FCP Euro Lifetime Replacement Guarantee Update

[bigjae46]

I am in the never warrantied a thing and will continue buying from FCP camp.

Do people actually use something like a control arm or shock for its expected service life and then turn it in for new years later? That would make me feel like a total schnorrer.

I did buy wheel studs and plan to replace them at regular intervals - 12 events. I did consider getting Hawk brake pads but didn't think it was worth running a crappier pad to vs the savings.

People abuse warranties all of the time. Tire and wheel warranties anyone?

[dukeofchen]

I am in the never warrantied a thing and will continue buying from FCP camp.

Do people actually use something like a control arm or shock for its expected service life and then turn it in for new years later? That would make me feel like a total schnorrer.

It's folks like you that make the program work for folks like me 😁

Yes I return fluids and things like TPS sensors, but they will also get my purchase when I buy items with a 60k+ mile service life. And at the rate I drive the car, it'll be a long long while before those items come back to them, if ever. So even with the returns I'm definitely still a profitable customer to them.

If I had to guess the percentage of purchases coming back through the program can't be that high – and to them it's a powerful piece of marketing that probably has a very healthy ROI.

I still respect FCP for having the balls to execute this business model in any form, and at the end of the day it's hard to argue that it isn't a net positive to the customer.

I think it is fascinating that people will return used oil and filters. I guess paypal return shipping for free made that possible. I never saw the point of paying for shipping of oil from FCP. I always just buy local. I know they offer free shipping if you are over a specific $ amount, but it takes a while to reach me. I just look for sales on oil locally.

I shipped my last oil change back to them for $20, and the kit costs $70 these days. Print a label and drop it off, why not?

[PabloCruise]

I’ve been buying parts from them since 2014, and my dumbass has yet to warranty a single thing oof.

Same (well, probably 2015).

[PabloCruise]

Btw hundreds to thousands of dollars in store credit? at this rate all your money is going to FCP in hopes of a lifetime warranty in god knows how long from now.

Store credit is sweet. I could read their T&C and see how long they will leave that credit to your name. If they sweep that $ at a certain point, they will pocket those credits if you sell the BMW and no longer buy parts from them...

[PabloCruise]

Bruh, if that makes you feel like a POS then you shouldn't even think about people return oil change kits. I don't understand if you feel bad warrantying something thats years old, this is not the thread for you. lol

I think it is fascinating that people will return used oil and filters. I guess paypal return shipping for free made that possible. I never saw the point of paying for shipping of oil from FCP. I always just buy local. I know they offer free shipping if you are over a specific $ amount, but it takes a while to reach me. I just look for sales on oil locally.

[Maxima SE]

Bruh, if that makes you feel like a POS then you shouldn't even think about people return oil change kits. I don't understand if you feel bad warrantying something thats years old, this is not the thread for you. lol

so many of you keep going back to this oil change argument. In reality the number of people returning oil is not as high as you think, which is why they advertise it so much, even on social media platforms. As others have stated, its a pain in the ass to collect and pour old oil in the containers, package it up and ship it back. An oil change kit for E46/E92 M3 kit is less than $100 and you will spend about $30-$40 shipping all that back from the west coast where a lot of BMW enthusiasts are. Simple not worth the headache. If the oil spills then you lose on the shipping fees too because they dispose of your package before it ever even lands at FCP

A better argument would be the $200 SAX FM booster diff fluid which is super expensive and doesnt take up much space. You could easily return that but how often are you flushing diff fluid? I

[Maxima SE]

100% agree and that's my angle with it. They knew the risks and there's a reason you forecast these things before executing. Also if they were worried about losing money due to people abusing it, why push the marketing so hard to the consumer. They are literally telling you to send your fluids back all over social media. Not just leaving it on the website for the smart consumer to find.

Friend and I archived the fcp terms prior to this announcement and it looks like they never had a "terms of service" that stated "program subject to change at any time" or anything of the likes so legally I think they have to honor all the old terms such as refunding you cash for replacements before the new terms go into effect (aka pre 11/1 orders) and technically I think they also are obligated to refund you for the replacement order and not the original order. Its not "lifetime replacement" if I have to pay for the price hike of the new part minus shipping costs. That's grade A fraud to get you to buy from them if they go back on their terms of the program that got us all to buy into it in the first place. No end date for the program was stated or a "program subject to changes at any time" is listed anywhere.

Legally though, this will get very interesting for anyone in the old program because I can't see how their legal team that helped draft the new terms will be able to help them do anything about changing terms of an old program that had no disclaimers giving them the right to do so in the first place.

Anything moving forward, sure they can do whatever they want. They are a business at the end of the day and realized too late in the game that they need to offset losses from data analysis that someone fell asleep at the wheel on.

Also, it looks like replacements for pre 11/1 orders will indeed be eligible for a cash refund upon request. Annoying to have to put in extra effort for this but its something.

Archive of their terms prior to the announcement:

https://web.archive.org/web/20200426...time-guarantee

100% Agree with everything you said. And thank you for the web archive. That will come in handy one day for sure for some of us.

[x Spades x]

I am in the never warrantied a thing and will continue buying from FCP camp.

Do people actually use something like a control arm or shock for its expected service life and then turn it in for new years later? That would make me feel like a total schnorrer.

Bruh, if that makes you feel like a POS then you shouldn't even think about people return oil change kits. I don't understand if you feel bad warrantying something thats years old, this is not the thread for you. lol

[01SG]

I am in the never warrantied a thing and will continue buying from FCP camp.

Do people actually use something like a control arm or shock for its expected service life and then turn it in for new years later? That would make me feel like a total schnorrer.

[thegenius46m]

It wouldn't be so bad, if FCP adjusts their pricing. They are typically more expensive than other sellers and we all figured it's because of the lifetime warranty. If the warranty is not as lifetime or as warranty-ish, then I would expect the prices to come down a little... but we all know they won't.

Yup their prices are indeed typically higher to adjust for the "lifetime guarantee."

[x Spades x]

It wouldn't be so bad, if FCP adjusts their pricing. They are typically more expensive than other sellers and we all figured it's because of the lifetime warranty. If the warranty is not as lifetime or as warranty-ish, then I would expect the prices to come down a little... but we all know they won't.

[x Spades x]

Lifetime of what? Your lifetime? FCP's lifetime? The lifetime of the car? Or the lifetime of the policy, which they can alter at any time.

It's the lifetime of the car ownership of your car Bud. It says it in plan black and white... "As long as you own your car"

[thegenius46m]

It should get refunded because you will provide them the order number for the original purchase made in 2020. That will always be the order that gets you the lifetime warranty. Everything else will be “replacements”. I think legally it will be hard for them to change the policy for purchases before October 2022.

100% agree and that's my angle with it. They knew the risks and there's a reason you forecast these things before executing. Also if they were worried about losing money due to people abusing it, why push the marketing so hard to the consumer. They are literally telling you to send your fluids back all over social media. Not just leaving it on the website for the smart consumer to find.

Friend and I archived the fcp terms prior to this announcement and it looks like they never had a "terms of service" that stated "program subject to change at any time" or anything of the likes so legally I think they have to honor all the old terms such as refunding you cash for replacements before the new terms go into effect (aka pre 11/1 orders) and technically I think they also are obligated to refund you for the replacement order and not the original order. Its not "lifetime replacement" if I have to pay for the price hike of the new part minus shipping costs. That's grade A fraud to get you to buy from them if they go back on their terms of the program that got us all to buy into it in the first place. No end date for the program was stated or a "program subject to changes at any time" is listed anywhere.

Legally though, this will get very interesting for anyone in the old program because I can't see how their legal team that helped draft the new terms will be able to help them do anything about changing terms of an old program that had no disclaimers giving them the right to do so in the first place.

Anything moving forward, sure they can do whatever they want. They are a business at the end of the day and realized too late in the game that they need to offset losses from data analysis that someone fell asleep at the wheel on.

Also, it looks like replacements for pre 11/1 orders will indeed be eligible for a cash refund upon request. Annoying to have to put in extra effort for this but its something.

Archive of their terms prior to the announcement:

https://web.archive.org/web/20200426203107/https://www.fcpeuro.com/page/lifetime-guarantee

[dukeofchen]

It seems like there are two camps here – those who bought high dollar / long service life parts from FCP expecting free replacement many years down the road, and those who saw it more as a replacement program for wear items and parts that routinely fail on our cars. I'd argue the latter is what they intended the program to be even if it wasn't strictly messaged as such, and their business model is to eat the cost of those lower value parts knowing that they will make it back when you return to buy the expensive stuff.

The former is far less likely to realize that replacement value, while for the latter this doesn't change much aside from shouldering the effects of inflation which as a business owner myself feels perfectly reasonable. When BMW is drastically increasing the wholesale prices of older parts with smaller production runs, supply chain issues, and good old price gouging it never made sense to expect that FCP would eat those costs in perpetuity.

[heinzboehmer]

Oh boy...lol. Way to go heinzboehmer

Didn't mean to cause all of this lol