[Murph335]

Posting this in the 3 series forum because it applies to anyone with a BMW, more 3's on the road than 5's, and more readers here than on the 5 forums.

Filed a complaint with BBB today in hopes to find someone at this company to reason with. Experience is new to me; see where it goes.
Long story short dont buy a warranty from this company if you own a BMW. Talk with your service advisor to give you who is easiest to work with.
Warranty Select, Warranty Group, and Chrysler were names that came up as some of the best to work with.

Other avenue I am working is to get BMW to good faith this repair as the car is 5mo out of warranty with 54k miles, or at min. pick up the delta to keep the business in house.

Life Lesson: In the future I will own only CPO (warr + maint)(note: some CPO are just warranty no maint) I cant burn hours playing games time is better spent at work selling making $

Here is my log of just about 13 Days.

2008 BMW 550i M-Sport Black 54k mi
Exp Date: 6/9/2015 Exp Miles: 94,789
Last 7 VIN#CT55146

Monday 2/25/13-Flew from AZ to CA Purchased car. Buyer/Seller Conference call with WD claim customer service 800-621-2783 (North Carolina) for confirmation of transfer process and confirmed the contract is transferable. ETA is 30 days for processing. Informed by WD 30 day process would not hinder coverage. Mailed required 3 items to Atlanta (INDS) - Transfer Document, Bill of Sale, and $50 check. Made 2 copies of this paperwork.
Transmission failed at highway speeds during the 300-mile trip back home to AZ. Error messages on the car instructed to pull over safely and find the nearest BMW dealer. Was able to get the car home that night.

Tuesday 2/26-I gave warranty paper work to make claim, showed bill of sale, and vehicle title showing ownership to Champan BMW (chandler, AZ) service advisor Vince Adams. Vince says not a problem; I work with 30+ warranty companies every week (showed a list of phone numbers and companies). Took shop foreman for a ride trans failed on test drive. $140 diag fee determined a new transmission ($7,430+tax) is needed in addition found a leaking vacuum pump or something with brake cylinder. $7,430+tax ~3 days, 2yr warranty parts/labor, and complimentary loaner. Dealer sent quotes/paperwork to WD/INDS to process claim. BMW dealer provided a courtesy loaner 328i.

Friday 3/1-WD or INDS inspector visited the car at bmw dealer to create a report. No repair authorization yet.
Monday 3/4- I called WD customer service to follow up. 20min hold time. Spoke with Tom, Informed report from Fridays inspection received. “Claim Dept” (INDS) getting other quotes from suppliers some refurb, rebuilt, etc and be patient Dan is advisor working claim x1605 takes 1-2 days for decision.

Wednesday 3/6- Followed up 8:45am mtn , 20 min hold time, got Tom again. Informed me the claims dept (INDS in ATL) denied claim because they need a copy of Bill of Sale. 2 days wasted, no follow up to inform me. Emailed Tom the Bill of sale, and transfer form before hanging up, confirmed Tom received, then sent to claims dept (INDS). Was unable to get a contact at INDS who makes decisions for escalation.
2:30pm – No word yet. Cold called INDS directly 800-526-0929 to Follow up, 35min hold time. Rep Informed my claim was DENIED reason contract NON-TRANSFERABLE. Asked why they cashed the $50 check to transfer the contract? Rep said well its not something I handle notes say denied, then cold transferred me into a que, on hold for 20min, hung up dialed again. This time got Andy who did some more digging and got claim status back to pending. 5:30MTN ATL is done for the day.

Thursday 3/7-BMW called me with an approval for refurbished or rebuilt parts, which BMW doesn’t support or sell due to a number of issues. I dialed INDS again to get an explanation of the approved solution is, had to get to a supervisor Bill to explain to me of all the suppliers they quoted this was the LEAST expensive and approved method: Instructed to Drive or Tow the BMW to AAMCO, uninstall trans (~1day), they will ship it from Arizona to European Exchange in New Jersey (~5-7 freight), Rebuild the transmission (~7-10 days), Ship it from NJ to AZ (~5-7 days), AAMCO will reinstall and test (~1-2 days). 1yr unlimited mile warranty on transmission. Cost $5,284.83 if it works the first time looking at a downtime of 4+weeks, double this if it has to go back to New Jersey. Rental reimbursement is 5 days x $50/day. Option#2 was I can pay the difference out of pocket ~$2,200.
Friday 3/8- BMW wants to make this situation work to get me back on the road in days vs. 4+ weeks, repair done right the first time, and generously invested 10 days in a loaner only to find out I need to take a BMW to AAMCO.
$5,284.83 +$50x5 loaner, and shipping cross country, 4+weeks (INDS) vs. $7,430+tax, fixed within days (BMW)
BMW called INDS and pitched in an extra $1,000 (now $6,430+ tax) to make this right for me. INDS wouldn’t move a penny to make this right. With $0 rental expense for INDS its less than a ~$1,200+tax delta to take care of a customer in a timely fashion.
Getting my daily driver back sometime in late April if the rebuild trans works as planned isn’t an acceptable solution, looking at Mid May if issues with the rebuild occur.
Mr. Larry Cassani was out of office on Friday 3/8. It was made CLEAR nobody else at INDS has authority to make a good faith effort for additional approvals to resolve this issue and take care of a customer.

Monday 3/11- Day 13 – To be determined….


Proposed Resolution: Resolve with an immediate approval to Vince Adams at BMW for $7430+tax to Minimize customer inconvenience, and downtime. It doesn't make good business to drag this out into April and May to save such a small %, This shortcut will cost you double if the transmission is rebuilt incorrectly to the slightest degree.

[cleex024]

i would just go ahead and pay the difference of $1200 to get a new transmission. also the dealership had to have known about this transmission issue...what did they have to say about it?

[Codevo]

Another case of a crooked ass dealer and a shady aftermarket warranty company. I wish that a "no questions asked in regards to repairs" clause was part of all these warranty companies. I hope everything works out for ya bro.

[Thrakos]

Originally Posted by cleex024

i would just go ahead and pay the difference of $1200 to get a new transmission. also the dealership had to have known about this transmission issue...what did they have to say about it?

You would - within hours of buying a car and the transmission failed you would have no issue with forking over another $1200?

[napeHbNYC]

You literally just bought the car,the dealer you bought it from gave no warranty from them whatsoever?

Sorry you have to go through all this.

[luv135i]

Yea its very shady that car died as soon as you got it off the lot. Ive heard alot of bad things about warranty direct and just a quick google search turns up mostly negative reviews. If you only have to come out of pocket 1200 with warranty direct actually paying the diffrence i would call that a win, but you should be getting in touch with the dealer that sold you that time bomb.

[kihun]

sucks my man..shady dealer

[Murph335]

Hey guys, to clarify I only buy cars private party. I save 10% sales tax + fees + fees + fees that way. I have been swapping cars every 12months lately.

The seller has been totally cool and cold calling the warranty company with me because they are unwilling to give names of management, extensions, etc. Also he paid $3,000 for the warranty and didnt make a claim, he feels totally ripped off. Seller isnt the kind of guy to just let car issues ride especially when there is a warranty. Very type A, interior is spotless no signs of wear on the window buttons, steering wheel, typical places.

Anybody thinking of buying 3rd party warranty consult your BMW SA they know best from experience.

I posted on their facebook page, and messaged the CEO on Facebook. See if it works.

[gds52]

Generally dealers give some 1 month of warranty or so. This is really bad.
I would say try to involve a lawyer if you can.
Good luck.

[Murph335]

Originally Posted by The Archer

You would - within hours of buying a car and the transmission failed you would have no issue with forking over another $1200?

Yes, the warranty company thinks this is a good solution, or 4weeks of downtime shipping trans coast to coast. Id be nieve(sp?) to think the rebuilt trans will work perfectly on first install, which means another coast to coast shipping 4 weeks.

facebook page here like my posts but I think they deleted them.
https://www.facebook.com/WarrantyDirect?filter=2

[Murph335]

Cadillac did a good faith repair on my CTSV 57-58k miles well out of warranty, that was $7k. I would think bmw would cover the $1200 car is barely out of warranty for a trans to break its very uncommon. Hopefully bmw will step in this week if the warranty company won't.

[kfrazie1]

This is a horror story. Hope it works out. Keep us posted.

[Rollo`]

In my state you have to pay sales tax to get your car registered so private party sales don't save you anything.

I would still do one but I would not buy a BMW without at least some BMW warranty left.

Good luck man...

[NormE91]

If you bought it private party I'd ask the seller to give you back $1200 to make up the difference in the repair... If he's a stand up guy he'd have no problem doing that.

[Murph335]

Originally Posted by NormE91

If you bought it private party I'd ask the seller to give you back $1200 to make up the difference in the repair... If he's a stand up guy he'd have no problem doing that.

Issue is he paid for a warranty to have things fixed. They want to fix it the cheapest way possible, including 4+ weeks of downtime only stepping up for 5 days of a rental.
Its a repair method that bmw doesnt even support because it takes multiple rebuilds to get it right costing more money 2x or 3x of just putting in a new one. Therefore bmw only sells the trans as a whole not individual parts any more.

[NormE91]

Originally Posted by Murph335

Issue is he paid for a warranty to have things fixed. They want to fix it the cheapest way possible, including 4+ weeks of downtime only stepping up for 5 days of a rental.
Its a repair method that bmw doesnt even support because it takes multiple rebuilds to get it right costing more money 2x or 3x of just putting in a new one. Therefore bmw only sells the trans as a whole not individual parts any more.

I understand, but presumably he passed some of that expense of the warranty on to you in your purchase price. Also, I'd think he would feel a little bad having the car fail immediately after taking delivery. Just my 2 cents.

[spiike32]

Originally Posted by Murph335

Issue is he paid for a warranty to have things fixed. They want to fix it the cheapest way possible, including 4+ weeks of downtime only stepping up for 5 days of a rental.
Its a repair method that bmw doesnt even support because it takes multiple rebuilds to get it right costing more money 2x or 3x of just putting in a new one. Therefore bmw only sells the trans as a whole not individual parts any more.

This is very common for 3rd party warranties, especially WD. I had WD for my brother's eclipse. They cover suspension, trans, etc but will only replace with the absolute cheapest parts possible.

They thought it was cheaper to mount a used shock from a totaled car which blew in a few months and then did the same process to get another used shock from a totaled car which also blew in a year. It would have been cheaper to just give me a new one that lasts.

They don't care about your car at all. They will make your car running with cheapest used or generic parts possible. It's actually in the WD contract that they will substitute for used or generic parts, and the company sticks with that stupid policy.

gl

[carogers86]

Sorry to hear that you're living this nightmare. Specifically, what caused the transmission failure?

I really hope this works out!

[mark1996]

Life is too short. I would have taken the compromise deal with the BMW dealer and just paid the $1200. I am sure you paid a lot less for the car because it was not a CPO car from a dealer so some money was saved in return for more risk.

Also, with the new BMW transmission installed by the dealer, you get a BMW warranty on the transmission. The dealer will have all the special tools and skill to get the job done right.

[John 070]

What a nightmare, I'm not clear on the terms as it sounds like the private seller has a warranty on the vehicle, and he's transferred it to the OP? And there is coverage, but it's a proposal that would sideline the vehicle for 4 wks.?

Anyway, we've had mixed results with the BBB. There was a case in 2011 where my wife ordered gifts online. Then she called to change the order, and each person she sent a gift to got 2 gifts, and she was charged double on her credit card. The fat lazy b**** on the phone simply put in another order, never canceling the original (commission I'm sure).

The co. whom she ordered from said no dice, you owe for both. Say what? So we thought, no worries, she used her CC, just call that CC co. who advertises on tv about their 5% rewards, they'll be on our side and reverse the charges. Guess what? They issue a temp credit, and when the merchant says the charges are valid, they put them back and put a DRG code on your credit history. Nice.

Anyway, filled out a BBB case online, resolved instantly. Merchant apologized, their error.

Now, filled out a BBB claim against one of those national muffler chains. They wrote on my receipt that a resonator was covered for life, and signed it. Refused to honor 3 yrs. later. BBB could not help.

It truly is caveat emptor, really. Even when things are in writing, reputation means everything. Because if it comes down to court, let's face it, it's never worth it for us little guys, and mfgs. have unlimited resources and will crush us like bugs. So OP is right, simply do not deal with disreputable organizations, not ever.

[Murph335]

Originally Posted by carogers86

Sorry to hear that you're living this nightmare. Specifically, what caused the transmission failure?

I really hope this works out!

First time it happened I was on the highway i10 heading back to az. I hit resume on the cruise control after a semi moved over to the right lane.

[cleex024]

Originally Posted by The Archer

You would - within hours of buying a car and the transmission failed you would have no issue with forking over another $1200?

look man...he bought a car that was used and obviously there was something already wrong with the car...if the person that he bought it from isnt willing to take it back and its either getting new transmission or used...i would be more willing to pay the $1200 to get a brand new transmission.

of course i would get new insurance afterwards though