BMW Approved Used. Worth it?

[MerBrook]

Off tomorrow morning to look at buying a BMW approved used 340i touring.
I would like to know whether the approved used warranty is as good as it appears? And what people’s experience is of using the warranty if they’ve had too.
Many thanks.

[Scubaregs]

To be an approved used the car has to have a full BMW (or to BMW standard/parts used etc) service history.
You get the remainder of the manufacturer's warranty if applicable or 1 year BMW warranty and a years roadside assistance.

[TitanTim]

The warranty is worth it to a point but it doesn't mean the car itself condition wise will be any better than anything from say a car supermarket. I've purchased 2 used approved cars in the past and on both I had to ask the dealer to do some work on the cars before I was satisfied in purchasing. In a word just because its a approved used car doesn't really mean much to be honest. Unless it's a very young car they can be poorly prepped if at all IMHO.

Tim.

[MerBrook]

Thanks Tim and Scubaregs.
Tim, thats the sort of thing I was curious about. I will go into this with both eyes wide open. As always it’s down to condition etc.
My main concern was/is that if you have a problem do the main dealers try and wriggle out of it and therefore make the approved used warranty no better than any other used car dealers.

[Spikey]

I have had approved used in a number of my BMW’s over the years and never had to claim so was recently questioning the value……. Until mid Feb had auto hard shifting in my 220 Gran Tourer - recovered to bmw dealer, hire car for 2 weeks, complete new gearbox fitted, all for my £250 excess

Bill would have been £10250!!

I think this answers the question

[TitanTim]

Thanks Tim and Scubaregs.
Tim, thats the sort of thing I was curious about. I will go into this with both eyes wide open. As always it’s down to condition etc.
My main concern was/is that if you have a problem do the main dealers try and wriggle out of it and therefore make the approved used warranty no better than any other used car dealers.

No worries, I guess the only reason I went used approved was the certainty of a previous service history rather than for the actual warranty itself. Can't remember now if the vehicle is out of the manufacturers warranty then it was a years used approved warranty.

Tim.

[M1k3yC]

I've had a couple of approved used BMWs and a couple of approved used Minis. I've successfully had work done under warranty, because a car was not sold as described (modified suspension but not declared to me), and when I bought a car from a dealer a long way from me and it wasn't prepped well - my local dealer helped put pressure on the selling dealer to resolve some issues. All these experiences are some years ago now and I did have to put fair but firm pressure on the dealers on occasion.

I've looked at a supposedly approved car in the past that turned out to have a gap between services that was much longer than the maintenance schedule would recommend. I bought one BMW that had a service gap that was slightly too long (I didn't notice at the time) and subsequently BMW wouldn't buy it back because it couldn't qualify for them to sell as an approved vehicle. Check the history carefully - you and the dealer might disagree on what constitutes full and on time servicing.

All that said I still value buying a higher value, newer vehicle from a main dealer because I've had issues resolved eventually and it saved me some money on repair work. Was that money factored into the price I paid for the car? In part, it probably was.

[Pondrew]

To be an approved used the car has to have a full BMW (or to BMW standard/parts used etc) service history.

Doesn't work with Audis or Hondas.

I have looked at both in the last year; both had holes in the service history (big ones) and were not anywhere near the quality of cars I would expect from being 'approved' by the manufacturer with the associated higher purchase price. I do wonder whether the manufacturer is aware that dealers are selling 'shite' as 'approved used'.

I seriously don't expect BMW to be any better TBH.

Risk assessment (chances are it will be OK until we have no responsibility) or just lack of care is what I got from 'approved' cars.

[Nictrix]

There seems to be two different versions of approved used.
1 is BMW approved used and the other is the garage that is selling it approved used , like Sytner approved used.
1 is obviously better than the other.

[Scubaregs]

To be an approved used the car has to have a full BMW (or to BMW standard/parts used etc) service history.

Doesn't work with Audis or Hondas.

I have looked at both in the last year; both had holes in the service history (big ones) and were not anywhere near the quality of cars I would expect from being 'approved' by the manufacturer with the associated higher purchase price. I do wonder whether the manufacturer is aware that dealers are selling 'shite' as 'approved used'.

I seriously don't expect BMW to be any better TBH.

Risk assessment (chances are it will be OK until we have no responsibility) or just lack of care is what I got from 'approved' cars.

We get audited frequently and his is one of the things that would certainly be checked.

[mmm-five]

My Z4MC was a BMW Approved Used car, but I realised later that it should not have been, as the service history was not recorded correctly (in the book or on the BMW computer).

However, it didn't stop me getting a new engine and wheel bearing within the first 12 months...nor did it sop me getting a diff, a coupe of brake calipers, and a couple of other little parts on the BMW Insured Warranty I took out after that.

But that's probably down to me chasing the selling dealer every other week to update the BMW computer

My 320D was also bought BMW Approved Used, and that came with the AUC warranty for 12 months, and an additional dealer warranty for the next 2 years. I didn't specifically go looking for an AUC car, but it was the best deal (price & spec) available on the market - probably because it was from one of the webbed-fingered regions of the UK?

[MerBrook]

A quick update.
We picked the car up on Saturday from Sytner Sheffield. The whole experience of using a main dealer has been very good to say the least.
Some of the things that I thought I might have a difficult time trying to get sorted out or use as bargaining points were all either done without even having to ask or when asked about I was told that they were about to be sorted out and were.
The service records for the car were spot on and it has obviously been well looked after by the previous owner with all services done on time.
All this gives me confidence in BMW's approved used warranty scheme, time will tell I guess and I really hope that we don't have to use it but if we do then the back up is there, I hope.
Also the car is excellent so very pleased at present.
Thanks for all your replies.

[M1k3yC]

Glad you got a good car and were well looked after.

My Mini came from Sytner Sheffield.