Warranty

[narcosis]

My factory warranty will soon be up and I'm thinking that an extended warranty will pay for itself with one or two issues should they arise. Who has bought an extended warranty in the past and was it a wise decision? Sometimes peace of mind makes it worthwhile I suppose.

 

Ken

[LudemJo]

How much have you used the warranty in the last three years? I figure I will know by then if it is going to be reliable or not. If it gives me trouble before the warranty is up, you can bet I won't be holding onto the bike long enough to even get the extended warranty.

 

Personally, I would not. YMMV of course.

[TJRL]

It is like any insurance policy:-

1 They make money out of it because they charge more than (on average) it costs.

2 But can you afford to the 1 in ?? person who's bills will add up to more than the policy?

 

As an aside, we only get a 2 year warranty from BMW over here (and I think we pay more the bikes!!) so I used to go for the extended warranty but not anymore since the prices doubled a few years back. Of course I have to be happy with the risk I am taking by not having this insurance contract for my ride.

[Bob H.]

If you are planning on keeping the bike for at least four more years I would go with an extended warranty. ,that way you are covered for four more years with no limitation on miles and most policies are transferable . The way most extender warranties work is they come into effect after the factory warranty is up ( in years not miles ) , the BMW warranty is three years or 36,000 miles which ever comes first. Let's use an example : you put on 36,000 miles in two years of riding the extended warranty won't kick in until the beginning of year four through year seven if anything goes wrong in year three it comes out of your pocket .I got my extended warranty through my dealer for around $1,150.00 sounds pricy but if you ever had repair work done on your RT and paid for it out of pocket it doesn't seem so pricy. Bottom line the decision is yours to make.

[John in VA]

I bought a Zurich 2-year extended warranty for about $1K just before my new '06 RT warranty expired. It paid for itself 2 times over for expensive repairs. Zurich lost money on that deal, but they're a good company and I recommend them. Unfortunately, the Zurich warranty expired before the bike's whizzy brakes ABS controller crapped out. Got rid of the '06 after spending thousands to fix it. I will never own any BMW without some kind of warranty. The repair costs for their recent bikes, especially for certain essential and esoteric and overly complex parts, are too ridiculous.

 

I understand that many BMW owners are mechanics and don't mind (or actually enjoy) doing major repairs themselves. I can change oil and upgrade shocks and install bling and such but that's it, I'd rather ride than tear a bike apart. I also understand there are many owners with 100k mi on their bikes with no major failures. That's good luck and I'm happy for them. Personally, I'd rather pay Zurich a fixed amount for a fixed period to cover repair of any catastrophic failures and then sell the bike just before that warranty ends. If nothing happens, warranty price is still worth the peace of mind to me -- which is what warranty companies are selling. In my instance it saved me a ton of repair money. I just should have ditched my '06 before the Zurich warranty expired.

[NoelCP]

My local shop which is small but has a great reputation discourages them in general, though they are contracted w/ some. I think they must not want to deal w/ the documentation to validate a claim or something along those lines. They also tell me there are many exclusions you have to watch for when paying for an extended warranty. They will sometimes call something like an ESA shock ($4200 part + labor) a 'consumable item' so exclude it. Anyway, sounds like there are some good stories about ex war's but caveat emptor I think is the bottom line.

[CRUSTYBEEMER]

I am taking delivery this spring of a 2016 R1200RT! I have put a down payment on the bike and signed some papers but have no VIN# or build date yet. My question is, the sales person handling the transaction wants me to pay for the extended warranty now! I would have thought you get the extended warranty towards the end of the BMW warranty. Is this normal? I would rather get it at the end of the BMW warranty in case I decide to sell or trade the bike before the BMW warranty runs out. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! I am near Ottawa in Canada if that makes any difference.

[realshelby]

Buying the extended warranty before the bike is delivered makes little sense. If you want one, buy it when you sign the paperwork at delivery.

 

The reason they want you to buy it now is because that ensures they get the ( sometimes substantial ) profit from it. Should you wait to purchase the warranty, you will be enticed by BMW and others to buy the (a) extended warranty from them. So they make the profit on it instead of the dealer.

 

I don't buy extended warranties. But if you want the perceived security my advice is buy ONLY the BMW extended service plan.

[gordiet]

Does BMW have an extended service plan here In the US? Never have heard of it and no one mentioned it when I bought my 15 RT.

 

GT

[realshelby]

Extended service plan is extended warranty. Many mistake an extended warranty for a fully comprehensive warranty like the bikes new vehicle 36 month warranty is. You MUST be very good at reading fine print to understand what you are paying for when purchasing an extended "warranty". Many things you might take for granted as being covered will not be covered in an aftermarket ( BMW or other provider ) "warranty".

 

If you are asking about a Maintenance Plan, I don't know about those.

[marcopolo]

I've never heard of a BMW extended warranty/extended service plan (as in sold by/backed by BMW Motorrad, and I just bought a new GSA at the end of October). Is there such a thing, or is it simply select dealers selling third-party aftermarket extended warranties?

[John in VA]

Extended service plan is extended warranty. Many mistake an extended warranty for a fully comprehensive warranty like the bikes new vehicle 36 month warranty is. You MUST be very good at reading fine print to understand what you are paying for when purchasing an extended "warranty". Many things you might take for granted as being covered will not be covered in an aftermarket ( BMW or other provider ) "warranty".

 

If you are asking about a Maintenance Plan, I don't know about those.

 

The Zurich extended service plan, for one, doesn't have much fine print. It was pretty clear and I'm no lawyer. Whatever aftermarket brand of extended service plan is sold by a BMW dealer, their service dept has an ongoing relationship with that company and usually has no problem dealing with them on claims. That's been my experience anyway and I was never denied a claim.

[ADulay]

As I tend to keep my bikes a long time and generally run out of warranty way before the three years is up due to mileage, I've taken up the dealer's offer of the extended warranty.

 

You can buy it anytime PRIOR to your current factory warranty expiring. I purchased mine at 34,000 miles.

 

Peace of mind for me for "the big stuff" that might break in the next 100,000 miles.

 

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