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Extended warranty through PenFed (Route 66)?

75K views 160 replies 67 participants last post by  sk72 
#1 ·
Made the decision to buy my 550 at the end of its lease today (love that car)....I setup my financing through PenFed and opted for the extended warranty for $1895. It's through Route 66 and says that it's a pretty all encompassing warranty (I know the BMW CPO warranty doesnt cover battery issues, as an example). Anyone have any good or bad feedback on this? I have 60 days to decide on it. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
What's the term for the $1895? And the coverage? I am looking around as well. At the very least I know I want the Powertrain covered...
 
#4 ·
Term is 5yr, 100k miles.

I got 60 months at 2.49% and they allowed me to add the $1895 to my loan and kept the same payments but for 63 months. Here is their brochure on the warranty. https://www.penfed.org/productsandrates/insurance/pdf/Route_66Brochure2011.pdf

The BMW sales guy yesterday was surprised that I didn't go CPO but I told him that I know of too many instances where things weren't included (battery, etc.). Notice on the PenFed option that there is only a small list of things not covered vs. a huge list of generic parts that are covered. Also includes roadside assistance, rental car reimbursement, fuel/fluid delivery, lock out service and $0 deductible. Hard to beat, if you ask me. I wasn't going to get a warranty at all until I saw this.....it's even transferable.
 
#5 ·
Thanks. 5yrs/100K translates to 1yr/50K over the manufacturers' new car coverage, I believe. You may want to get their "fine print" explanation on this. There is a clause in the very bottom that worries me:

"LABOR: All agreements provide for the reasonable and customary payment of labor."

I still am leaning to the BMW coverage right now.
 
#6 ·
I am a lawyer and would never take an agreement with such vague language. That line is basically the out the warranty company needs to claim any labor charge is too high and place the burden on the vehicle owner to pay it. There is no way you can buy comprehensive warranty coverage for a 65k vehicle for less than 2k and expect it to be reasonably worth it. Id lean the CPO route if I were you.
 
#9 ·
Nice to know.... thank you.
 
#10 ·
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My (4yr/50K) factory warranty is up Feb 2012 and I've been looking at options. Heard good things about route 66 (cost and coverage) and found a local credit union where I can get financing and a 7yr/100K comprehensive warranty for about the same price (under $2K)

Have been emailing back and forth with Mark Pelfrey @ Route 66 with some specific questions based on concerns from my local BMW dealer:

1) Do you pay labor at the local/NJ "market" labor rates charged by BMW - which are ~$130 per hour? I would be concerned if you paid a "national average" or some type of blended rate that was much lower and I would be responsible for the difference.

Answer: We would pay the $130, as long as that is what they charge consumers. (If they are charging that because there is a warranty company involved, we will only pay what they charge a customer).

2) If repairs are needed, will BMW sourced parts be used? If not, would I have the ability to pay the price difference to get BMW sourced parts? My concern is that the dealership would be required to use non BMW supplied parts, then not guarantee the work. Even if rebuilt parts are used, I would want them to come from BMW and not a third party.

Answer: BMW parts may be used, but if there is an extreme price difference between that and the aftermarket replacement, the customer would be responsible for the difference if they chose to use the BMW part.

So far, Route 66 seems like the best coverage/cost/quality option, but they only go through credit unions.
 
#11 ·
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Have been emailing back and forth with Mark Pelfrey @ Route 66 with some specific questions based on concerns from my local BMW dealer:
Thanks for posting those responses. I recently became a convert to the credit union concept and my credit union offers these. Good to know they would likely be easy to deal with.
 
#12 ·
I purchased my 2010 535xi with the intent of driving it 100K miles. I have been debating the merits of an extended warranty as I approach 35K. The costs are exorbitant, $3500 to get to 100K miles of coverage. Costco partners with a company called Century that is $600 cheaper than BMW and is "exclusionary". It covers almost everything (except wear & tear). It sounds good, backed by Costco but there are some negative reviews online. These folks basically say that the company looks for any reason to deny a claim. I am torn. Putting $4000 away for potential repairs may be as good an idea as anything. I've never owned a BMW before, and am concerned about the enormous amount of diagnostic time often required to fix a problem.

Any thoughts? Prior experience with Century?
 
#13 ·
I am curious about that too - I am at 43K miles so I need to make my mind up soon. What does everyone think of the extended maintenance? I will be needing at least a set of brakes within 15K miles after 50K.
 
#14 · (Edited)
My warranty ends in 3 weeks, and after much debating, researching, sleepless nights, and graying of my hair, I have decided that I'm going with the BMW warranty. Less headaches I guess when I need warranty work done. I will be coughing up my hard earned $3900 sometime next week for the platinum coverage. Although I keep pondering in my head what if I pay for this warranty and nothing happens to my car for the next three years.

I just bought this car and it would be financially horrible for me to have a major mechanical break down, such as the transmissions while I'm currently making monthly payments. If my car was paid off then I would probably roll the dice and just go without the warranty.
 
#15 ·
i dont know much about the route 66 warranty but i had an easycare warranty on my 545 and it was awesome. in about 1 year they paid around $10,000 for repairs. for all types of things. my car seemed to be in the shop almost once a month and they never balked at any of the stuff that needed to be done. some of the stuff took a little longer because they would have to send out an adjuster just to make sure that the things were indeed needing repaired. i had a $250 deductible which is the reason i ended up getting rid of the car. $250 on top of my monthly payment seemed a little much for a car i had in the shop all the time. i know it was probably rare to have so many issues with a car but they never denied any of the work. if any one if thinking of buy an extended warranty i would highly recommend easycare. i had extensive experience with them and would buy another one.
 
#16 ·
I'm sure we'd all love to find a dependable warranty co at a reasonable cost, but this sounds too good to be true. Any insurer that actually has any intent of paying out is going to crunch the data and come up with a custom cost depending on the make, model, mileage, age, etc. Any "premium" car is $1,895 warrantied 'til 100k miles? Are they saying a 328i costs, on average, the same to maintain as a 550i? One could have 25k miles today and the other could have 75k. And Mercedes, BMW, etc. all cost the same?
 
#17 ·
Well, back in 2003, I bought a Heritage exclusionary warranty for $2100 for my 740i sport. It was the best after market warranty ever. I also don't think that a reputable credit union like Penfed would associate itself with deadbeat warranty companies.
 
#18 ·
i paid $2500 for an extra 50k warranty! Im in sales and put a lot of miles on my car so I thought I was smart to buy it. My luck, never had one problem with the car until 800 miles past warranty! I got a passenger air bag saftey error, now fuel pump malfuntion error. But thats my luck Good luck to you.
 
#19 ·
Check there bond ratings or who they are backed by. I had a Great Lakes warranty on my 2003 540i a few years ago. They were great at first covered a starter, radiator, power steering pump,. many things I cant even remember. Then they started to slow pay, then no pay, then bankruptcy. I actually sold the car before they went under and it more than paid for itself. However I would always check them out even if your mechanic recommends them. Ken
 
#22 ·
"Vehicles Over One Ton... Are not Covered"

This is the first line of the "exclusions" for the PenFed Route 66 Warranty.

I called and asked about this and emailed them. They replied that this is maybe a typo (Per PenFed) and Route 66 themselves said that this refers to "pay load." However when I asked them to simply amend it or alter it on my personal agreement they refused because of company policy. This feels very suspicious.

Has anyone out there got denied coverage because their vehicle is over 2000 pounds? = 1 ton. ?

almost ALL premium cars weigh well over one ton, so this just doesn't make sense... they even specifically say that they cover Hummers etc. (Hummers weigh 6-8 thousand pounds or 3-4 tons.

Anyhow; i'm going with Route 66 because it's all I can afford, and if I have to go to court to get coverage if something bad happens and they try to screw me then I will... also the argument that PenFed recommends them whole-heartedly is very strong to me.

Any thoughts? Any other examples of coverage/problems? please forward you reply to my e--male too please... alex (no space or dot) wills at the google if you know what i mean (gmail)

alex:angel:
 
#23 ·
Never heard of this.
BTW my credit union offered ti me a warranty for 3500 dollars for 36/36,000, but i have like 76000 miles on car already. Also their labor rate is 115 bucks plus they are paying to troubleshooting time.
 
#24 ·
My warranty is up next month and as many of you know I am fearful of a huge BMW repair bill.:cry:

So after some info on this site, I decided to go with rt66.
They are sold by credit Unions etc.

I got the 7year/75000mile plan. It starts on the day you sign, and has no deductible.

I got it through my credit union, and they have great success with them.
i looked at the BMW plans and they cost a ton (~$2k more) and only provide an additional 2 years? All their plans are from date of service so they sound great until you find that the warranty is really very short. my dealer will not discount so i walked.

Go on the RT66 site and they will give you a non binding quote, and provide info. Your credit union can also be helpful.

Sorry I dont have any claim experience (yet) but I am really interested in major repair coverage. I dont want a huge trans/motor suprise. PLUS I have the extra $2k++ as a cushion.

They will also pay for batteries up to $65. OK.
Apparantly they charge a little extra for AWD - ok.

BTW it is transferable which makes the BMW at least saleable.

There are a lot of scam plans out there. I get them in the mail frequently. They are even setup to look like they are from BMW.
 
#26 ·
So I'm going w/ Route 66, but just want to make sure no one out there has been screwed by them.

Anyone with horror stories? unsatisfied with the service/ plan when you need it?

Thanks!
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Hey all - I bought the Route 66 "Easy Street" warranty last month through my Credit Union before my factory warranty expired this month. $2300 gives me an ADDITIONAL 5 years or 100K miles (which ever comes first) with no deductible - which will cover me through 2016!

I had initial questions about the warranty coverage and got them answered (in an email which I saved) by Mark Pelfrey there - mark.pelfrey@route66warranty.com. He should be able to confirm that your car over 1 ton is covered - but I wouldn't worry about that too much.

When my actual insurance certificate came from the CU, it listed my car as a 524td without a turbo based on the VIN :dunno:. The CU was useless, so I worked with Ana Fry @ Route 66 who made the corrections after I sent the window sticker showing that the turbo was standard equipment. afry@route66warranty.com.

Let's all make sure we post our actual experiences (good and bad) if/when we need to use the Route 66 warranty for a claim.

Great forum!
 
#27 · (Edited)
I bought a '10 M5 with 6K miles on the clock a couple of weeks ago, and also decided to explore extended warranty options as the car can get a bit expensive to service out of warranrty. As far as I can tell, the big 3-4 extended coverage companies are:
* BMW itself (the dealer offered both BMW coverage and their own, dealership-specific coverage)
* EasyCare
* NAC
* Zurich

Upon researching options, it became clear that comparing one policy to another is tricky business. Not only do terms vary (e.g. years and mileage), but the effective date of individual terms vary -e.g. one policy may take effect the day you buy the policy (as it relates to the months/years of coverage), while the miles may have started counting down from the day was first put into service - this is how the BMW plans work.

On top of that, BMW appears to offer a gazzilion permutations - not just varying terms, but varying coverage such as powertrain only, powertrain+electronics (but exl. nav and radio), and eveything.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, both BMW and EasyCare wanted over $7K for 6 year warranty and 100K miles, bumper-to-bumper. NAC offered an "exclusionary" bumper-to-bumper policy for 7 years/100K miles for $4K. "Exclusionary" means that it covers anything not specifically listed in the exclusion clause - which was smaller wear and tear parts. As a side note, I asked them to quote for the same car but assuming it had 40K miles on the clock - that shaves 2 years off the clock, and added $900 to the premium. So it would appear that signing up early actually saves you $...

Moral of the story: it pays to shop around (I'm not done shopping around yet!). Also, I'd worry a lot less about battery coverage, and a helluva lot more about the powertrain and electronics on our cars :)

Edit: also make sure your local/preferred dealer wants to work with the warranty company in question. Some dealerships apparently refuse work with some, as getting paid proves to be more hassle than it's worth. All of the above companies have good reputations, as far as I can tell, on this basis.
 
#30 ·
I spoke to the company (rt 66) re my questions:

1. the exclusion for 1 ton is for carry capacity, although it doesnt read that way.
2. they want a 6month/6000 mile oil change for BMWs. The contract reads 3000 miles for others!!

I can live with that.

Everyone is in technical violation since BMW suggests 1yr/15k miles!!
My first change was @ 1100 miles (ideal) and 1 year after (7000mi).
 
#136 ·
I spoke to the company (rt 66) re my questions:

1. the exclusion for 1 ton is for carry capacity, although it doesnt read that way.
2. they want a 6month/6000 mile oil change for BMWs. The contract reads 3000 miles for others!!
Have you run into any trouble with 6mo/6k intervals in the couple years since you posted this? Does the contract actually SAY 6mo/6k for BMW? The guy I contacted said that their underwriter requires 3mo/3k for all cars. Not sure what to believe!
 
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