To Warrant or not to Warrant

[hammo]

Well guys , just received my letter about extending my warranty , i thought my local dealer might of extended my warranty because of the lockdown but it looks they are not maybe i,ll give them a call , anyway the question is to warrant or not ? £397 is a lot of money when you are on a pension , after all these machines are given to be so reliable ? is there warranty alternatives in the UK ? all information is welcome ,if i take out the warranty on monthly contract can i cancel a payment if i do not ride it for a month ?

[David.]

BMW Motorrad Insured Warranty is provided by AWP Assistance UK Ltd. Some warranties have been extended by 60 days because of lockdown.

Allianz Assistance themselves offer an Extended Warranty, https://www.allianz-assistance.co.uk/ex ... quote.html

If the BMW policy lapses, with monthly, "pay as you go", there is a months moratorium before the policy cover starts.

The monthly "pay as you go" policies can be cancelled at anytime. If you cancel it for a month, the above moratorium would apply on re-start because it becomes a lapsed policy.

I only use my bike between April & October each year. I make a payment on 1st March for a start date of 1st April. After 7 payments, the last being in September, I'm covered up until the end of October. Then, the following year I renew again.

Have a look at this thread from page 2, https://www.1200rt.com/index.php?topic=1954.15

[Sprintgull]

Well guys , just received my letter about extending my warranty , i thought my local dealer might of extended my warranty because of the lockdown but it looks they are not maybe i,ll give them a call , anyway the question is to warrant or not ? £397 is a lot of money when you are on a pension , after all these machines are given to be so reliable ? is there warranty alternatives in the UK ? all information is welcome ,if i take out the warranty on monthly contract can i cancel a payment if i do not ride it for a month ?

Warrant!  Really trivial stuff can soon exceed £400.

[austin1964]

You get a European wide BMW assistance in with the £400 which covers hire car or bike plus hotels if things go really wrong while on a tour, plus if you have a breakdown in another country it's going to take some of the drama out of it. I wouldn't have a BMW bike without a warranty  8)

[BeeJay]

Not sure about extended warranty. In theory you shouldn't need it, BUT !
First bike 2014: Just out of warranty, couple of months, problem with "something" )can't remember) on forks. Some sensor I think, anyway needed forks replaced. BMW changed forks and I paid about £100 labour. Move on to January 2018, mileage 26k miles serious corrosion on engine and drive shaft casing. BMW offered replacement casings, dealer to change internals and I was to pay labour, about £2500. Went back to them,. revised offer that I pay 50% of labour. Asked dealer to go back again for a trade in offer against a new bike. Came back with a very good price so I did the deed. Now 1st April 2018 bike, warranty ended but BMW have extended warranty to end June 2020. Have minor corrosion on drive shaft case, oil leak from drain plug and suspect battery. Waiting on dealer for result, Shouldn't be a problem as still under warranty.
Will I but extended warranty?
Don't know........

[David.]

I'm happy to pay £35 per month x 7 = £245 per year, with a £100 excess. I certainly don't want to be paying when I'm not using the bike.

Without roadside assistance, it's £33 per month. I do have breakdown cover with my insurance but it's probably easier to keep it all under the BMW badge for the sake of another £14.

One school of thought is, if you can afford to pay for any potential repairs, then why have a warranty. I could do that if I wanted to, but would begrudge paying £100 per hour for labour costs. I'd rather pay my £35 per month and forget about it. If I make a claim, it'll cost me another £100 excess each time.

The other thing to consider is, you'll need to maintain the service history, either at a BMW dealer or a VAT registered independent garage to meet the policy T&C's. If you don't do your own maintenance, just consider the warranty as part of the cost of ownership, like insurance & road tax etc.

I get the dealers to do bespoke servicing, rather than just handing over the keys and paying £100's of pounds. I do some items myself, those I deem not to be critical and likely to cause a failure. This reduces the service costs, whilst hopefully still maintaining the T&C's of the warranty. I've never had a warranty claim refused and I've had the odd one or two.

[MikeS]

If you ask 10 different people you will get 10 different answers depending on their own experience and expectations of the bike's reliability.


Yes £400's a lot of money but what's the cost of a major repair for the bike?


Are modern BMWs reliable?  Yes in my experience but they are still complicated machines with the potential for costly components/ electronics to fail.


I took out the extended warranty on my last bike, a GS because I'm a bit risk averse to these things. Never claimed on it on it and got a fair refund when I traded it in. Considering the European emergency cover included I thought it was reasonable value. I wouldn't go abroad without it.


If I keep the RT beyond 3 years I'll take out the extended warranty, just have to factor it in to the yearly running costs.

[David.]

One thing that can be said is, the BMW Insured Warranty is second to none. It is very comprehensive, not only for breakdown & repairs but for hire vehicles & hotel costs etc. If you do venture outside of the UK, it's well worth it, I've used it in Germany, both for repairs and hotel costs. The same would apply in the UK.

Yes, a new bike comes with a 3 year warranty, it's not free, it'll be included in the cost of the bike. Plus there is the service costs to maintain the warranty. Therefore, it's not a cost you aren't already paying.

[hammo]

Well guys thanks for the comments , BMW extended my warranty for one month till the end of June ,    i think i will extend on a monthly basis that sounds very reasonable , stay and ride safe .

[DaveCly]

I'm a bit late to the party Hammo ... but I took it out, and more than likely willthis September, agree £400 is a lot of money, but doesn't need very much to go wrong to get your money back !
My front telelever suspension unit went after its 2 year warranty expired, but had already took out the extended warranty !
Result .... £1100 repair and just the £100 excess to pay !
I look at it as piece of mind, especially for when I'm touring