By Tess Stynes
The North American division of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
agreed to settle accusations that its Mini division misled
consumers about their warranties, the Federal Trade Commission said
Thursday.
The U.S. agency had accused BMW of telling consumers that BMW
would void their warranties unless they used Mini parts and dealers
for maintenance and repairs.
"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,"
Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection,
said in a news release.
The FTC said BMW would change its practices and give Mini owners
information about their rights.
Under the agreement, BMW will send notices to owners of certain
2010 to 2014 Mini models that clarifies language in their service
and warranty booklets, according to a BMW statement.
The notices address warranty services and maintenance-program
services issues, clarifying that owners aren't required to have
work performed at a Mini dealer or to use Mini parts for warranty
purposes. However, warranty service and maintenance-program service
work done at Mini dealers within the period the vehicle is covered
will be provided at no cost to Mini owners.
The FTC said the proposed consent agreement will be open to
public comment for a 30-day period through April 20, after which
the commission will decide whether or not to issue the order on a
final basis. Each violation of such a final order could result in
civil penalties of as much as $16,000, the agency said.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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