BMW or Warranty Direct

[M-J-B]

I know this has and will always be done to death, but my 535D is now due a warranty. I've searched and there are as many threads advocating Warranty Direct as there are BMW!

BMW £1325.00 top cover
Warranty Direct £589.00

This is without haggling on either yet, although the BMW chap suggested there was no room for movement.....!

Your thoughts please gents.

[Mattt]

Ignoring the price, BMW. They've never quibbled, and I'm confident anything that happened would be covered.

3rd party I'd always think that I was in for a fight.

[MidlandDan84]

I have a 3 year warranty with RAC on my E90, had the door lock replaced without any quibbles(the whole mechanism gave up the ghost), i did get a quote from BMW but over the same period was roughly 6 times the price and at the time i couldnt justify it.

Money no object go with BMW.

Edited by MidlandDan84 on Tuesday 1st June 15:39

[Mattt]

Only you can decide.

I have BMW Warranty though, I feel the extra is worth the piece of mind.

[M-J-B]

Mattt said:

Ignoring the price, BMW. They've never quibbled, and I'm confident anything that happened would be covered.

3rd party I'd always think that I was in for a fight.

Massive difference in cost though - is it justified?

[Ranger 6]

Not really like-for-like with WD if you take the top BMW cover.

Take a couple of steps down the BMW price, lose the recovery and pay a sensible excess and it's the best option without a doubt.

[Toilet Duck]

M-J-B said:

BMW £1325.00 top cover

On a 535D? Why is this so expensive? Have you done over 60K miles? My E46 M3 costs just under a grand for the top cover BMW warranty, no excess and their breakdown cover. I'm happy to pay that rather than save a few quid and chance a "non BMW" warranty, the piece of mind is worth it.

[chrisx666]

£1325 seems a tad steep, my BMW insured warranty 645 was £700 including emergency service - but with £100 excess. Is it over 60K miles? that might explain the difference thinking about it.

Claimed on both the BMW AUC and BMW insured warranties - both times totally quibble-free.

[M-J-B]

63,000 miles on the clock.

I am a tiny bit surprised it's so expensive even with that mileage!

[gizlaroc]

I have always used warranty direct and they have always paid out, it is an insurance and even covers wear and tear.

Tell them you will do it if they give you their top cover policy and do it monthly at £45 a month. Think that is a fair price.

Even the guys at BMW, who I know well, said they found it easier to get the claim approved with Warranty Direct than they do with Mondial, who is the insurer BMW now use for their warranty.

Edited by gizlaroc on Tuesday 1st June 22:56

[bp1]

BMW warranty also has a £100 excess on it, so you pay the cost and then fork out that every time something goes wrong. Had it for the first year on the 6, but then they wanted 900 odd to renew. Told them no thanks. In that time it needed a water pump, so £400 for that as opposed to over £1000 for the warranty and excess.

[Ranger 6]

bp1 said:

BMW warranty also has a £100 excess on it....

You do have a choice on that, lower premium and pay the excess or higher premium and no excess.

[Toilet Duck]

gizlaroc said:

I have always used warranty direct and they have always paid out, it is an insurance and even covers wear and tear.

Which "wear and tear" items? I've never heard of a warranty/policy that covers clutch and brake facings, tyres, windscreen wipers etc.

[6BMW]

WD all day any day - the policy is more comprehensive than BMW (Mondia's) and covers wear and tear which the Mondial don't cover.

When WD call you to haggle you will probably get the luxury care cover for around £400 all in which is phenominal value for what it covers.

Had it on 2 different cars over 2 years and have claimed over £2k in total with never a problem except a 60 day payment wait.

[richterswil]

I have a WD policy on my 535d - I've had 2 wheel bearing failures in the past 2 months. They paid out on the first with no problems at all (bit of a faff getting authorisation for investigative time though) but said they wouldn't pay on the second. I sent them a snotty letter and after a bit of coming and going they have agreed to pay for the second bearing too.

Given the price difference it is a no brainer in my view - I pay around £45 per month.

They are all insurance policies so it isn't down to BMW to authorise the work on an extended warranty anyway.

Your pay your money..........

[Toilet Duck]

6BMW said:

WD all day any day - the policy is more comprehensive than BMW (Mondia's) and covers wear and tear which the Mondial don't cover.

Which "wear and tear" items?

[Toilet Duck]

richterswil said:

I have a WD policy on my 535d - I've had 2 wheel bearing failures in the past 2 months. They paid out on the first with no problems at all (bit of a faff getting authorisation for investigative time though) but said they wouldn't pay on the second.

Out of curiosity, what excuse did they use to try and get out of paying?

[ATM]

I had a DPF fail on my 330d so I sold it. Its basically a cat for diesel cars for those reading this who are confused. Price new from BMW over 1000. Would WD cover something like this?

[gizlaroc]

ATM said:

I had a DPF fail on my 330d so I sold it. Its basically a cat for diesel cars for those reading this who are confused. Price new from BMW over 1000. Would WD cover something like this?

Not sure, however, you could have just removed it, gives around 18bhp gains as well when you do.

http://www.warrantydirect.co.uk/summary_m.html

[M-J-B]

Just had a call from WD and they have offered top cover to include sat nav etc for £450.

I'm going to have a look at their policy in detail and go from there.