Should I buy a new car before my warranty runs out?
QUESTION
Hi John,
I'm a long-term subscriber to your YouTube channel and absolutely love the content and how it's delivered. I can appreciate how long these videos must take to put together - so thank you!
I'm hoping you may be able to help with something I've been wrestling with for a while now. I own a BMW X3 30D XDrive (G01 2018) and absolutely love the car and the straight 6 diesel. This is my first BMW after pretty much being a Hyundai man for the last 7 years, so it was a big step. My concern is all the talk I hear around how unreliable BMW's are and how troublesome they are outside of warranty.
So far this car has been exceptional and continues to excite me almost 3 years down the track, which I've never experienced before. I usually get bored fairly quickly. The warranty will run out in March, so am I crazy for wanting to keep this car long-term? Currently I see no objective reason to offload it, but am I missing something? It seems to me that the ones who can't afford them (or never driven one) seem to bash them the most. Sorry for the long-winded email but I would really value your opinion here.
On another note, I need to upgrade my wife's car around the middle of the year so I will definitely engage your services for that.
Best regards,
Matt Hyland
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ANSWER
Hey Matt,
Thanks for the kind words mate.
BMW is bound by the Acceptable Quality Consumer Guarantee - which is part of Australian Consumer Law.
This means that you still get to enjoy warranty-like support if a part or system of the car fails prematurely (in line with the durability expectations of a reasonable person, given the nature and cost of the product).
However, if you break the car or abuse it (by failing to service it on time, etc) then that’s not covered, nor are things that wear out normally, such as tyres and brakes.
More on this generally: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-06-07/broken-but-out-of-warranty-you-still-have-rights/2749924
Bottom line: It’s probably safe to keep it for five years or 100,000km - whichever comes first.
Happy to help with the wife’s car upgrade (or yours at any time). Just let me know.
Hope this helps.
JC
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