[silverbmwz3]

Told you 'e knows what 'es talking about

[mjh93sa]

I agree with you both as regards RTI cover being a lottery that is sold on the basis of setting you to a better point than you started with. You could say it's life insurance for the car. It's also a neat trick that the three year policy really only has to cover two years.

I maintain that the choice of taking RTI cover or not is still in part down to your personal view of risk. There are people who are happy to have the most basic insurance cover at a lower cost and have a large voluntary excess as they feel more secure.

There are however others who like to know that they have cover for everything. They want the new car with a warranty and breakdown cover. They'll take a fully comp insurance policy with protected no-claims and uninsured loss recovery. They'll get tyre insurance and take the PPI on the finance. Basically they prefer to pay insurance rather than risk having to pay for something unexpected. For these people something like RTI cover makes them feel warm and cosy. They'll also probably take the extended warranty on their next fridge.

I would also maintain that there can be a financial risk without RTI. Someone who is on an HP agreement, but doing galactic mileage could find themselves with a write-off that has a market value that is less than the outstanding finance.

[peterg1965]

mmmmmmmmm at the end of the day it is £210 for 'peace of mind' (maybe). I am buying on finance but with a large deposit so hopefully the car's market value will always be higher than the settlement figure. ( I hope). I agree that it is a 'gamble' of sorts and depends on your attitude to the risk of writting the car off

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

mmmmmmmmm at the end of the day it is £210 for 'peace of mind' (maybe). I am buying on finance but with a large deposit so hopefully the car's market value will always be higher than the settlement figure. ( I hope). I agree that it is a 'gamble' of sorts and depends on your attitude to the risk of writting the car off

I also took out a gap policy - cost about £160 if I remember right and will pay up to 12.5k to cover a shortfall in the event of a write off.

I also have the car on finance and with the higher values of a beemer I feel safe knowing that even if the insurance is 10% light on paying out, the extra 3 or 4k would be paid for me by the insurer to get the finance settled. Finance companies often have a penalty and admin fees for settling early (often several hundreds) and lease companies often require 3 months payments to end a lease early - the insurance I have also covers this.

It is down to an individual at the end of the day, but I dont know many people who have been paid more than their car was worth by an insurer, but know of many who feel they have been shortchanged.

My sis's boyfriend recently had his Vectra Sri estate trashed - He had only had it a few months but the insurer paid out bottom book price. left him over a grand worse off on it and when he tried to haggle they were having none of it (and this was on a four year old car) - imagine the difference betwen top and bottom book price on a 30k car.

[silverbmwz3]

Perhaps it makes more sense with finance, I buy my cars outright or get a loan of some sort to cover a relatively small part of them so this hasn't occured to me. That is the ONLY situation in which I can see it makes sense, otherwise it is money for old rope unless you really think you are going to write it off after the 1st year. I would restate though that if you think you are protected against write-off in first year, double-check your policy wording for your fully comp insurance - many don't explicitly say they'll give you a new car.

[scooba0010]

Through work i met a prudential director he said that joe public wouldnt know what went on in insurance settlements /cost /time etc they run a buisness and have to be profitable.
It has now become one of there companys job to help source your replacement for /stolen written off cars .as it was becoming the normal thing for customers to claim the settlement figures offered would not replace the car covered .They have support and advise available and huge savings on new cars that we dont here about , so i guess the moral of this story is

When someone is offered a low settlement on there stolen car you have to ask the loss adjuster to buy you a identical replacement or failing that put you in touch with a dealer who will .if not reject the offer and suggest you let the insurance omnisbudmen take the matter up and work through it with you

[bells0]

Only a few more hours to go..........................

[NFS]

Originally Posted by mjh93sa

I agree with you both as regards RTI cover being a lottery that is sold on the basis of setting you to a better point than you started with. You could say it's life insurance for the car. It's also a neat trick that the three year policy really only has to cover two years.

I maintain that the choice of taking RTI cover or not is still in part down to your personal view of risk. There are people who are happy to have the most basic insurance cover at a lower cost and have a large voluntary excess as they feel more secure.

There are however others who like to know that they have cover for everything. They want the new car with a warranty and breakdown cover. They'll take a fully comp insurance policy with protected no-claims and uninsured loss recovery. They'll get tyre insurance and take the PPI on the finance. Basically they prefer to pay insurance rather than risk having to pay for something unexpected. For these people something like RTI cover makes them feel warm and cosy. They'll also probably take the extended warranty on their next fridge.

I would also maintain that there can be a financial risk without RTI. Someone who is on an HP agreement, but doing galactic mileage could find themselves with a write-off that has a market value that is less than the outstanding finance.

It depends what you consider the concept of 'risk' to really mean.

Most of these things are actually regular costs that can be considered to be fixed ... cars depreciate, fridges break down and need to be replaced.

You could actually consider a 'sinking fund' arrangement for this sort of thing .. you know that you will have to fund say £10k of misc cost in a year, so you set aside £833 a month in a 'sinking fund' to cover this. This is how business manages this sort of risk and it turns the unpredicatable into a regular fixed cost.

The fact that things will need to be replaced or repaired and will cost you money isn't a risk - it's a reality. If you take out the cover you are gambling that the amount you pay for this reality will be reduced by at least the cost of the cover. Given that the cost of the cover has to include the insurers likely settlement costs, profit and overheads, the odds are that for most people this will not be the case and they would have been better off without the insurance.

There are obviously some things where insurance is of genuine benefit - cars, homes, life insurance all make sense, because it's worth paying something to cover you for a genuine disaster.

I draw the line at secondary tier products ... which are often very poor value ... things like payment protection insurance and extended warranties.

Personally I would include GAP and tyre insurance in this category.

I also disagree that GAP makes more sense if you have finance. The finance owed is irrelevant, because the true cost of the vehicle is it's REGULAR' depreciation.

If you find yourself with a finance shortfall at any stage it simply shows that you have not been paying off the loan as quickly as the car has depreciated. In this situation there is always a 'hit' to be taken at some stage and it makes little difference if this follows an insurance settlement or a re-sale.

Good luck with the new cars guys ... not long now.

[dxb335d]

how many of you, have actually test driven the model you are taking delivery of tomorrow???

or just took the gamble?

[mjh93sa]

Test drove the 325d MSport Touring, but went for the 330d

Good test drive as well. As the E46 was in for it's brake fluid change they gave me the car for the day.

[sheps]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

how many of you, have actually test driven the model you are taking delivery of tomorrow???

or just took the gamble?

Gambled.

Is here now.

Although cannot drive it yet. Bummer.

Loving the new car smell. V pleased with how it looks.

Someone from the dealership is on there way back out, as they forgot the mats and iPod cable.

[Evil Diesel]

Did you get the 6FL cable in for free?

[sheps]

Originally Posted by Evil Diesel

Did you get the 6FL cable in for free?

No, had to pay and for mats as well.

£30-odd grand and they still want to relieve you of over £100 for 1 square metre of carpet and a cable.

Baldy dominc what's his name off the telly would not be impressed I didn't get mats and flaps thrown in

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by sheps

Gambled.

Is here now.

Although cannot drive it yet. Bummer.

Loving the new car smell. V pleased with how it looks.

Someone from the dealership is on there way back out, as they forgot the mats and iPod cable.

PICS

[Evil Diesel]

That really is total bollocks.

[sheps]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81124

[baddabing]

Good luck and happy driving to anyone taking delivery on Saturday...
I am sure there will be plenty of pics posted by Monday

[mjh93sa]

Originally Posted by baddabing

Good luck and happy driving to anyone taking delivery on Saturday...
I am sure there will be plenty of pics posted by Monday

Cheers

The camera batteries are on charge!

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

how many of you, have actually test driven the model you are taking delivery of tomorrow???

or just took the gamble?

Drove the 320d (previous BMW), 330i, 330d, 335i, 335d (albeit in e90 form). Went for the 335d obviously!!

[Z4 Beemer]

Yes, good luck for tomorrow everyone, and drive safely.

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

Drove the 320d (previous BMW), 330i, 330d, 335i, 335d (albeit in e90 form). Went for the 335d obviously!!

a man who knows what he is talkin about:rocks: