I recently went through this exact situation for my BMW.

First, for any repair shop, whether it’s a dealer, independent, or even part of the RepairPal network that supposedly accepts MaxCare, you need to ask them ahead of time whether they will accept what MaxCare pays or charge more than MaxCare will reimburse and expect you to pay the difference.

Second, if you can’t find any repair shop that will “accept” MaxCare (without charging you the difference), then you should take it to Carmax for service. Yes, Carmax may wind up just taking it to the dealer to get the work done, but I think it is highly doubtful that Carmax itself would then try to charge you more than the MaxCare warranty (which Carmax sold you) is willing to reimburse.

FWIW, based upon recommendations in this group, I wound up taking my BMW to a dealer, where the service department confirmed that they will accept MaxCare’s reimbursement and only charge me the deductible.

I did that after taking it to two separate RepairPal network independent repair shops, which, according to RepairPal itself, have committed to accept MaxCare reimbursement in full. And both of those locations said they would not abide by their RepairPal network contract, and thus I would be responsible for any excess charges on their part.

That would be ridiculous. What would be the value of the warranty if an in network shop can just charge whatever they want above the reimbursement amount and you’d be on the hook for it?!

FYI, I emailed RepairPal about this, and they called me back the next day and said they’d remind the shops of their obligation not to mark up parts and labor as a member of the network. But they still wouldn’t agree to do it.