BMW parts warranty
Discussion
If you have a look through BMW's parts literature, they state in various places: "every Genuine BMW Part comes with a two-year, fitted parts warranty". That's pretty unequivocal and doesn't have any asterisks or caveats.
My car had a new alternator fitted on 30 April 2010. It was under warranty at the time so an excess of £100 was paid for the replacement. That warranty has expired now. But so has the alternator; it is squealing, after only 8 months, and needs to be replaced. But BMW now say that because the part was fitted under warranty, it doesn't have the two-year warranty which comes with "every Genuine BMW Part".
Seems a bit ridiculous and I will be taking this further, but if anyone has had a similar experience and can give me the benefit of that, I'd be grateful.
My car had a new alternator fitted on 30 April 2010. It was under warranty at the time so an excess of £100 was paid for the replacement. That warranty has expired now. But so has the alternator; it is squealing, after only 8 months, and needs to be replaced. But BMW now say that because the part was fitted under warranty, it doesn't have the two-year warranty which comes with "every Genuine BMW Part".
Seems a bit ridiculous and I will be taking this further, but if anyone has had a similar experience and can give me the benefit of that, I'd be grateful.
Jobbo said:
If you have a look through BMW's parts literature, they state in various places: "every Genuine BMW Part comes with a two-year, fitted parts warranty". That's pretty unequivocal and doesn't have any asterisks or caveats.
My car had a new alternator fitted on 30 April 2010. It was under warranty at the time so an excess of £100 was paid for the replacement. That warranty has expired now. But so has the alternator; it is squealing, after only 8 months, and needs to be replaced. But BMW now say that because the part was fitted under warranty, it doesn't have the two-year warranty which comes with "every Genuine BMW Part".
Seems a bit ridiculous and I will be taking this further, but if anyone has had a similar experience and can give me the benefit of that, I'd be grateful.
Every part you buy has a two year warranty. Sadly though you didnt buy the alternator so it has no extra warranty.My car had a new alternator fitted on 30 April 2010. It was under warranty at the time so an excess of £100 was paid for the replacement. That warranty has expired now. But so has the alternator; it is squealing, after only 8 months, and needs to be replaced. But BMW now say that because the part was fitted under warranty, it doesn't have the two-year warranty which comes with "every Genuine BMW Part".
Seems a bit ridiculous and I will be taking this further, but if anyone has had a similar experience and can give me the benefit of that, I'd be grateful.
It doesn't state every part you buy, it states every Genuine BMW Part. If a previous owner had paid for it, I would still be covered - it's not a strict contractual arrangement which requires me to make payment.
By paying the excess under the warranty, there is part payment for the replacement alternator too. Which BMW are currently denying.
By paying the excess under the warranty, there is part payment for the replacement alternator too. Which BMW are currently denying.
I think BMW are just using the general principle that an item replaced under warranty doesn't restart the warranty clock which is correct. However 8 months for an alternator is ridiculous - phone BMW GB customer services.
Steven Quas , Hamburg
Steven Quas , Hamburg
Edited by Steven Quas on Thursday 20th January 14:38
The part should be warranted in its own right, whether or not it was replaced under warranty. The only distinction between it being replaced under warranty and me paying for it is that the cost is covered by a third party; however, if a previous owner had paid for it, I would still be covered so that's not sufficient grounds to object, in my view.
It's with BMW customer services currently, though I imagine I'm not going to have an answer quickly, unfortunately.
It's with BMW customer services currently, though I imagine I'm not going to have an answer quickly, unfortunately.
Edited by Jobbo on Thursday 20th January 14:47
Jobbo said:
By paying the excess under the warranty, there is part payment for the replacement alternator too. Which BMW are currently denying.
That is an interesting point that I hadn't considered. You may be right that accepting part payment gives you rights. However I suspect these rights would be under the Sale of Goods Act even if it doesn't extend the warranty. If you have legal cover with your household insurance, they tend to have a helpline.Steven Quas , Hamburg
Edited by Steven Quas on Thursday 20th January 16:33
Jobbo said:
Cheers Steven - fortunately I'm a lawyer anyway so don't need to refer it to a third party under my legal expenses cover. Which also means it may get sorted before the end of tomorrow, rather than me taking the car back as is and then going to court.
Jobbo - Being a lawyer it sounds like you're in a good position to force them to replace it. I'm sure you have a better idea than me, but my understanding is that denial of SOGA rights became a criminal offence when this legislation came about: The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. If BMW continue to be unreasonable, they might start to pay a little more attention when you point out that it's no longer just a civil matter.Good luck and do let us know how you get on.
Steven
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2008/978011081...
Edited by Steven Quas on Friday 21st January 15:09
According to the dealer, it falls into an odd lacuna. BMW extended warranty (under which the alternator was replaced last year) is through Mondial Insurance. BMW parts' 2-year warranty is from BMW AG. The dealer says that Mondial therefore have the benefit of the parts warranty and will attempt to get the cost of the part back from BMW AG, whereupon I'll get my £100 back. On what basis Mondial have covered the majority of the cost this time I do not know!
Ah, I'm not talking about the 3rd year of the new car warranty, but the extended warranty after that: www.bmw-warranty.co.uk
Yes, on the 330i. You know it's possible to extend the warranty up to 100k miles, don't you? It's on 92k currently. You can extend the drivetrain warranty indefinitely though I don't know how much the premiums will be; I'm going to keep paying £26/month until my gearbox breaks and then when it's been replaced, stop bothering.
FWIW, I don't currently have any extended warranty other than the driveline one (which basically only covers engine and gearbox, not ancillaries), but it did have when the alternator was replaced last April, before I bought the car.
FWIW, I don't currently have any extended warranty other than the driveline one (which basically only covers engine and gearbox, not ancillaries), but it did have when the alternator was replaced last April, before I bought the car.
Yes I'm aware you can but the cost and exclusion list become so large that its questionable whether its worth the investment at that age and mileage.
Be good to hear from your experiences though, have you found the warranty still useful at that age and mileage or have they weaseled out of some of the claims?
Be good to hear from your experiences though, have you found the warranty still useful at that age and mileage or have they weaseled out of some of the claims?
I haven't had any warranty on the 330i other than the driveline one, as I mentioned - but the cover is exactly the same whether the car is on 30k miles and 3 years old, or 99k miles and 10 years old. The exclusions don't change; service/wearing components are excluded, and what is covered is set out clearly.
My previous 545i was 6 years old and had 81k miles and was under extended Comprehensive warranty and my experience with that was excellent. They simply covered everything as if it was a new car, though subject to me paying an excess of £100.
My previous 545i was 6 years old and had 81k miles and was under extended Comprehensive warranty and my experience with that was excellent. They simply covered everything as if it was a new car, though subject to me paying an excess of £100.
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