Buying a 2016 M4, extended warranty or not?

[MathewM4]

I have pulled the trigger on a 2016 low mileage M4 with competition package. The car is a 1 owner has less than 5K.

What are the common issues?

Should I get an extended warranty?

A good friend of mine with an M6 recommended Mercury insurance. Mercury have never denied a single claim for him (quite a few so far).

Mercury is expensive but I guess you get what you pay for.

Any input welcome.

[spidy512]

Yo!

I'd say yes, as log as you don't get bent over. The car is barely broken in, so a piece of mind that if something expensive goes wrong you are covered.

My car is waaay out of warranty and an aftermarket for 2 years was going to be 5k from the dealer I got my car from. Nope. You should be able to get a good deal with the lower miles.

More wil chime in. Prepare for some to be veheminously against them. Some of these warranty companies are not that great, and I have heard some scary stories of denied claims, high deductables for high dollar parts, etc. Althogh, Mercury sounds pretty solid.

Good luck either way, and congrats on an awesome car!

josh

[MathewM4]

Here is what they offered me at Mercury, not sure if it based upon the very low mileage?

105K and 84 months additional to age and mileage:

Bumper to bumper

$500 deductible $4395
$250 = $5250
$100 = $5836
$0 = $6247

I like the fact it will definitely last my ownership and it is transferable.

A bit pricey.

[RickFLM4]

That’s not too bad for 7 years of warranty. I’d go with the $250 deductible. There are a lot of warranty threads around with a lot of pricing. If the factory warranty hasn’t expired already, it will be easier to find an extended warranty. Also check with Troy at FD-Warranty.

[kwatkins12]

Those prices seem pretty reasonable for the amount of coverage you're getting. For comparison I think I paid something around $2700 for my carmax warranty from 48k-100k with a $200 deductible.

[espressoo]

You should check out this thread. Pricing will be different if you're out of warranty. Your car has incredibly low miles for a 2016. I think it's important to read the terms of the coverage and not solely rely on years/mileage pricing.

That said, 7 years/100K for $6,247 with $0 deductible sounds really good. That's only $74/month. Do you have a POC at Mercury that you can share?

[MathewM4]

I just called their customer service line and got an email back with the quote.

[espressoo]

I called Mercury as well to enquire about their extended warranty plans. If you have a low mileage vehicle and don't intend to average more than 10K miles per year, they offer very aggressive pricing. I believe their plans are highly dependent on existing mileage and if you're still under factory warranty. I'm below 12K miles right now and on my last month of factory warranty and received stupid low rates. It's a fraction of the cost of BMW and significantly lower than Fidelity even with $250 deductible I was quoted. I have no experience with claims made with Mercury so I can't comment on their customer service or claim process. Reviews seems to be average to good. Coverage legal jargon seems similar to Fidelity.

Ultimate Coverage w/$0 deductible I was quoted. Yours will vary so take this as a grain of salt.
4 yr / 60K - $2,416
5 yr / 50K - $1,953
6 yr / 60K - $2,604
7 yr / 70K - $3,359

Per my math, 6 yr /60K is only $36/month so I went with that coverage. It's stupid low because I'm currently below 12K miles on my odometer. Had I been at 12K or more, it's $1K more for the same exact plan. So like I mentioned before, each quote is very specific to your vehicle.

They only offer extended warranty to 11 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. Seems like CA is their biggest market and have different plans (platinum, gold, silver, bronze). I'm in VA so I only had Ultimate, Deluxe and Select to choose from. I personally wouldn't chose anything lower than Ultimate. The price was already so competitive compared to other quotes I received. Select is a joke because it only pays out 2x your plan cost over the lifetime of your extended warranty. See below and let me know if I'm reading it wrong.

Just sharing this post in case it helps anyone else out.

Btw, for those F82 owners. It doesn't cover convertible top or the mechanisms.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by espressoo

I called Mercury as well to enquire about their extended warranty plans. If you have a low mileage vehicle and don't intend to average more than 10K miles per year, they offer very aggressive pricing. I believe their plans are highly dependent on existing mileage and if you're still under factory warranty. I'm below 12K miles right now and on my last month of factory warranty and received stupid low rates. It's a fraction of the cost of BMW and significantly lower than Fidelity even with $250 deductible I was quoted. I have no experience with claims made with Mercury so I can't comment on their customer service or claim process. Reviews seems to be average to good. Coverage legal jargon seems similar to Fidelity.

Ultimate Coverage w/$0 deductible I was quoted. Yours will vary so take this as a grain of salt.
4 yr / 60K - $2,416
5 yr / 50K - $1,953
6 yr / 60K - $2,604
7 yr / 70K - $3,359

Per my math, 6 yr /60K is only $36/month so I went with that coverage. It's stupid low because I'm currently below 12K miles on my odometer. Had I been at 12K or more, it's $1K more for the same exact plan. So like I mentioned before, each quote is very specific to your vehicle.

They only offer extended warranty to 11 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. Seems like CA is their biggest market and have different plans (platinum, gold, silver, bronze). I'm in VA so I only had Ultimate, Deluxe and Select to choose from. I personally wouldn't chose anything lower than Ultimate. The price was already so competitive compared to other quotes I received. Select is a joke because it only pays out 2x your plan cost over the lifetime of your extended warranty. See below and let me know if I'm reading it wrong.

Just sharing this post in case it helps anyone else out.

Btw, for those F82 owners. It doesn't cover convertible top or the mechanisms.

I may be wrong but don’t think Fidelity has that maximum benefit clause. They paid about 4-5x in claims vs. what I paid for the warranty in my wife’s Q5. The car is now gone but I may have paperwork around to check.

[Jeb80]

Fidelity limits the amount to the NADA value of the car I believe. Seems similar to this.

[Suds]

Does the warranty cover everyday maintenance?
Many of the costs are the everyday things, oil changes, spark plugs, etc.

Originally Posted by MathewM3

I have pulled the trigger on a 2016 low mileage M4 with competition package. The car is a 1 owner has less than 5K.

What are the common issues?

Should I get an extended warranty?

A good friend of mine with an M6 recommended Mercury insurance. Mercury have never denied a single claim for him (quite a few so far).

Mercury is expensive but I guess you get what you pay for.

Any input welcome.

[espressoo]

Can someone do a sanity check and tell me if I'm interpreting the "cumulative maximum liability" language correctly?

If someone purchased either the Ultimate or Deluxe coverage plan and let's say their vehicle is valued at $45K. Within the extended warranty period, the plan pays up to 2x the initial plan cost or $45K, whichever is greater correct? So if a catastrophic failure happens like a SCH/engine rebuild. The plan pays to cover that repair and not just 2x the plan cost?

For the Select coverage plan. You'd be SOL since it pays out a max of $5K, correct?

[espressoo]

Originally Posted by Suds

Does the warranty cover everyday maintenance?
Many of the costs are the everyday things, oil changes, spark plugs, etc.

No, the way I interpreted it is extended warranty covers mechanical and certain electrical failures. Maintenance items is the responsibility of the vehicle owner. If you don't do maintenance on your vehicle and it leads to a mechanical failure, they won't cover the failure/claim.

That said, you can purchase maintenance programs although I didn't enquire on those plans and the associated cost.

[Jeb80]

Originally Posted by espressoo

Can someone do a sanity check and tell me if I'm interpreting the "cumulative maximum liability" language correctly?

If someone purchased either the Ultimate or Deluxe coverage plan and let's say their vehicle is valued at $45K. Within the extended warranty period, the plan pays up to 2x the initial plan cost or $45K, whichever is greater correct? So if a catastrophic failure happens like a SCH/engine rebuild. The plan pays to cover that repair and not just 2x the plan cost?

For the Select coverage plan. You'd be SOL since it pays out a max of $5K, correct?

I agree with this, it pays the maximum so it would cover up to the value of the car. However, it include previous payouts, so it you have had 10k worth of work done, then the engine goes out and it's 50k, they would only give you 35k, assuming the car is valued at 45k)

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Jeb80

Fidelity limits the amount to the NADA value of the car I believe. Seems similar to this.

Missed the car value part when I first read it. Thought Mercury limit was just 2x policy cost, which would be ridiculous.

[MathewM4]

I have shopped around and I am surprised that quite a few companies doesn't cover BMW M-series at all.

3 out of 4 I called recently didn't cover the M:s and the fourth (Car Shield) would only do the aluminum plan!! Basically no engine or drive train coverage.

[espressoo]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Missed the car value part when I first read it. Thought Mercury limit was just 2x policy cost, which would be ridiculous.

Here's some clarification from Mercury regarding the policies I shared.

"Your cumulative maximum liability is limited to the actual cash value of your vehicle or two times the price you paid for the contract, they will provide you with whichever is greater. Your insurance carrier will determine the value of your vehicle using private party Kelly Blue Book at the time of the loss."

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

these warranties are so freaking expensive

[DocL]

Originally Posted by G35POPPEDMYCHERRY

these warranties are so freaking expensive

And so is a new rear differential if you need one. Mine was just replaced under the factory warranty and it was around $5k all in. I’m definitely getting an extended warranty.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by DocL

And so is a new rear differential if you need one. Mine was just replaced under the factory warranty and it was around $5k all in. I’m definitely getting an extended warranty.

All the repairs are so expensive even those not involving powertrain. Air conditioning is almost certainly in the thousands.

[mjposner]

Warranties are like gambling. Sometimes they pay off but most times you end up paying less in repairs than you would for the actual warranty. Otherwise warranty companies go out of business. The warranty is $40000 then on average similarly situated vehicles have less than 4000 and repairs. If you set aside $40000 instead off paying for warranty in most cases you will have more money at the end of the warranty period. However, catastrophic repairs can occur and cause more than the total warranty.

[MathewM4]

I finally got my car (2016 M4 Coupe 1148 miles at delivery). I went with Mercury "Ultimate Coverage". 6 additional years from date of purchase of the car and an additional 75K miles. $250 deductible. Total cost $3285.38