bmw failed turbo - Insurance wont pay!!!!!

[CathyandJimp]

Hi, I'm new on PistonHeads and in need of some advice please!
Bought a second hand BMW X3 2006 in January and noticed a burning smell from the exhaust so I took it to a garage approved by Warranty Assist (the dealer I bought the car from insisted we took out 12mnth Gold Warranty cover) The garage have diagnosed the problem and advise a new turbo plus cleaning filters etc.
Warranty Assist have informed us that they are not going to cover the cost of the turbo as in their terms and conditions the failure is not due to a 'Sudden Breakdown' (meaning unexpected failure of a component) they are basically saying it is down to wear and tear.

My understanding is that a turbo should last the life of the car and it failing was 'sudden and unexpected'

I would be grateful for any advice you can give me to help me fight my corner please?

[eybic]

Have the diagnosing garage confirmed a likely cause? Oil starvation etc. etc. etc.

[anonymous-user]

What are the service intervals on these? If they are 20k miles then I am not surprised it has failed. Personally I think engines would last a lot longer if manufacturers went back to the 10/12K service intervals of the past.

[catman]

Did you explain the problem to the supplying Dealer at the time?

Tim

[Little Pete]

Most aftermarket warranties are breakdown warranties. As you’ve already been told, the vehicle has to experience a sudden mechanical or electrical breakdown. It probably wasn’t how you were sold it but that’s another story. You haven’t got a claim I’m afraid.

[crusty]

If the Turbo is listed as a covered component, then you should be covered.

It's exactly the same if something like wheel bearings are listed, if/when they fail it's not sudden but will be covered by the warranty

[anonymous-user]

Joey Deacon said:

What are the service intervals on these? If they are 20k miles then I am not surprised it has failed. Personally I think engines would last a lot longer if manufacturers went back to the 10/12K service intervals of the past.

Turbos used to be common failure points back when service intervals were 6k miles a year, they don't last forever but things have come a long way.

OP how many miles are on the car? You may just have to suck this one up.

[Evercross]

CathyandJimp said:

the dealer I bought the car from insisted we took out 12mnth Gold Warranty cover

You were under no obligation to take the 'warranty' regardless of their insistence so the above point is irrelevant.

If you considered it worthwhile you should have checked the terms and conditions before taking it out, plus check out reviews on-line from other customers.

I suspect that for a 13 year-old car it is going to be impossible to prove or convince anyone that this was a "sudden failure".

crusty said:

If the Turbo is listed as a covered component, then you should be covered.

Only if other terms and conditions do not rule out the circumstances of the failure. This really does come down to interpretation of the T's and C's.

Straight away I see a problem as Warranty Assist only offer Gold cover for cars up to 10 years old. I think best bet is to go to the ombudsman and make a claim for the premiums to be returned as the warranty was missold.

Edited by Evercross on Tuesday 10th September 13:27

[rallycross]

CathyandJimp said:

Hi, I'm new on PistonHeads and in need of some advice please!
Bought a second hand BMW X3 2006 in January and noticed a burning smell from the exhaust so I took it to a garage approved by Warranty Assist (the dealer I bought the car from insisted we took out 12mnth Gold Warranty cover) The garage have diagnosed the problem and advise a new turbo plus cleaning filters etc.
Warranty Assist have informed us that they are not going to cover the cost of the turbo as in their terms and conditions the failure is not due to a 'Sudden Breakdown' (meaning unexpected failure of a component) they are basically saying it is down to wear and tear.

My understanding is that a turbo should last the life of the car and it failing was 'sudden and unexpected'

I would be grateful for any advice you can give me to help me fight my corner please?

On a 13 yr old car these warranties do not cover things like clutch, turbo etc will always be classed as wear and tear, unless something fails massively and it wont move it will be explained as wear and tear.

Go back to the dealer who sold you the warranty and ask them to help and see what they say.

You can get the turbo rebuilt and re-ftted and it will be fine for another 10 yrs plus.
The cost depends on the model but could be less than £300-£500 to be rebuilt/exchanged for a recon unit.

Try and get a quote from these people they do lots of turbo rebuilds for garages.

turbo developments in Brentford https://www.turbodevelopments.co.uk/.

[xjay1337]

CathyandJimp said:

Hi, I'm new on PistonHeads and in need of some advice please!
Bought a second hand BMW X3 2006 in January and noticed a burning smell from the exhaust so I took it to a garage approved by Warranty Assist (the dealer I bought the car from insisted we took out 12mnth Gold Warranty cover) The garage have diagnosed the problem and advise a new turbo plus cleaning filters etc.
Warranty Assist have informed us that they are not going to cover the cost of the turbo as in their terms and conditions the failure is not due to a 'Sudden Breakdown' (meaning unexpected failure of a component) they are basically saying it is down to wear and tear.

My understanding is that a turbo should last the life of the car and it failing was 'sudden and unexpected'

I would be grateful for any advice you can give me to help me fight my corner please?

The only aftermarket warranty that's any good for BMW's is BMW Insured.

Unfortunately you would not get anywhere with the warranty company, even though they should honour it.

[Roger Irrelevant]

rallycross said:

On a 13 yr old car these warranties do not cover things like clutch, turbo etc will always be classed as wear and tear, unless something fails massively and it wont move it will be explained as wear and tear.

Go back to the dealer who sold you the warranty and ask them to help and see what they say.

You can get the turbo rebuilt and re-ftted and it will be fine for another 10 yrs plus.
The cost depends on the model but could be less than £300-£500 to be rebuilt/exchanged for a recon unit.

Try and get a quote from these people they do lots of turbo rebuilds for garages.

turbo developments in Brentford https://www.turbodevelopments.co.uk/.

This is good advice - essentially a warranty is there to cover you against parts that fail due to manufacturing defects. If a turbo has lasted 13 years (and I presume a fair few miles), before gradually giving up then I don't think you'll have much luck convincing anybody it must have been dodgy to start with. Tbh I've never considered the sort of warranty you get with older cars sold by dealers as being worth anything - your SOGA/CRA rights are much more valuable but I don't think you'd have much luck with that either - I'd just chalk this up as being part of running an older car.

[Plate spinner]

rallycross said:

On a 13 yr old car these warranties do not cover things like clutch, turbo etc will always be classed as wear and tear, unless something fails massively and it wont move it will be explained as wear and tear.

Go back to the dealer who sold you the warranty and ask them to help and see what they say.

You can get the turbo rebuilt and re-ftted and it will be fine for another 10 yrs plus.
The cost depends on the model but could be less than £300-£500 to be rebuilt/exchanged for a recon unit.

Try and get a quote from these people they do lots of turbo rebuilds for garages.

turbo developments in Brentford https://www.turbodevelopments.co.uk/.

Agreed. Cars and their components wear out.

The only decent warranty is buying brand new... and even then they’ll all try and wriggle themselves off the hook where they can!

[Greg the Fish]

a 13 year old BMW broke down??? SHOCK HORROR!

[ToothbrushMan]

key word= "sudden". you have no claim under this type of warranty. Time to take a deep breath.

[sparks_190e]

Sorry, those warranties don't cover turbos. You don't have a chance of any help so I'm afraid you'll just have to suck it up and have it repaired/replaced. You are probably looking at around £1-£1.5k fitted for a reconditioned unit.

When I worked for VW, even the "new" turbos we replaced under warranty were actually reconditioned as VW didn't supply new ones. They were as good as new though.

[xjay1337]

sparks_190e said:

Sorry, those warranties don't cover turbos. You don't have a chance of any help so I'm afraid you'll just have to suck it up and have it repaired/replaced. You are probably looking at around £1-£1.5k fitted for a reconditioned unit.

When I worked for VW, even the "new" turbos we replaced under warranty were actually reconditioned as VW didn't supply new ones. They were as good as new though.

Seems a lot.
vw tdi turbos are around 600 fitted and much less room to change a turbo on those!

But anyway I think they should cover turbos.
My bmw insured warranty does!

[Weekendrebuild]

In my opinion it’s a wear an tear item especially at that age ! I would presume it’s on its second turbo by now , or been refurbed. Why don’t you just get seals replaced an recurved on existing turbo ?

[Electro1980]

Joey Deacon said:

What are the service intervals on these? If they are 20k miles then I am not surprised it has failed. Personally I think engines would last a lot longer if manufacturers went back to the 10/12K service intervals of the past.

Every fking time. It’s a 13 year old car. You could change the oil every day and a turbo could still fail at that age.

[Condi]

xjay1337 said:

Seems a lot.
vw tdi turbos are around 600 fitted and much less room to change a turbo on those!

Depends on what else needs done. A 'turbo' can include all the pipework, new or flushed intercooler etc. From memory a friend's Golf was 4 figures when the turbo went, and that was done at mates rates labour.

[Weekendrebuild]

Electro1980 said:

Every fking time. It’s a 13 year old car. You could change the oil every day and a turbo could still fail at that age.

Brilliant !! Spot on tho