2006 325 warranty... what gives?

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 08:16:37 GMT, E Brown > wrote:

>On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 18:57:32 -0400, Choder >
>wrote:
>> The year is 2005 and this information
>>should really be on the web in this day and time. If they can invest
>>the time to write all the marketing spiel, they should make the
>>warranty information public without having to listen to a sales dog
>>and pony show or in-person visit to the dealer. Unless they have
>>something to hide.
>
> Does *any* company have its warranty information on the net? Is it
>only BMW that has something to hide?
> Emanuel


Nissan does. The entire unabridged booklet online in .pdf format. I
would not have bought my current car if they did not.

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:31:59 -0400, "joe_tide" >
wrote:

>I'm with you Keith. I buy the car, not the warranty.

Maybe some folks have money to burn. I make a decent living and can
afford nice things but I'm not independently wealthy, and I would be a
lot poorer at this stage in life if I did not buy large ticket items
based on total cost of ownership.

Choder wrote:
> I was thinking of buying one of these things, but I wanted to
> investigate the extended warranty since german cars aren't really
> known for their reliability. I dont want to own a money pit.

As several posters have pointed out, in the US the first 4yr/50k
is covered by a bumper to bumper warranty and scheduled maintenance.
You shouldn't have to spend on anything other than gas and tires.
I must be one of those with bad luck because I've had several things
go wrong - fuel sending units were replace twice, ignition coils
had to be replaced, warped rotors needed replacing, and there
were 3 or 4 bulb failures. The only thing that I paid the dealer
for was an alignment because I had a steering vibration problem.

After 50k, for the original owner, BMW has started selling an
extended _service_ warranty which covers scheduled maintenance
including stuff like brakes and rotors. The dealer should have
more information about this plan and what it will cost for the
new cars. It covers the car to 6yr/100k. BMW also sells an
extended warranty valid for 6yr/100k, but it's not as comprehensive
as the original warranty - there is quite a long list of
exclusions, e.g. stereo is not covered under this. At the time
I bought the warranty, the dealer didn't have too much information
on it, but I bought it anyway. BMW then sent me an information packet
on this and I had 30 days to cancel and get a refund. (I'm not
sure if this is because it's a California law, but I did have the
option to cancel.)

As far as I'm concerned, the pleasure of driving a BMW (even when
compared to Acura, Lexus, Infiniti which I test drove at the
time I bought the car) far outweighs the pain. If I had to choose
again, I'd still pick the BMW.

Anoop

"Choder" > wrote in message
news
>
> I hear you brother but please understand 2 hrs = roughly $400 of
> billable time for me,

$400 your net? Probably not (maybe). Given the correct circumstances, we can
bill thousands of dollars per hour at work (with only 3 or 4 guys working).
It doesn't mean I value my time at a grand per hour.

I bet you could phone a salesman at a local BMW dealership and get the goods
on the phone. If you explain you're interested but don't have the time to
come by, they should give you as much attention on the phone as in person.

Conversely, you can spend several minutes writing messages to this group
explaining how you're very busy and how you're unhappy with the fact that
BMW doesn't list their extended waranty info on their website.

BMW may encourage you to come by so that you can have someone who is
familiar with their (apparently comprehensive) waranty program take you
through it, answer any questions, and clarify anything you find
questionable. I find that as you're willing to pay more for a product, the
better and more personal the service becomes.

Regards,

Robin

As I mentioned before - call the dealer and have them mail you the warranty
booklet.

"Choder" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:31:59 -0400, "joe_tide" >
> wrote:
>
>>I'm with you Keith. I buy the car, not the warranty.
>
> Maybe some folks have money to burn. I make a decent living and can
> afford nice things but I'm not independently wealthy, and I would be a
> lot poorer at this stage in life if I did not buy large ticket items
> based on total cost of ownership.
>

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 19:14:27 -0400, "Robin S." >
wrote:

>
>"Choder" > wrote in message
>news
>>
>> I hear you brother but please understand 2 hrs = roughly $400 of
>> billable time for me,
>
>$400 your net? Probably not (maybe). Given the correct circumstances, we can
>bill thousands of dollars per hour at work (with only 3 or 4 guys working).
>It doesn't mean I value my time at a grand per hour.

Yes, I was figuring $400 as my bottom line cost.

>
>I bet you could phone a salesman at a local BMW dealership and get the goods
>on the phone. If you explain you're interested but don't have the time to
>come by, they should give you as much attention on the phone as in person.

I already stated I don't WANT the goods by phone. I want something
tangible that I can hold someone accountable for. You think some
verbal statement from a car salesman over the phone holds anyone
accountable?

>Conversely, you can spend several minutes writing messages to this group
>explaining how you're very busy and how you're unhappy with the fact that
>BMW doesn't list their extended waranty info on their website.

But I can do that in quick 1 or 2 minute intervals, while I am on my
PC, waiting for a background task to complete. No lost work time at
all. If BMW is willing to send someone to my office to present
warranty information to me, and doesnt mind being put on pause every
few minutes or so while I am working, then I will likely buy the damn
car. But I doubt that will happen.

>BMW may encourage you to come by so that you can have someone who is
>familiar with their (apparently comprehensive) waranty program take you
>through it, answer any questions, and clarify anything you find
>questionable. I find that as you're willing to pay more for a product, the
>better and more personal the service becomes.

I find that a horribly inefficient process and an insult to their
clients time. We live in a day and age where a simple FAQ on their
website could answer 90% of people's questions. Human intervention
should only be required in the other 10% of cases. Otherwise, it
means they are paying sales or support people unnecessary wages and
passing it on to us in the sales price of the car.

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 20:35:35 -0400, "joe_tide" >
wrote:

>As I mentioned before - call the dealer and have them mail you the warranty
>booklet.

Quite possibly the most reasonable suggestion in this thread yet.

I went to dinner with my gf this evening and asked her to swing by the
BMW dealer so I can see the 325 in person. Very nice looking car. I
thought it would be a little bigger than it was, but it was nice
looking nonetheless. I told her she can just get me one for my
birthday and the whole reliability / money pit issue would go away for
me. She didn't seem amused.

Some of the posts here with regard to reliability experiences have
been encouraging. Ultimately though, I would like to see the Lexus IS
before making a decision.

I know I have broken the rules by removing the rest of the post but it was
getting too much.

I can't believe you are asking about warranty before sitting
in/seeing/driving the car.

What happens if the nice man at BMW sends you the warranty details, and you
like the terms but then go and look at the car drive it and decide you don't
like it.

If your response is you have already driven it then maybe you should have
asked about the warranty during the test drive.

A BMW will cost more than a Nissan! It may also cost moreto run than a
Nissan!

It MAy also develop more problems than a Nissan!

BUT it will always be a better more enjoyable car to drive than a Nissan!!!

IF your decision is based purely on logic and running costs of the vehicle
the nyou should buy a Toyota Prius

If like 80% of us decisions such as this are based on emotion then the BMW
will always win

On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 02:31:56 +0000 (UTC), "Scott" <scott251170not
@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I know I have broken the rules by removing the rest of the post but it was
>getting too much.

Then maybe you have an anger management problem. Tried prozac?

>
>I can't believe you are asking about warranty before sitting
>in/seeing/driving the car.

What a moronic thing to say. Sitting in, seeing and driving the car
is of no value to me at all if it falls apart in 10k miles.

>What happens if the nice man at BMW sends you the warranty details, and you
>like the terms but then go and look at the car drive it and decide you don't
>like it.

That's fine. It could happen. I dont understand your question here.
There are a lot of other things that could get in the way of the deal
happening. But I've already said that I place a huge emphasis on
reliability and I don't like the fact that BMW is being elusive about
their warranty information.

>If your response is you have already driven it then maybe you should have
>asked about the warranty during the test drive.

You're just not paying attention. I already said I am not going near
the dealership until I have a copy of the warranty details.

>A BMW will cost more than a Nissan! It may also cost moreto run than a
>Nissan!

Not necessarily. Maybe a fully equipped BMW will cost more than a
fully equipped Nissan, but BMW is well known for overcharging for
options. Besides I only mentioned Nissan because they put their
warranty information online. Infiniti has their warranty as a
downloadable PDF file as well. If you are going to start making
comparisons, you should compare BMW to Infiniti.

>It MAy also develop more problems than a Nissan!

Why? Inferior engineering? If this is the case, tell me exactly why
I should buy an inferior car?

>BUT it will always be a better more enjoyable car to drive than a Nissan!!!

Again, use your brain for a second and draw a fair comparison here.
Infiniti is Nissans direct competitor for BMW. The G5 is a formidable
opponent to the 3 series.

>IF your decision is based purely on logic and running costs of the vehicle
>the nyou should buy a Toyota Prius

You are once again jumping to conclusions. Did you get far in school?
I never said my decision is based "purely on logic and running costs".
Obviously if I am looking at BMW, I am interested in a certain amount
of performance/overall driving pleasure, but anyone with intelligence
is also looking for value. I myself work in engineering, and for the
most part I can tell you that well engineered machinery usually does
not make its warranty a secret or require you to tolerate a sales
pitch to get the information.

>If like 80% of us decisions such as this are based on emotion then the BMW
>will always win

After some of the responses I've seen here, I am beginning to think
that a good 20% of BMW owners have more dollars than sense, are
enamoured by the BMW brand name (possibly due to a case of arrested
development left over from the 80s'), and more and more I'm thinking
that Lexus, Infiniti or Acura will be a better car for someone who
wants both performance and value.

"Choder" > wrote
>>I can't believe you are asking about warranty before sitting
>>in/seeing/driving the car.
>
> What a moronic thing to say. Sitting in, seeing and driving the car
> is of no value to me at all if it falls apart in 10k miles.

It may be of no value to *you*, but it's of value to others.
If your attitude was widespread, noone would ever buy a Ferrari, for
instance.

> After some of the responses I've seen here, I am beginning to think
> that a good 20% of BMW owners have more dollars than sense, are
> enamoured by the BMW brand name (possibly due to a case of arrested
> development left over from the 80s'), and more and more I'm thinking
> that Lexus, Infiniti or Acura will be a better car for someone who
> wants both performance and value.

I've driven BMW's since 1978. They've been no more trouble, IMO,
than any other of the cars I've owned. Less than our Isuzu Trooper,
certainly less than our '91 Plymouth Voyager - crap engine, crap
transmission, crap interior parts.

We now own two BMWs, 3 Toyotas and a Porsche. The Toyotas
are just as expensive to have work done on them as the BMWs.
But they're not nearly as fun to drive. Of course, one is a truck
and they're never as much fun...

You're specifically looking at a 2006 325. My opinion is don't
buy it. BMW - along with virtually every other manufacturer - has
a history of teething problems with new models. The '92 E36 3 series
had problems. The 1st year of the E46 did, too (although fewer.)
the original X5 had problems.

The new 325i has a *brand new* engine. It's a new body. It's
the first time idrive has been in a 3-series. A prescription for
trouble. Wait a year, or buy something else. OTOH, you
might not have any problems at all; lots of BMW drivers don't.

Floyd