BMW Settles With FTC Over MINI Warranty Law Violation

BMW has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its MINI Division told consumers the company would void their warranty unless they used MINI parts and MINI dealers to perform maintenance and repair work.

The FTC had alleged that BMW violated a provision in the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that prohibits companies from requiring that consumers must use specific brands of parts or specified service centers to maintain their warranties.

“It’s against the law for a dealer to refuse to honor a warranty just because someone else did maintenance or repairs on the car,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “As a result of this order, BMW will change its practices and give MINI owners information about their rights.”

In a statement, BMW stated that the MINI division had not received any complaints about this issue and the company disagreed with the FTC’s claims, but that it agreed to settle the charges because “it is in the best interest of our customers to send the notices and avoid a potentially lengthy dispute with the FTC.”

This situation may have stemmed in part from the fact that MINI offers a three-year free maintenance program on new cars, yet the vehicle warranty lasts for four years. Therefore, it may be that buyers believed that they had to use MINI services in that fourth year in order to keep the warranty valid.

The FTC is able to bring complaints against companies when it has reason to believe laws have been or are being broken, and the agency has been making a large number of cases against car dealerships in recent times, as we’ve talked about in other articles.

In this case, it isn’t clear whether or not the FTC received consumer complaints about the issue, or whether MINI actually voided any warranties over the use of non-MINI parts or service centers.

“In numerous instances, Respondent’s MINI division, through its Warranty Statements for MINI passenger cars, conditions warranty coverage on the consumer’s use of genuine MINI parts and on the usage of MINI dealers to perform maintenance and repair work,” wrote the FTC.

In the settlement, BMW and MINI have agreed to change all relevant documentation to make it clear that MINI warranties will remain valid regardless of where the vehicle was serviced and what parts were used. Additionally, BMW will send letters to its customers that “further clarify that service at an authorized MINI dealer or use of genuine MINI parts is not required for warranty purposes.”