd party warranty I’d be delighted they paid £15k, considering some of the threads on here.

In terms of where you’d be if you couldn’t afford the extra 2k - you’d be in trouble, but that’s not the warranty company’s fault.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
were you forced to use a main dealer?

valiant

10,064 posts

159 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
Brand new OEM and warranted engine for £2k?

Bit of a win I’d say.


ASONI

Original Poster:

245 posts

92 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
Jag_NE said:
I’d be thinking the opposite to you....new engine and 17k of work, cost to you only 2k...
Definitely how I thought of it hence why it’s only now that I even thought about querying it, just to confirm to myself that all was correct, even though it was gutting to have to pay over £2k myself.

It’s just more the principle that didn’t make sense, ie they paid £15k to Bmw anyway, they could easily have prevented me having to fork out £2k by giving me the money instead, probably sounds too simplistic I know!

ASONI

Original Poster:

245 posts

92 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
Thesprucegoose said:
were you forced to use a main dealer?
Not initially, chose Bmw as I had warranty so knew costs would be covered regardless of what the problem was (obv not realising at the time that the cost would £17k!). But once that became apparent, I was forced to continue with them as it would have cost £3/4K to put my car together in order to take it elsewhere.

BertBert

18,953 posts

210 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
And all this happened nearly 10 years ago?

Lonely

1,099 posts

167 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
BertBert said:
And all this happened nearly 10 years ago?
Read it again Bert. Happened in Feb to a 2010 X5.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
BertBert said:
And all this happened nearly 10 years ago?
Why do you think that Bert?

BertBert

18,953 posts

210 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
REALIST123 said:
BertBert said:
And all this happened nearly 10 years ago?
Why do you think that Bert?
Doh, it's late! Apols biggrin

CanAm

9,114 posts

271 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
Only 1 of the 13 X5s in the PH classifieds is priced over £14,000, many significantly less. £15k from the warranty company seems like a good offer.

Graveworm

8,476 posts

70 months

Saturday 7th December 2019
quotequote all
ASONI said:
Bit of an odd one this and probably nothing I can do now, but it’s always nagged me so thought I’d at least ask.

In feb my 2010 x5 broke down. I knew straight away from the noise it was a serious engine issue.

I had a 3rd party warranty on it.

Got it towed to BMW. I’m going to cut a long story short here, it turned out the bottom end was gone and new engine was needed.

The warranty co were great throughout and agreed to pay out but the limit was value of car (£15k, about right).

Bmw charged just over £17k for the work. I had to pay the £2k+ difference myself.

My gripe is this. Should I have been put in a position where I have to fork out over £2k myself to pay a repair bill thats more than what the car is worth? Surely the whole point of a warranty is so I’m not left forking our huge amounts myself.

I’m obv very grateful for the £15k they did pay, but what if I couldn’t afford the £2k? It’s seems unfair to be forced into a choice between paying £2k myself or scrap a £15k car, when you have pay for a warranty to avoid that.

Does anyone think it’s reasonable in that situation to have given me a cash pay out instead?

Ps before anyone says £17k is too much and I should have taken car elsewhere, when I first towed it to Bmw I never expected a £17k bill and by the time it materialised, my car was in bits and I was already in for about £3/4K with them.
After being fixed you can presumably sell the car for at least 15K. So effectively a 13K cash payout. The warranty company honoured their deal with you.

Durzel

12,232 posts

167 months

Sunday 8th December 2019
quotequote all
Jag_NE said:
I’d be thinking the opposite to you....new engine and 17k of work, cost to you only 2k...
This. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

ninepoint2

3,260 posts

159 months

Sunday 8th December 2019
quotequote all
Jag_NE said:
I’d be thinking the opposite to you....new engine and 17k of work, cost to you only 2k...
+1

ASONI

Original Poster:

245 posts

92 months

Sunday 8th December 2019
quotequote all
Durzel said:
This. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.
As said, I’m grateful for what they did pay out so my view is very much weighted in that direction (ie being grateful).

ASONI

Original Poster:

245 posts

92 months

Sunday 8th December 2019
quotequote all
CanAm said:
Only 1 of the 13 X5s in the PH classifieds is priced over £14,000, many significantly less. £15k from the warranty company seems like a good offer.
At the time £15k was about right, it’s a 40d.

Evolved

3,553 posts

186 months

Sunday 8th December 2019
quotequote all
I’d be counting my lucky stars!


Durzel

12,232 posts

167 months

Sunday 8th December 2019
quotequote all
ASONI said:
As said, I’m grateful for what they did pay out so my view is very much weighted in that direction (ie being grateful).
It’s not ideal that you had to pay £2k. On a purely emotional level having to pay money when you’ve got a warranty policy in force meant to stop you having to pay money will feel aggravating. I sympathise there.

That said, what has amounted to a very significant bill - considerably more than would’ve written off the car if it had been an insurance claim, you’ve ended up with a car with a brand new engine for only £2k. Definitely a glass half full moment I think smile