Hi, I've just picked up my 2022 Mini Cooper ES (with under 1500 miles on it) after having to have a tire replaced due to a nail. $300-ish later, I am regretting not buying coverage. I live off a paved desert road with random potholes (some appearing after heavy rains), small stones, and the odd contractor-dropped box of nails in the road. Still, this is just one tire. The coverage, however, is for 5 years. Your experience? I usually say no to all extended-coverage type insurance, but this isn't really extended coverage, it's coverage for stuff that could very likely happen given where I live. Have you bought this, used it, and been grateful for it, or have your out of pocket costs for such things been far less? Thanks for your input!
I haven't bought extended-coverage on anything but a phone (I tend to drop them a lot ). Our local Les Schwab will fix a flat for free, at least in the case of a puncture. You might want to take advantage of that if there are any near you.
Don’t most car companies include the tire manufacturers’ road hazard guarantees with the rest of the paperwork?
Alas, have discovered that my nearest Les Schwab is in California (am in AZ). Thanks for the reminder, though!
I never buy extended coverages from a car dealer, however my situation is more typical. If you regularly travel down roads that you feel could cause a puncture then I would get the coverage. That said, if you go to Discount Tyre they will examine the tires on your vehicle and you can buy road hazard coverage for them. And no, you don’t have to have bought then from then. I did this when I got an unfixable flat on my wife’s previous car with just 400 miles on it, bought a new tyre from them, added the coverage, and then added the coverage on the remaining 3.
Wow, I didn't know this, and I've bought lots of replacement tires from Discount Tire (and it looks like they are in the UK, too!). After examining the actual insurance, I realized, first, that it isn't a Mini product, it's an independent insurance, and second, it has too many restrictions. Plus, the added headache of having to deal directly with the insurer to get reimbursed (not quite as easy as just bringing the car to the Mini dealership, and voila!, problem solved). Thanks for this, I will look into it.
I've bought tires from Discount Tire with the road hazard coverage for my soon to be replaced Mazda 6 with 19" wheels and very puncture prone sport tires. They happily replaced tires 3 tires over the course of 1.5 yrs with no argument or paperwork (just had to buy the hazard coverage for the new replacement each time but that was around $40, much cheaper than a new tire plus install).
With the car being so new, I defaulted to going into the Mini dealership for the tire replacement. I also suspect I might not have gotten a "matching" tire (not that this is a big deal, but...) had I gone to Discount Tire. Next time, I will take the car there and do the replacement insurance. Hoping the next time doesn't come too soon.
I don't believe Discount Tire (founded in Ann Arbor), Tire Rack, or any US tire store can get the Hankook tires that came on my SE. If I needed one or more, they would have to come from a MINI dealer or I'd have to switch to a different brand. I don't know if the other brands of tires MINI puts on SEs are available from tire stores in the SE's two sizes.
Perhaps this is why Mini sells the tire and wheel insurance? I will ask next time I go into the dealership.
