[pruettfan]

Since we are getting a fair number of folks getting their cars in the coming weeks or months I thought I would mention a good and very cheap way to provide warranty coverage outside of buying one of the expensive warranties from the dealer. Geico offers Mechanical Breakdown Insurance for all cars under 15 months old and 15,000 miles for the original owner. It covers the car for 6 years or 100,000 miles and covers every system of the car short of wear items. You can take your car to any dealer or mechanic and you pay a $250.00 deductible per visit regardless of the number or cost of repairs. Some of the benefits of this is its very cheap, you have flexibility, its comprehensive and you are not adding a costly warranty to your financing of your car.

I follow the auto industry closely and found myself on a finance and insurance message board for folks that work in auto dealers and the F&I guys hate this plan because as they stated in one of the posts they cannot do anything to shoot it down as inferior to what they sell short of pointing to the deductible. One guy said he cringes when he sees a geico proof of insurance because he knows even if he sells the warranty when they go to add the car to their insurance more often than not they will cancel because they will sign up for MBI.

I have been with USAA for a while and like them but I will be going back to Geico in a year to take advantage of this protection.

Just wanted to share it with you for those concerned about life after the factory warranty.

[mokrunka]

This is excellent information and advice. Thank you for sharing.

[lax01]

Is there a deductible with the BMW extended plan? Any difference in coverage? What does the Geico insurance cost (typically)?

[arquitecto]

This sounds like a great plan, than you for bringing it to our attention!

Are the 6 years of coverage from when you purchase the plan or from when the factory warranty expires?

[zumbido]

Interesting. Wish I would have known about this option a week ago. I've been a Geico member for a while and I'm surprised they've never mentioned it. As it's called Mechanical Breakdown Insurance, I'm assuming it doesn't cover electrical, which should be considered when comparing costs to certain BMW warranties.

[blackholescion]

Originally Posted by lax01

Is there a deductible with the BMW extended plan? Any difference in coverage? What does the Geico insurance cost (typically)?

Mine is $84/6 months for the MBI. Obviously prices vary depending on region.

Originally Posted by arquitecto

This sounds like a great plan, than you for bringing it to our attention!

Are the 6 years of coverage from when you purchase the plan or from when the factory warranty expires?

7 years from purchase of car. It's actually 7/100k. Despite what the website says, they will back date it. It's just like BMW's extended warranty in that it expires when the car itself is 7 years old ,regardless of when you bought it.

https://www.geico.com/auto-insurance...own-insurance/

Originally Posted by zumbido

Interesting. Wish I would have known about this option a week ago. I've been a Geico member for a while and I'm surprised they've never mentioned it. As it's called Mechanical Breakdown Insurance, I'm assuming it doesn't cover electrical, which should be considered when comparing costs to certain BMW warranties.

Mechanical Breakdown covers repairs to the following systems: engine, transmission, drive axle, steering, suspension, air conditioning, brakes, electrical, cooling, and more. This coverage includes a $250.00 deductible for repairs.

If your car is younger than 15 months or 15k miles, you can still opt into it.

This is 100% better than any extended warranty a dealer can sell you. It's really no contest.

[arquitecto]

Originally Posted by blackholescion

Mine is $84/6 months for the MBI. Obviously prices vary depending on region.



7 years from purchase of car. It's actually 7/100k. Despite what the website says, they will back date it. It's just like BMW's extended warranty in that it expires when the car itself is 7 years old ,regardless of when you bought it.

https://www.geico.com/auto-insurance...own-insurance/



Mechanical Breakdown covers repairs to the following systems: engine, transmission, drive axle, steering, suspension, air conditioning, brakes, electrical, cooling, and more. This coverage includes a $250.00 deductible for repairs.

If your car is younger than 15 months or 15k miles, you can still opt into it.

This is 100% better than any extended warranty a dealer can sell you. It's really no contest.

Thanks for the info, will definitely be looking into this.

[zumbido]

Originally Posted by blackholescion

Mine is $84/6 months for the MBI. Obviously prices vary depending on region.



7 years from purchase of car. It's actually 7/100k. Despite what the website says, they will back date it. It's just like BMW's extended warranty in that it expires when the car itself is 7 years old ,regardless of when you bought it.

https://www.geico.com/auto-insurance...own-insurance/



Mechanical Breakdown covers repairs to the following systems: engine, transmission, drive axle, steering, suspension, air conditioning, brakes, electrical, cooling, and more. This coverage includes a $250.00 deductible for repairs.

If your car is younger than 15 months or 15k miles, you can still opt into it.

This is 100% better than any extended warranty a dealer can sell you. It's really no contest.

Well there you go. Though I'm still a bit skeptical. I don't understand if the product is so good why they wouldn't advertise it. Unless it's precisely because it's so good if too many people sign up, Geico's liabilities sky rocket. I may have to cancel my BMW EW...

[blackholescion]

Originally Posted by zumbido

Well there you go. Though I'm still a bit skeptical. I don't understand if the product is so good why they wouldn't advertise it. Unless it's precisely because it's so good if too many people sign up, Geico's liabilities sky rocket. I may have to cancel my BMW EW...

Most people can't afford the premium is my guess. Geico added it to my car without me knowing (or maybe they told me and I authorized it without paying attention) when I first registered it with them. Then I found out about it later and went to check to add it and it was already there.

How many people pay for the rental car or towing coverage? I'd venture to guess not that many even though those services are amazing to have as well.

Then there's the elephant in the room. Geico's rates. They will pay a certain amount for parts and hours regardless of what the shop charges and you're SOL if the shop won't play. Either pay the difference or take it somewhere else. Usually, it's best to work through Geico and make sure they've worked with the shop before and won't charge you extra.

When I got in a wreck (previous car), I made sure the shop was reputable and that they wouldn't have issues with Geico and their rates. Everything was as smooth as could be.

Plus cars are inherently reliable these days. People either lease or buy Honda/Toyota/Nissan/etc which means the chance of issues are low. And volume and all that. I struggle to see how insurance companies make money anyway but I guess with enough people paying for coverage they don't end up using, it doesn't hurt their bottom line too much. This kind of offer would keep me with Geico even if they raised their rates marginally for example.

[zumbido]

Originally Posted by blackholescion

Mine is $84/6 months for the MBI. Obviously prices vary depending on region.

Originally Posted by blackholescion

Most people can't afford the premium is my guess. Geico added it to my car without me knowing (or maybe they told me and I authorized it without paying attention) when I first registered it with them. Then I found out about it later and went to check to add it and it was already there.

How many people pay for the rental car or towing coverage? I'd venture to guess not that many even though those services are amazing to have as well.

Then there's the elephant in the room. Geico's rates. They will pay a certain amount for parts and hours regardless of what the shop charges and you're SOL if the shop won't play. Either pay the difference or take it somewhere else. Usually, it's best to work through Geico and make sure they've worked with the shop before and won't charge you extra.

When I got in a wreck (previous car), I made sure the shop was reputable and that they wouldn't have issues with Geico and their rates. Everything was as smooth as could be.

Plus cars are inherently reliable these days. People either lease or buy Honda/Toyota/Nissan/etc which means the chance of issues are low. And volume and all that. I struggle to see how insurance companies make money anyway but I guess with enough people paying for coverage they don't end up using, it doesn't hurt their bottom line too much. This kind of offer would keep me with Geico even if they raised their rates marginally for example.

I just checked my policy and it's also already included. When you say $80, is that your premium for the extended MBI?

[mokrunka]

I think it may be typically included if you have some variant of full coverage. I had an F250 about 4 years ago that needed about $10k worth of electrical work due to a disastrous failure. Not wanting to pay it out of pocket, I just claimed it on my insurance. This problem was related to a tire blowout though, so maybe that's why it was covered... This was liberty mutual.

[blackholescion]

Originally Posted by zumbido

I just checked my policy and it's also already included. When you say $80, is that your premium for the extended MBI?

Correct. $84 is just for the MBI for 6 months. NC has cheaper insurance than a lot of places due to the way it's calculated here. It is based on not just cost of the car and what coverage you have, but also parts cost and parts availability. Because a lot of the parts are carried over from the 2 series, you can get them for less than if they were bespoke M only parts.

When I was first insuring in NC, I was surprised myself. All companies when I lived in WA were somewhere around $120 a month for my STi. I moved to NC and it was $70 a month. They explained it was because parts were plentiful and lots could easily be grabbed from a base Impreza.

[atxsk8r]

Originally Posted by lax01

What does the Geico insurance cost (typically)?

I just signed a new policy with Geico and i'm paying $490 for 6 months. This is without MBI which i don't need because i usually only keep a car for 2-3 years.

[fusion0389]

Originally Posted by pruettfan

Since we are getting a fair number of folks getting their cars in the coming weeks or months I thought I would mention a good and very cheap way to provide warranty coverage outside of buying one of the expensive warranties from the dealer. Geico offers Mechanical Breakdown Insurance for all cars under 15 months old and 15,000 miles for the original owner. It covers the car for 6 years or 100,000 miles and covers every system of the car short of wear items. You can take your car to any dealer or mechanic and you pay a $250.00 deductible per visit regardless of the number or cost of repairs. Some of the benefits of this is its very cheap, you have flexibility, its comprehensive and you are not adding a costly warranty to your financing of your car.

I follow the auto industry closely and found myself on a finance and insurance message board for folks that work in auto dealers and the F&I guys hate this plan because as they stated in one of the posts they cannot do anything to shoot it down as inferior to what they sell short of pointing to the deductible. One guy said he cringes when he sees a geico proof of insurance because he knows even if he sells the warranty when they go to add the car to their insurance more often than not they will cancel because they will sign up for MBI.

I have been with USAA for a while and like them but I will be going back to Geico in a year to take advantage of this protection.

Just wanted to share it with you for those concerned about life after the factory warranty.

Don't do it.... I've done this before on a previous vehicle. Every claim you make goes on your record in a similar way that a speeding ticket or a wreck does. I tried changing insurance companies and nobody would take me because of the "excessive claims" it didn't matter that it was mechanical, comprehensive, or collision. To them, a claim is a claim. Keep in mind, perfect driving history, perfect credit, etc... They report this to your Clue Report (similar to a credit report but for insurance companies) only claims I made was glas and mechanical breakdown.... it's a scam, I swear... this is coming from a current geico customer.

[mokrunka]

I just spoke with Geico about adding MBI to a 2017 M2, they said it is not available for this specific model.

[blackholescion]

Originally Posted by mokrunka

I just spoke with Geico about adding MBI to a 2017 M2, they said it is not available for this specific model.

That's bs. It's on my 2017. You can add it via your online portal.

[Msmall143]

Originally Posted by fusion0389

Don't do it.... I've done this before on a previous vehicle. Every claim you make goes on your record in a similar way that a speeding ticket or a wreck does. I tried changing insurance companies and nobody would take me because of the "excessive claims" it didn't matter that it was mechanical, comprehensive, or collision. To them, a claim is a claim. Keep in mind, perfect driving history, perfect credit, etc... They report this to your Clue Report (similar to a credit report but for insurance companies) only claims I made was glas and mechanical breakdown.... it's a scam, I swear... this is coming from a current geico customer.

why would you consider an insurance company reporting a claim as a claim, a scam?

[zumbido]

Originally Posted by atxsk8r

I just signed a new policy with Geico and i'm paying $490 for 6 months. This is without MBI which i don't need because i usually only keep a car for 2-3 years.

Are you sure it's not on already? That's about the same as my premium, but MBI was automatically included (I never asked/was asked for it). Obviously differences in coverage limits and deductibles could account for our similar premiums.

Originally Posted by fusion0389

Don't do it.... I've done this before on a previous vehicle. Every claim you make goes on your record in a similar way that a speeding ticket or a wreck does. I tried changing insurance companies and nobody would take me because of the "excessive claims" it didn't matter that it was mechanical, comprehensive, or collision. To them, a claim is a claim. Keep in mind, perfect driving history, perfect credit, etc... They report this to your Clue Report (similar to a credit report but for insurance companies) only claims I made was glas and mechanical breakdown.... it's a scam, I swear... this is coming from a current geico customer.

I didn't know that was the case. Good info.

Originally Posted by mokrunka

I just spoke with Geico about adding MBI to a 2017 M2, they said it is not available for this specific model.

Yea it's on the policy for my 2017.

[pruettfan]

Originally Posted by lax01

Is there a deductible with the BMW extended plan? Any difference in coverage? What does the Geico insurance cost (typically)?

Costs about 5 bucks a month, does not exclude any systems only wear parts.

[pruettfan]

Originally Posted by arquitecto

This sounds like a great plan, than you for bringing it to our attention!

Are the 6 years of coverage from when you purchase the plan or from when the factory warranty expires?

6 years or 100,000 miles from inservice date

[pruettfan]

Originally Posted by zumbido

Interesting. Wish I would have known about this option a week ago. I've been a Geico member for a while and I'm surprised they've never mentioned it. As it's called Mechanical Breakdown Insurance, I'm assuming it doesn't cover electrical, which should be considered when comparing costs to certain BMW warranties.

Why do you assume that? It does cover electrical systems.

[pruettfan]

Originally Posted by fusion0389

Don't do it.... I've done this before on a previous vehicle. Every claim you make goes on your record in a similar way that a speeding ticket or a wreck does. I tried changing insurance companies and nobody would take me because of the "excessive claims" it didn't matter that it was mechanical, comprehensive, or collision. To them, a claim is a claim. Keep in mind, perfect driving history, perfect credit, etc... They report this to your Clue Report (similar to a credit report but for insurance companies) only claims I made was glas and mechanical breakdown.... it's a scam, I swear... this is coming from a current geico customer.

I actually don't have a problem with this really, it is insurance so that makes sense they report it as a claim. When you do the math on what the extended warranties cost I think on balance the Geico coverage is a better way to go. Each person has to make their own decision based on their risk tolerance. I am anti extended warranty because I don't think they pay off most of the time, this plan is cheap and makes it a no-brainer for me.