New BMW - Gap Ins, Tyre Ins, detailing and Tracker

peterg1965

I have just signed a contract for a factory ordered BMW 335d M Sport Coupe. The dealer mentioned various additional products that seem to add a further £1000 or so to the invoice price! I am not keen to do this on what, is already, a very expensive car. The products are:

GAP Insurance - I am pretty savvy about this having brought before from Click4Gap. I will definately not buy the dealers product, it is far too expensive. Hitachi offer very competitive GAP which is cheaper than Click4Gap (even after cashback) and offers a flat £20,000 cover which is good. Cost would be £190 over 2 years (the maximum time I will keep the BMW). Has anyone else got any other suggestions? This is Return to Invoice cover By the way.

Tyre Insurance - Interested in looking at this on a car which has tyres that cost £250 each. Have seen a couple of internet companies (including an AA policy) but am keen to have a pay monthly policy. Again has anyone had an experience of this product and can recommend a provider? The dealer product I know will be bl***y expensive as they always are. Initial quote I have seen is an annual policy at £159, max 5 tyres to claim, excess £10, but no pay monthly.

Detailing - The dealer is offering Supaguard paint and interior protection for £299 (I think, it certainly will not be cheaper than this). I have had this before on a new car and am not sure if it is any good. Is it worth DIYing with a good aftermarket product (Zymol etc) or can anyone recommend a decent, competitive company in the North West which provides this service?

Tracker - This is not compulsory on my current insurance but is worth considering on such an expensive, valuable car. There are many products avaiable (Trackstar (RAC), Smartrack and Tracker to name but a few). Dealer is offering Tracker monitor for £399 + the annual subscription (£125). This isnt GPS based whereas RAC Trackstar at £299 is. Once again, anyone got any recommendation? What sort of Insurance premium reduction could I expect if I fitted a tracking device?

Thanks for any comments, advice you may be able to offer.

vikingaero

peterg1965 wrote: »

GAP Insurance - I am pretty savvy about this having brought before from Click4Gap. I will definately not buy the dealers product, it is far too expensive. Hitachi offer very competitive GAP which is cheaper than Click4Gap (even after cashback) and offers a flat £20,000 cover which is good. Cost would be £190 over 2 years (the maximum time I will keep the BMW). Has anyone else got any other suggestions? This is Return to Invoice cover By the way.

Agreed. Far better to buy elsewhere as the dealer policy is poor value. Plus most insurers will pay out for a new car in its first year if damage exceeds 50-60% of the original value.

Tyre Insurance - Interested in looking at this on a car which has tyres that cost £250 each. Have seen a couple of internet companies (including an AA policy) but am keen to have a pay monthly policy. Again has anyone had an experience of this product and can recommend a provider? The dealer product I know will be bl***y expensive as they always are.

Not sure you will need this. Runflats have poor mileage compared to normal tyres and you might find that you'll wear them down before any small risk of a puncture. Tyres are far cheaper at specialists such as Micheldever Tyres or Elite Direct.

Detailing - The dealer is offering Supaguard paint and interior protection for £299 (I think, it certainly will not be cheaper than this). I have had this before on a new car and am not sure if it is any good. Is it worth DIYing with a good aftermarket product (Zymol etc) or can anyone recommend a decent, competitive company in the North West which provides this service?

This is the biggest rip off in the world. If you have the time and really want supaguard or any alternative then buy a pack from eBay and spend an afternoon cleaning the car yourself. I have a friend who is a car salesman and he hates selling the stuff because it's such shark oil. The £299 comprises a whole host of commission layers - salesman gets a share, his manager, the dealer principal etc. Why not pop around the tradesman entrance of the dealer and ask the valeter if he does private work?

Tracker - This is not compulsory on my current insurance but is worth considering on such an expensive, valuable car. There are many products avaiable (Trackstar (RAC), Smartrack and Tracker to name but a few). Dealer is offering Tracker monitor for £399 + the annual subscription (£125). This isnt GPS based whereas RAC Trackstar at £299 is. Once again, anyone got any recommendation? What sort of Insurance premium reduction could I expect if I fitted a tracking device?

Some insurers offer 5% reduction. Most have given up offering reductions because up to a certain level cars are fairly secure against theft. It's far easier to jack them or steal the keys. Most serious insurance claims involve huge personal injury claims which dwarf the cost of stolen metal. Depends if you want a car back that has been thrashed to hell and back v. the inconvenience of not having a car even if it has been recovered. At £299/£399 it may be a worthwhile peace of mind in proportion to the value of the vehicle.

khizman

peterg1965 wrote: »

I have just signed a contract for a factory ordered BMW 335d M Sport Coupe. The dealer mentioned various additional products that seem to add a further £1000 or so to the invoice price! I am not keen to do this on what, is already, a very expensive car. The products are:

GAP Insurance - I am pretty savvy about this having brought before from Click4Gap. I will definately not buy the dealers product, it is far too expensive. Hitachi offer very competitive GAP which is cheaper than Click4Gap (even after cashback) and offers a flat £20,000 cover which is good. Cost would be £190 over 2 years (the maximum time I will keep the BMW). Has anyone else got any other suggestions? This is Return to Invoice cover By the way.

Tyre Insurance - Interested in looking at this on a car which has tyres that cost £250 each. Have seen a couple of internet companies (including an AA policy) but am keen to have a pay monthly policy. Again has anyone had an experience of this product and can recommend a provider? The dealer product I know will be bl***y expensive as they always are. Initial quote I have seen is an annual policy at £159, max 5 tyres to claim, excess £10, but no pay monthly.

Detailing - The dealer is offering Supaguard paint and interior protection for £299 (I think, it certainly will not be cheaper than this). I have had this before on a new car and am not sure if it is any good. Is it worth DIYing with a good aftermarket product (Zymol etc) or can anyone recommend a decent, competitive company in the North West which provides this service?

Tracker - This is not compulsory on my current insurance but is worth considering on such an expensive, valuable car. There are many products avaiable (Trackstar (RAC), Smartrack and Tracker to name but a few). Dealer is offering Tracker monitor for £399 + the annual subscription (£125). This isnt GPS based whereas RAC Trackstar at £299 is. Once again, anyone got any recommendation? What sort of Insurance premium reduction could I expect if I fitted a tracking device?

Thanks for any comments, advice you may be able to offer.

Gap insurance - I would go for it if it provides you peace of mind.
Tyre insurance- leave it, I would personally take the risk, I have never had a puncture that cannot be repaired for a tenner, also tyres will probbably cost £120 a corner for eagle f1s, you wont have more than 1 puncture.

Detailing - go to detailingworld.co.uk and see if you can find a detailier in your area, they should charge around £200 for a complete detail, if you want supaguard, it's around £30 for the kit off ebay and you can DIY.

Tracker - I would never want a car that was stolen back.

david29dpo

this sort of selling reminds me of comet.

polarbearit

These products are mostly about risk mitigation…

GAP Insurance – Covers the risk that your car is: (1) Written off & (2) Has an outstanding debt/value below that paid out be the insurers. Now what are the chances of that? To my mind the risk is quite small (but always talked up nicely by the dealer), you are buying a popular BMW that can cost nearly as much 1 year old as new so I’d not worry too much here!

Tyre Insurance – This covers the risk that your tyres are damaged. In this case I suspect that the cost of the insurance over the 2 years will be the same as replacing 1.5-2 tyres – what are the chances of that? To mitigate this I’d check the cheapest prices for the tyres in question (I had a car with 19” wheels previously – same tyre varied in price from £130 I paid to nearly £300 at Quikfit) and put the money in the bank to cover 1 tyre!

Detailing – Covers the minor paintwork and interior scratches. In this case it seems the cost probably outweighs putting right any damage (like the tyre insurance above?). Unless you find it compellingly cheaper, I’d stick £150 in the bank to cover repairing any stonechips if you want mitigate this risk!

Tracker – What risk are you covering here? You have to have insurance to cover the car getting stolen! Do you want the car back if it gets stolen? You’ll almost certainly have to claim if the car is recovered on tracker anyway (lock damage/glass etc etc) so this isn’t going to protect your NCB or save you paying an excess… So I’d only buy this if the cost of the tracker is saved on the insurance (unlikely I suspect!) That said this is the only of the above products I’ve owned myself (and then it was for a compelling insurance saving £600 vs £1800 – of course I bought the cheapest I could!)…

So whats your risk appetite?

nickmack

peterg1965 wrote: »

GAP Insurance

As you already said look elsewhere for this.

Tyre Insurance

You know your own driving style, is it likely to warrant taking this insurance? Personally I wouldn't bother.

Detailing

Tell them you want this for free or at cost.

Tracker

Get some quotes with and without a tracker. You will probably find it's not worth it. The tracker doesn't really benefit you.

Have you had any extras thrown in already? I would certainly ask them for the Supaguard in a deal.

DKLS

A tracker is no guarantee of the Police finding your car, My boss had his beemer knicked, he proudly announced that he wasnt bothered as it had a tracker fitted. 1st call he recieved told him the car was in Hull. 2nd was that the car was in a container on the North Sea heading for russia!!!!
Never to be seen of again.

As for tyres as nickmark said, you know your driving style, how quickly do you shred tyres? also double check how much those tyres would be from another supplier.

mjr600

Tracker Yes, ignore the above comment I have first hand knowledge of Tracker in use, there is nothing to equal it and it is the only system to have the locators fitted to Traffic Police vehicles and Police Helicopters. You can pretty much expect some oik with a bamboo cane to try and take your keys through the letterbox.

Everything else No

randalf72

I'm picking up a beemer at the weekend and have been subject to the hard sell on all of the above.

www.shortfall.co.uk do a return to invoice value with a £10k cap for £150 for 3 years, which seems adequate (always assuming that the insurers valuation isn't more than £10k off what you need it to pay out.

not too sure about tracker though, can anyone recommend the best place to get a tracker???

peterg1965

Great responses, thanks. Tyre insurance is of slight interest because the runflats on the BMW are v expensive (19" wheels) and some places refuse to repair runflats even if the tyre is not damaged on the wall. GAP is a tricky one and likewise Tracker. It is a point well made that I probably do not want a car back that has been thrashed by some juvenile oik. I think car theft has actually reduced over the last few years and if it is stolen it is likely to be 'for order' and will end up in a container en route to sunnier climes, as DKLS says.

My dealer will not give me Supaguard in my deal, bloody mean when you are parting with £40K, I suspect it makes them a tidy little profit for each treatment sold.

vikingaero

Peter,

On the grand scheme of things £1k of extras on a £40k is reasonable. It really depends how much peace of mind you want when driving your car. Only you can ask yourself what level of cover you feel happier with. I know of friends who have bought £12k cars and spent £1k on extras because they are the sort that need reassurance and perceived protection.

I'm lucky enough to have a company car and have all my motoring expenses picked up by the firm. If I were in your boat I would choose the following:

GAP - yes, but not from the dealer.
Tyres - no, because I travel high mileage and the tyres get trashed. Also I'm very tyre brand specific for our motoring needs.
Detailing - no, because it's a company car that lasts 3 years. On our MPV I wash and wax it weekly so no need for snake oil products.
Tracker - no, there's more BMWs than Mondeos so it's not an "exclusive" product in that respect. However my mum had Tracker installed on her Merc when she bought it 13 years ago with lifetime subscription. That's VFM!