[rborane]

Anyone recommend any good warranties to look at if i'm purchasing a '07 335i private party?

[vespa]

Extended warranties are a scam. Never buy one for any car or anything else.

[timothy2001]

Originally Posted by vespa

Extended warranties are a scam. Never buy one for any car or anything else.

What? While true for most products it can make very good financial sense (pun intended) for an N54. OP I can't help you but you will find plenty of forum members who will advocate both ways.

[Wilt]

The value of any extended warranty is dependent upon a combination of factors (unique to you specifically)...

1. How many miles on the car now
2. How many miles you expect to put on it during the period of extended warranty coverage
3. What typically fails in your make/model in the interval established by #1 + #2
4. How much the warranty costs you vs. likely failures (#3) which are paid for by the warranty coverage
5. What SPECIFIC EXCLUSIONS are NOT COVERED by the warranty coverage

[MineralweissIS]

Many members of this BMW forum and others have vouched for Route '66.

Their customer service seems to be highly rated and have minimal exclusions.

When I was looking to buy private party that was the warranty I was going to purchase. I ended up buying a CPO instead.

[335commuter]

I purchased an aftermarket warranty for the first time on my 335. I bought the car with just under 90k on it and planned on racking up the miles on it as a commuter car. My rationale was that I was all but guaranteed at least a water pump failure and likely turbo and hpfp issues. With a 40k warranty for little over 2k that covered power train, suspension (control arms) and some electronics, it seemed like a good investment. The main deciding factor was the limited service history the car came with. 10k miles into the warranty, it is about half paid for after the water pump went - almost at exactly 100k miles. They gave me no problems. I could take the car wherever I wanted, and they paid for the tow. There were some costs on my end, $100 deductible, difference between their $90 labor rate and that of the shop, and the difference between OEM and quality aftermarket parts. Ultimately, I am hoping to come out ahead. In the past, I would have fixed everything myself. Now I don't have the time and knowing the issues on 335 and the cars limited service history, it seemed like a good bet.

[335commuter]

Originally Posted by Wilt

The value of any extended warranty is dependent upon a combination of factors (unique to you specifically)...

1. How many miles on the car now
2. How many miles you expect to put on it during the period of extended warranty coverage
3. What typically fails in your make/model in the interval established by #1 + #2
4. How much the warranty costs you vs. likely failures (#3) which are paid for by the warranty coverage
5. What SPECIFIC EXCLUSIONS are NOT COVERED by the warranty coverage

Exactly!

[B.M.W.]

Route 66 has been great for a few other members & me so far. It payed for itself when I had to replace my water pump, injectors & a tire all at once.

And I still have 4 years left on it!

[csu87]

If you are buying a used bmw, you should get an extended warranty and run away from any advice vespa gives you

[alexg212]

Most of the third party warranties are scams. Particularly ones used car dealers sell. There are a handful of legitimate ones, Route 66 being one of them.

[335NJ]

Mines through Alpha, "A+ coverage" plan. Cost me 2k for 5yr/100k on top of the 37k it had when I bought it.

So far, my car has been a tank, but I just had the water pump and thermostat replaced under warranty, so it still hasn't paid for itself, but I'm more than halfway there.

The peace of mind is great.

[Swish]

Originally Posted by B.M.W.

Route 66 has been great for a few other members & me so far. It payed for itself when I had to replace my water pump, injectors & a tire all at once.

And I still have 4 years left on it!

Originally Posted by rborane

Anyone recommend any good warranties to look at if i'm purchasing a '07 335i private party?

You can't buy a warranty directly from them. Contact them and they will tell where you can buy one, usually at a local credit union.

Question; has the car been modified? If so, that could be a deal-killer with them.

[nikosaur]

Originally Posted by Swish

You can't buy a warranty directly from them. Contact them and they will tell where you can buy one, usually at a local credit union.

Question; has the car been modified? If so, that could be a deal-killer with them.

There are ways around being modified if you have a good relationship with your indy shop. They get paid for warranty work they do on your car modded or not.

[Maestro]

I think it comes down to the company providing them. I have done some searching around and specifically looked at complaints about the various companies and most have lots of complaints of refusing to cover something since they have all these exception.

On BMW the ones i have seen most offen was fluid related they deny the claim lack of maintenance. As we know BMW have seal drivetrains and the fluids do not need to be changed or the maintenance interval is long. I have seen a number of people who had an issue with an automatic transmission and the warrant company refused to pay for the repair and claim the transmission was not properly maintain since the fuild was low or something else. People said that even BMW mechanic and service department back it up say there is nothing the user could have done to prevent the issue and BMW would cover it under their warranty, but these warranty companies refuse to cover it. I also seen people get their waterpump claim denied because they could not show a histroy of the coolent being changed.

The other issue with many of the warranty companies they will not allow any work to be done unless they have some come out and verify the issue and this could take days. Many times the person doing the inspection are not familar with the car they are even looking at. I would avoid any company requiring you get pre-approval inspection for work at any authorize dealer like BMW. You would imagine that BMW is quite qualitified to determine what is wrong with the car.

[csu87]

I have a Vehicle One warranty I got from my dealer when I bought my car. A couple grand for 3yr 36k miles that covers everything in the car that isnt a consumable. Only thing the warranty doesnt cover is bulbs, tires and brake wear. Havent had an issue with anything being covered, including HPFP and LPFP while tuned.

[Deep_Sea_Diver]

Originally Posted by B.M.W.

Route 66 has been great for a few other members & me so far. It payed for itself when I had to replace my water pump, injectors & a tire all at once.

And I still have 4 years left on it!

Did you just open up a small savings account with the credit union up in San Francisco to qualify for the warranty? I was also wondering if you can just add it onto a BMW warranty because I have only heard great things about Route 66 so I would go through certain warranty claims with them.

[B.M.W.]

Originally Posted by Deep_Sea_Diver

Did you just open up a small savings account with the credit union up in San Francisco to qualify for the warranty? I was also wondering if you can just add it onto a BMW warranty because I have only heard great things about Route 66 so I would go through certain warranty claims with them.

No the previous owner had the warranty & it carried over to me when I bought the car from him. Others have told me they went to a credit union to get it after buying their cars so it all just depends.

[Deep_Sea_Diver]

Originally Posted by B.M.W.

No the previous owner had the warranty & it carried over to me when I bought the car from him. Others have told me they went to a credit union to get it after buying their cars so it all just depends.

Ok perfect, thanks! I will have to look into it when I end up getting a 335.