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      02-20-2020, 07:34 AM   #2
patsgarageonline
patsgarageonline.com
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Drives: BMW i8
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Eldersburg, MD

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Very good question! The most stressful part of owning an i8 is risk of costly repairs. Transferring risk to a warranty company is a good idea in order to prevent losing a lot of money on expensive repairs.

I've heard a lot of good things about Carchex as a 3rd party warranty company, as they broker other insurance plans which warranty repairs. Some i8 owners purchased it before I called them and I saw reports that it covered a lot. I called them in late 2019 to see what coverage I could get, while my car was still under factory warranty with 21k miles, and I wanted to obtain coverage above and beyond the CPO. The maximum coverage I was eligible for was for drivetrain repairs. Nothing else would be covered. No one wants to take on the risk for warranting this car's repairs. They want to transfer the risk to the owner. The i8 can have no problems, or significant problems. I've read about drivetrain errors resulting in having the entire Electric Machine Electronics (that drive the front motor, manage the battery, control electric/gas interoperability, etc.) replaced and that's very expensive. So, I decided to make sure I have a reserve of about $10k on hand for repairs after my CPO warranty expires in Nov 2019. I will consider selling the car after my CPO warranty expires in order to reduce my risk or use that $10k for repairs and then immediately sell the car to avoid taking on any more risk.

One problem I've seen posted a few times is a general drivetrain failure which disables the car. This could be the result of the electrical machine electronics, which control the high voltage battery, electric motor, communication between the electric and gas engine, etc. This seems to be the most expensive situation the i8 could be in.
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