December 2006
Hey all,
Does anyone offer a quality warranty product without mileage restriction?
The BMW AUC warranty on my 530i Sport is expiring. Previously, it has been renewed each year. But BMW have now changed their rules, and will not allow me to renew becuase the car has over 100,000 miles on it.
This is a shame - as the car literally did spend its entire first owners life on the Motorway, it is in truely remarkable condition for its mileage. There is not a mark on it bar the usual front end stonechips, the interior is immaculate, and after a recent full checkover by the main dealer, everything was found to be in excellent mechanical order. We also have a 49,000 mile 530 in the family of the same age and my car is easily comparable in terms of condition.
But alas, everyone seems to look at the mileage and refuse to offer any sort of warranty product. Quite how the mileage affects things like the likleness of the DSC computer, for example, failing I dont know - it's probably had the same amount of time 'in use' as a car with half the mileage thats lived in town at an average speed of 20mph!
Does anyone know of a decent warranty product I could use, or am I on my own now? Read more
Does anyone know what the average life of a car engine is these days; petrol and diesel. I realise there will be many variables. But what could you reasonably expect, from different sized engines, if you drove an average of say 10,000 miles a year and followed the manufacturer's recommended servicing?
Crol Read more
Two of my recent cars Renault Laguna 165,000 miles and still going strong and Renault 19 265,000 miles both diesel and serviced every 5000 miles is the key.
One of my friends has a Golf on 190,000 miles this is a petrol and still going well again regular servicing on this one.
OK, the item in question is a dishwasher, supposedly under extended warranty, but this is a perfectly general engineering question that can be related to motor cars, which is why I haven't gone to IHAQ. Please don't let this turn into a dishwasher discussion...
My dishwasher has sprung a leak. Having sat, quiety and undisturbed, in a corner for two years, a leak has mysteriously appeared in the waste pipe, between where it leaves the machine and the trap. The hose looks as though it is made from several two-foot long sections, with some sort of a join between. The leak has appeared within one of these rubber jointing sections - not at the union, but within the joint itself.
So I called the extended warranty number, and was told that leaks in the waste pipe are not covered; all that is covered is mechanical or electrical failure. I was told that the pipe is not covered, as I could have damaged it myself (I didn't). There is no such exclusion in the contract - the chap on the end of the telephone helpfully read out all the exclusions to me (I could read them myself on my copy), including the one regarding lightning strikes or storms or civil disturbance.
Well, I've spent too long as a Material Scientist to agree with them. What constitutes mechanical failure? It quite simply refers to the breaking of something; however that failure may have been caused.
A quick google reveals an extraordinary resource called 'google books'.
Failure of Materials in Mechanical Design: Analysis, Prediction, Prevention by JA Collins
Chapter 2. In the first chapter it was suggested that mechanical failure might be defined as any change in the size, shape, or material properties of a structure, machine, or machine part that renders it incapable of satisfactorily perfoming its intended function.
The author goes on to discuss commonly observed modes of mechanical failure, and both abrasive and impact wear are included.
Is my (science based) understanding of mechanical failure at odds with the understanding of the man on the Clapham omnibus? Read more
PG,
I think it's a fair discussion bearing in mind the wording of many extended warranties for cars.
Friday night, nose to tail traffic on M4/M5 interchange Bristol. One very aggressive Audi TT driver uses every last inch of outside lane to gain max advantage over the queue, seriously hacking off large truck behind him before diving in front of me at the very last moment. TT driver and truck exchange horns, guestures and various unprintable expeletives until they are out of earshot of each other, much to the amusment of myself and my mate. "Serves him right if he ends up embedded in the back of somebody" I remarked as the TT trundled out of sight down the M4, carving up a few more cars as he slowly got ahead of us in the heavy traffic. Fifteen minutes and just 3 miles of stop-start later, who should we come across but the Audi TT parked in the outside lane, the driver exchanging insurance details with the driver of the car in front. I smiled and waved as I trundled past, yes indeed the gods had smiled, the perfect start to a weekend.
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Sorry, DD. Not only did I get my grammar wrong, I hijacked the thread.
{Hangs head in shame, exits through nearest door.}
Hi all
I wonder if someone can clarify the situation with transferring registration plates. I've been through all the DVLA documentation and it would seem this is possible.
Is it the case that someone can sell and transfer the number plate from their car if that number plate was the original one given to the car (i.e. it was never purchased by anyone under any cherished plates service or similar)?
So for example, supposing my car just happens to have been registered as AB04 SBC could I sell the plate to someone with the intials SBC?
Cheers Read more
Thanks for clearing that up for me. That's exactly what I wanted to know.
I have just aquired a Triumph TR4 which is an american import.
The boot lid has 4 holes drilled in it to accomodate a boot rack.
The centers of the holes are 24" side to side and 16 3/4" front to back.
The TR4 boot racks that are available at the Triumph stockists fit to the boot hinge and to the number plate and are not suitable.
I understand that the boot rack I am looking for was a standard item but may have been made for the U.S. market. (Tr250?)
Can anyone help with a supplier of a boot rack to meet my dimensions?
Thanks
Read more
Looks exactly like this? but expensive
www.victoriabritish.com/features/t6/T6ACL.htm
Have a look at Google USA ?
Looks like
www.britcars.net/classified_cars.html
or
www.6-pack.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewto...0
look at Ebay USA for luggage rack?
This one was for sale but looks like a clip on version
My brother has just bought a Citroen C5 HDI 27 months old 71k and wants to get a full as possible warranty. Has anyone got any good or bad recommendations please.
Thanks in advance Read more
quite agree they wriggle out of anything On my last car a fault was reported as being a common problem with that type of car and thus not covered..keep your money
alan
my vauxhall cd player (cdr500) wont give me my cd`s back can anyone tell me if it can be fixed or trashed.. Read more
If you have the code, you could try disconnecting the power to it for a minute or two (easiest to pull the relevant fuse from the fuse box) to see if it will reset. Failing that, your local ICE (In Car Entertainment) place *should* be able to advise.
HI
I wonder if anyone has any comments on this. I have been looking at a number of new cars from one of the UK's largest Car supermarket chains. I am looking at 3 different cars and decided to check the VINs with local dealers. All cars are unregistered in the UK but have build dates between 1.5 and 2 years ago...What happens to these cars in this time? Is it a problem to buy such an'old' car . Also as the manufacturers warranty is almost up they are offering an aftermarket warranty HOw good are these?
Thanks
alan Read more
Done my homework Car with similar spec UK will cost 31.5K with discount import 28,250 The import has only 3 months warranty BMW charge 1800 quid for 2 years extended warranty. The car will need a full service afeer sitting about ..another 250 quid Plus wear an tear on rubbr parts etc so I think its worth paying the UK dealer.. Also I am sure at part ex later you will loose more than IK for the import
So the new supermarket car is ..really not new although its on a 56 plate
I checked the car out layers of dust cover the engine so not sure where and how it has been stored
All 7 cars at the supermarket form the same batch form Thailand It is the case of buyer be careful!
Alan
One of the feeder roads into the town is being modified to include speed bumps. They are quite high and onerous. Yet, the speed limit signs haven't been changed; they still say 30mph. It's not possible to do that now, at least not without damaging your car. Can we still do 30 and sue the council for misinformation if the car is damaged ? Read more
"This road also has quite vicious full width humps to slow down traffic. The lights on this crossing also seem to stay red for a very long time. It also happens to be near a house converted to a mosque ! so make of that what you will."
I make that quite severe atmospheric pollution !! Have you pointed that out to the powers that be ?
Browse
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Michael -
I wouldn?t worry too much ? if you?ve got a good BMW that?s been serviced and it?s been checked over and found to be ok ? then do as others have suggested and ?allocate? the amount of money you would spend (surely about £6/700 now IIRC? ) to a savings account and it?s there if you need it.
I had a similar situation with a high mileage ?99BMW 323 bought at 80K miles and under remaining 3 months of an (unlimited mileage) BMW AUC .
I renewed for 2 years running but the premiums got so high I stopped 2 years ago.
My experience was that I had 2 issues with BMW, I had slightly noisy hydraulic tappets at 100K and having been told by the dealer that it was a warranty item I booked the car in ? but received a call from the dealer saying that BMW would now only pay 50% cost because of ?high mileage?. I rang BMW at Bracknall, argued, and got all 100% paid (£800 + VAT). A similar thing happened when the car was MOT?d at the dealer, front suspension bushes needed replacing (110K miles) and dealer said ?not covered? and again I refused to pay as the Warranty specifically included MOT insurance and mentioned suspension!???dealers aarrgh !
When I was sent the invitation to renew again I rang BMW Warranty and gave them 2 or 3 hypothetical situations and asked if they would be covered under the warranty (failed gearbox selector, blown head gasket, faulty aircon) should I renew and in each case was told that due to the mileage (130k by then) that these problems would be deemed fair wear and tear ??.because of the mileage..? and that the ?prime benefit? of the warranty ? in my case ? would be the MOT insurance.
I concluded that it wasn?t worth it.
Fortunately since then in the 2 years I?ve had no problems whatsoever (mileage now 166K) and the bonus is that I don?t need to visit the dealer for overpriced servicing to keep the warranty intact. I?ve found an independent BMW garage in my area for the Insp 1 & 2 (every 30K) and do an oil change myself every 7.5K.
If I get a problem I?ll take the hit but I?m about £1700 ?in credit? so far.
Jacks