BMW X3 Prices Paid and Buying Experience

1822 messages,  Last post on May 14, 2013 at 4:40 PM

You are in the Prices Paid - Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum.

What is this discussion about? BMW X3, SUV

#1550 of 1822 Re: 2009 X3 CPO [pp2009pp] by mar1an1

Mar 02, 2010 (11:35 am)

Replying to: pp2009pp (Feb 04, 2010 4:13 pm)
Hi, I came to this site to search for any experience and reviews about bmw x3 from the current owners. I guess you're not having good time with this car.
I'm just wondering... with all the recalls with toyota, have you ever tried to contact the manufacturer? I betcha that they would start taking consumer's complaints seriously these days. From what I read on the net, it seems that you're not the only one having issues with bmw.

#1551 of 1822 service contract? by tedtodd

Mar 28, 2010 (3:30 pm)

we had leased 2004 2.5liter x3, and then bought it after the lease ran out. it now has 120k on it, and my wife still loves it, but a few minor things are wrong. so we just bought a 2007 X3 with 37k on it. better color, bigger engine, premium package and winter package for $27.5k. they also gave us 1k more than our car was worth. but we both really love the x3 and think it blows away it's competitors in that price range.
 
my only question is whether we should purchase the Service Contract...the car has 50k service, and 100k b2b...but you have to fully maintain the car in order to keep the 100k warranty active. first- is that true?
2nd- the service contract costs $1850 or so. truly it's only good until 100k or 6yrs....so 02/2013. i believe the scheduled maintenance is 30k, 60k....and maybe one more. plus oil changes, and i know the brakes and rotors usually get replaced together at the 60k....that can cost $700+. (not really sure) and oil changes are probably about $100/each.
 
anyone think this service contract is worth it? the payments spread over the 5yr payment period at 3.9%...but the useful life of that contract is only 3 yrs.
 
thoughts?

#1552 of 1822 Re: service contract? [tedtodd] by roadburner

Mar 28, 2010 (4:02 pm)

Replying to: tedtodd (Mar 28, 2010 3:30 pm)
Find out how much the dealer charges for the 3 services required between 50K and 100K, throw in the cost of a coolant flush, a brake fluid flush, and a four wheel brake job(you are correct about the 60K interval) and see if it adds up to over $1850. It may be close if you have the dealer perform all the work, and appreciably less if you have a good indie BMW shop handle it.

#1553 of 1822 Re: service contract? [tedtodd] by kyfdx HOST

Mar 29, 2010 (6:11 am)

Replying to: tedtodd (Mar 28, 2010 3:30 pm)
Do you put 20K mi/yr on your vehicle? It sort of looks like you do, considering the mileage on your '04.
 
If that is the case, then you'll have 97K on your car by the end of the warranty, and also the extended maintenance plan, if you decide to buy it. That gets you maximum use out of the maintenance plan. That said, there may be some wiggle room in the price... you may be able to negotiate a couple of hundred lower.
 
If you don't do the scheduled maintenance, then a warranty claim could be denied, if they tie the problem to the lack of maintenance (not hard to do). As roadburner noted, you can get the maintenance done more cheaply at a good independent BMW repair shop. However, that might be inconvenient, as you'll be going to the dealer for warranty work, anyway.
 
The advantage of buying the maintenance plan, is you don't have to worry if any vehicle problems are maintenance or warranty related, as you'll be covered for either. I would guess that if you are going to come close to the 100K mileage limit by the end of the plan, it will probably pay off (especially if you can negotiate a discount from that price. You might have a little less leverage, since you've already purchased your car.
 
One final note: You described your warranty as B2B... That may be true for the original warranty that expires at 50K miles, but the CPO warranty that kicks in at 50K, while good, is far from comprehensive, in comparison to the base warranty.
 
regards,
kyfdx

#1554 of 1822 Re: service contract? [kyfdx] by tedtodd

Mar 29, 2010 (5:22 pm)

Replying to: kyfdx (Mar 29, 2010 6:11 am)
ty for the replies.
 
you've provided good reasoning. i've also looked for the independent bmw mechanics around me, and i think i should probably just pay for it all now and then use the dealers for all maintenance. it would be a different story if i knew the independent mechanic, but otherwise i may feel like i'm being ripped off, and then i'll probably have to haggle with the dealers over warranty issues if anything arises.
 
i may as well just keep it easy on myself. and you're right, we'll def hit 20k a year with the car, and that will get us right to 100k, making everything covered and worry free.
 
what i don't like is the business manager saying that it's spread out over 60 months...when in fact its useful life is only 3 years. she also said it would be an asset, and if we traded the car back in at some point, there would be some equity in that service...but we're not likely to trade it in within 3 years, and it will pretty much expire worthless after 3 years, yet still be a part of our payoff possibly leaving us upside down when the time comes.

#1555 of 1822 Re: service contract? [tedtodd] by kyfdx HOST

Mar 30, 2010 (1:24 pm)

Replying to: tedtodd (Mar 29, 2010 5:22 pm)
Well... look at it this way.. It may be worthless at the end of three years, but you'll still get the full use of it. It's value isn't really related to the term of your loan, but independent of it.... (if you paid cash, is the maintenance plan worth any less? Nope).
 
If the loan terms are good, then finance the cost.. if they aren't so good, then pay cash for the plan upfront, if it helps you sleep at night..
 
It may cause you to be upside down, if you sell at the 100K mark, but in the big picture, you will probably be better off (no maintenance costs for the next three years).
 
Good luck with it... It's very seldom that someone's driving needs and the current mileage match up so well with the warranty and maintenance expiration... You really will see full value for those extra costs.
 
regards,
kyfdx

#1556 of 1822 Re: service contract? [kyfdx] by tedtodd

Mar 30, 2010 (4:38 pm)

Replying to: kyfdx (Mar 30, 2010 1:24 pm)
excellent. thanks for your help with the logic.
 
we did get a good financing deal, so that combined with a good price and an excellent trade-in price.....we should be very happy.

#1557 of 1822 X3 experience from hell by 4getbmw

Apr 02, 2010 (2:18 pm)

I would strongly advise anyone considering an x3, or any other BMW for that matter, to seriously reconsider. I have been appalled and disgusted with my x3 and the lack of concern that BMW has demonstrated throughout my own personal nightmare (which BMW likes to refer to as "JOY" in their tv ads). Purchased as a CPO vehicle 13 months ago, this car had only 24,000 miles on it and looked like a brand new vehicle (2005 model). In one year, this car has been in the shop for repairs 11 (yes, eleven) times. From brakes being replaced, transmission issues, fuel injector leaks, cracked vacuum line, exhaust issues, suspension issue, computer problems, coolant leak and many other problems that have led me to the brink of insanity.....the office finds nothing wrong with this situation and says that it
really isn't that unusual. Essentially "thanks for buying. Take care.". So I would
suggest before you spend your money on a product that the manufacturer won't
even stand behind, to please think twice. And CPO....means nothing, don't waste your time.

#1558 of 1822 X3 nightmare by 4getbmw

Apr 02, 2010 (5:11 pm)

To the person who so kindly told me to stop crapping all over the message boards about my nightmare x3, I'm sure you're equally angry at all of the follow-up comments with others unhappy with their BMW products. I'm happy for you and your wife for having such a great experience, but mine has been crappy. And because BMW sees no reason to do anything for me ( and claims that 14 days in the shop in one year is not a big deal ), I'm going to share my experience on the message boards and with anyone else who will listen. It's all about corporate greed and I'm tired of it. This whole experience has been completely absurd. Gotta run now, the leaking fuel injectors have been repaired....maybe the 11th time in the shop is the charm!

#1559 of 1822 Re: X3 nightmare [4getbmw] by roadburner

Apr 02, 2010 (10:00 pm)

Replying to: 4getbmw (Apr 02, 2010 5:11 pm)
Thanks for the helpful information. My experience with BMWs has been so bad that I've only owned nine of them(and still have three). My wife's 2004 X3 has also been a disaster; it's required one warranty repair(an SRS sensor) in over 90,000 miles of gentle use. And brakes only last 60,000 miles, tires even less(48,000 miles). I think that it might even need a serpentine drive belt at the next Oil Service, which means the belt only lasted 98,000 miles. To top it off, I recommended CPO X3s to a couple of my friends and their experience has been eerily similar to mine. And don't get me started on my 1995 3 Series; repairs and maintenance costs(including multiple sets of Z-rated track rubber) are averaging 5 cents per mile over the 15 years I've owned and tracked the car.
What pieces of junk.
 
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