Zurich warranty opinions... - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

himebaum · 2nd October 2008, 15:47

Just quoted $5,200.00 for 3 yr 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty on a 2003 with 50,000 miles. Seems really high. Anyone have experience with claims with Zurich?

Thanks...

ard · 2nd October 2008, 18:29

crazy high price.

did you get an actual copy of the contract? Don't believe "bumper to bumper"- it's the condition and exclusions that will kill you.

Who is "Zurich"? What is the legal name of the entity that underwrites the actual policy?

himebaum · 2nd October 2008, 18:51

No, I didn't get a contract. I simply called a local BMW dealer for a quick quote. I did a search of Zurich and didn't get much info. I was hoping I would hear from someone who has had claims with them.

CarbonHan · 2nd October 2008, 20:22

i did an extensive search on warranties available for our beast and not many offer coverage on them. Zurich doesnt offer too much iirc.

i decided on GE warranty and i couldnt be happier... I paid about 2200 dollars for 2 years or 24,000 miles.

vitacura · 3rd October 2008, 02:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarbonHan

i did an extensive search on warranties available for our beast and not many offer coverage on them. Zurich doesnt offer too much iirc.

i decided on GE warranty and i couldnt be happier... I paid about 2200 dollars for 2 years or 24,000 miles.

I thought GE Warranty was only able to be purchased through a dealer?

CarbonHan · 3rd October 2008, 03:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitacura

I thought GE Warranty was only able to be purchased through a dealer?

oh yea, forgot to mention that i had to go through a dealer friend of mine to get the warranty

JackeeChan79 · 3rd October 2008, 04:07

I actually have a "zero deductible" bumper to bumper warranty with Zurich. Here's my experience:

When I purchased my '01 M5 last Sept., there were several issues with the vehicle that needed to be resolved (mainly leaky rear half shafts, leaky rear view mirror, and missing pixels on the gauge cluster). All these items were found by the pre purchase inspection I had performed on the car when I was researching the vehicle. I ended up buying the vehicle with the understanding and promise (from folks at Zurich) that I would be covered for the issues that were found with the car, @ the time of purchase, when I brought it home. Now for the good and bad:

Good: They kept their promise (sort of - more on that later). When I brought the car home, the warranty company was fully aware of the issues and had no problems with me just taking the car to any dealership (or independant) and having the problems fixed without a reinspection. They also had no problems paying when some other issues were found (broken cup holder, and several other minor issues).

Bad: "Zero Deductible" is EXACTLY NOT A ZERO DEDUCTIBLE. Apparently the labor guides the dealerships (and supposedly independant shops) use to estimate labor times on jobs differ from the guides that Zurich uses. It turns out that a "zero deductible" plan equates to paying zero for PARTS ONLY. I found that I had to pay approximately 15-25% of the total labor costs for the work performed on the car due to the differences in labor estimates (approximately 15-25% differences in labor times). I fought tooth and nail to get the shop and the folks at Zurich to agree (and maybe I didn't fight hard enough), but I could not get to a point where I had to pay NOTHING for work COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. Still, I paid only 20ish percent of the cost of the labor portion of the total cost of the bill to fix my M5. Despite my extreme frustration with the situation, the reps at Zurich were very patient on the phone and dealt with me in a very professional manner, so it wasn't a total loss. Still, if you purchase a ZERO deductible plan, plan to spend some dollar amount greater than zero when you have work done on the vehicle (I estimate 20% of the labor costs, parts should be covered 100%).

Anyway, hope this helps. If you have any more questions, send me a PM or hit me up in this thread. Take it easy and good luck!

CarbonHan · 3rd October 2008, 04:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackeeChan79

Bad: "Zero Deductible" is EXACTLY NOT A ZERO DEDUCTIBLE. Apparently the labor guides the dealerships (and supposedly independant shops) use to estimate labor times on jobs differ from the guides that Zurich uses. It turns out that a "zero deductible" plan equates to paying zero for PARTS ONLY. I found that I had to pay approximately 15-25% of the total labor costs for the work performed on the car due to the differences in labor estimates (approximately 15-25% differences in labor times). I fought tooth and nail to get the shop and the folks at Zurich to agree (and maybe I didn't fight hard enough), but I could not get to a point where I had to pay NOTHING for work COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. Still, I paid only 20ish percent of the cost of the labor portion of the total cost of the bill to fix my M5. Despite my extreme frustration with the situation, the reps at Zurich were very patient on the phone and dealt with me in a very professional manner, so it wasn't a total loss. Still, if you purchase a ZERO deductible plan, plan to spend some dollar amount greater than zero when you have work done on the vehicle (I estimate 20% of the labor costs, parts should be covered 100%).

Anyway, hope this helps. If you have any more questions, send me a PM or hit me up in this thread. Take it easy and good luck!

wow, that REALLY blows

. most warranties have a deductible per visit. I have a 100 deductible per visit if i go to my preferred indy, and a "disappearing" deductible if i take my car to the place i bought the warranty which means that i pay nothing

ard · 3rd October 2008, 16:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackeeChan79

Bad: "Zero Deductible" is EXACTLY NOT A ZERO DEDUCTIBLE. Apparently the labor guides the dealerships (and supposedly independant shops) use to estimate labor times on jobs differ from the guides that Zurich uses. It turns out that a "zero deductible" plan equates to paying zero for PARTS ONLY. I found that I had to pay approximately 15-25% of the total labor costs for the work performed on the car due to the differences in labor estimates (approximately 15-25% differences in labor times). I fought tooth and nail to get the shop and the folks at Zurich to agree (and maybe I didn't fight hard enough), but I could not get to a point where I had to pay NOTHING for work COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. Still, I paid only 20ish percent of the cost of the labor portion of the total cost of the bill to fix my M5. Despite my extreme frustration with the situation, the reps at Zurich were very patient on the phone and dealt with me in a very professional manner, so it wasn't a total loss. Still, if you purchase a ZERO deductible plan, plan to spend some dollar amount greater than zero when you have work done on the vehicle (I estimate 20% of the labor costs, parts should be covered 100%).

Anyway, hope this helps. If you have any more questions, send me a PM or hit me up in this thread. Take it easy and good luck!

I wonder what the terms of the CONTRACT say about how Zurich is permitted to estimate repair times.

THis has nothing to do with "deductible". The policy says zero deductible, there you go.

The problem is that the details of the coverage - how they are permitted to determine the value of the claim- was not clarified to you.

I am curious- in the fight you had over this, did you determine the actual legal rights that Zurich had in pulling these numbers out of the air? Did it say "labpr costs shall be determined by Zurich"...or "labor shall be usual and customary" or "labor shall be based on industry standards"?? I've found that understanding where the legal line is drawn can make your battle much more effective- for example don't argue about "can you pay 6.4 hrs for XYZ instead of the 4.5 you are allowing"... instead argue "please provide me with the 'industry standard' that supports your 4.5hr allowance'

Anyway, this is why you ALWAYS need a copy of the policy to make the decision (or an 'example' policy- they'll always say "you'll get the policy in hte mail and have 30 days to review"..sure, after you paid them the money! You want the policy BEFORE you make the decision. Demand it, they can get it.)

Also, dealerships- ANY dealer- is in the biz to make money- they can sell a warranty to any customer no matter what car it is. (They may not WANT to, but they CAN.)

GL

A