On a side note, I had been contemplating whether or not to get the extended service contract and extended warranty on my car. When I had my experience with Eddie, I went in to Orlando MINI and purchased both within a week. I wanted peace of mind.
Having work done at the dealer is a bit more expensive than through a local shop, no question. The main concern comes in to play when something doesn't go as planned and the repair fails or doesn't solve the problem. Will the shop stand behind their work? Orlando MINI has always stood behind every repair they've ever done on my car. They had my car in 4 different times to work on my cabrio roof. It's an extremely complex system and one little bent piece can have a huge effect on the rest of the system. Each time I took it in, they problem solved to see what needed fixing. When it didn't come out quite right, they invited me back to fix it the next time. They didn't give me any excuses. They didn't charge me an additional deductible or other fees for additional parts. They stood behind their work and made it right.
Anyway, I've had some minor repairs that needed fixing over the past couple years, most of which were covered by the extended warranty. Today I took in my car for three more "small" warranty issues, and totaled with the prior repairs I've had done, my extended warranty has now paid for itself.
When it was time to change my worn brakes in October, my extended service contract also moved into the black.
With another two years on both, I'm rather happy I spent the money. Like I said, peace of mind.
Again, this is my personal experience, but I've been very pleased with my experiences at Orlando MINI. They'll be the ones doing all my service and warranty work until my plans expire, and possibly beyond.