[bake]

I bought my car CPO, so my warranty and maintenance plan were extended to 6 year/100k miles, but my friend is looking into buying an F10 and might consider buying via private sale and buying the BMW warranty and maintenance plan from BMW in order to make sure he is covered beyond 4 years, since if he picks up a 2011, he would only have about 1 year left of coverage. Any idea what they cost? Also, do you see any flaws in this logic versus just buying CPO? Thanks.

[i_max2k2]

For a 3 series, extending to 3yrs warranty and 2 yrs maintainance I was given quotes between ~$7000 to $6600, the CPO which extends two years of warranty is about $4500 if you buy it yourself. I'd suggest getting a CPO and have a chance to get more stuff fixed from the dealer before buying the car, cause I doubt a third party seller would do any cosmetics/beyond warranty work, this is what I did and found simpler. Check the KBB and see how good the deal from the orignial buyer is. If the cost difference is substantial only then go for it.

[Akkord29]

Originally Posted by bake

I bought my car CPO, so my warranty and maintenance plan were extended to 6 year/100k miles, but my friend is looking into buying an F10 and might consider buying via private sale and buying the BMW warranty and maintenance plan from BMW in order to make sure he is covered beyond 4 years, since if he picks up a 2011, he would only have about 1 year left of coverage. Any idea what they cost? Also, do you see any flaws in this logic versus just buying CPO? Thanks.

I didn't think the CPO included extending the maintenance plan. Or did you pay extra for this?

[kthankzbye]

I've read that CPO and the Gold plan are the same in terms of coverage. Gold ranges from 3000-3500. Platinum ranges from 3500+.
As for CPO, they do a full check on the car, replace with new tires, change the oil, etc.

[MoTastic_2]

as of jan 1 2014 if you buy your car CPO and sell it to someone else the CPO will not transfer over.

They will require you to go back to the dealer to get it re-cpo'd to the new owner. I just found out when I bought mine CPO, they had this new disclaimer at the bottom

[ezmaass]

If extended coverage is important, I'd suggest buying it CPO. The only way I could see this making sense is if the private party sale was substantially discounted. I haven't quoted it for the 550, but previous quotes for 3 series were $3k - $4,500+ depending upon which dealer I had asked.

I can, however, recommend a nice little tip for anyone buying their car NEW and planning to keep it beyond the warranty. GEICO insurance has a little-known (or so I believe, since they don't advertise it much) program called "Mechanical Breakdown Insurance" (MBI). It needs to be added to your car policy within 1 year or 15k miles of new, I believe... and I also believe you need to be the original (1st) owner.

The MBI program is essentially a rider on your policy that provides protection up to 7 years and 100k miles for anything on the car breaking down - whether mechanical, electrical, etc. There appear to be no limitations unlike many "extended warranties." It kicks-in after your regular manufacturer's warranty is up (4 years/50k miles for BMW) and then continues to cover you for the extended period (3 more years and 50k more miles, whichever comes first). It's a nominal fee - I want to say it costs me ~$20/mo. If something breaks, you put a claim in with GEICO (usually they'll speak right to the dealer to discuss what's broken), and you're responsible for paying the deductible ($200). They'll cover anything beyond it.

In my experience it costs a LOT less than a BMW extended warranty, and it covers a lot more than any third party warranty you could buy. Since it's an insurance policy, versus a warranty, there's no big up-front expenditure. You simply pay into it as part of your policy. If you decide to sell the car in 2 years (even though you anticipated keeping it for 6), you're not out thousands. True, you can market an extended warranty and may get something extra in your price for it, but I tend to believe it's still better to only pay for coverage while you need it.

Anyway - doesn't help the OP here if you're buying used, but hopefully useful for anyone considering an extended warranty buying new.