Opinions on Toyota Extended Warranty
 

My car is just about at 36K, my dealer is offering a 7year/100,000 extended warranty for $1,275. Since I still have the 60K drivetrain warranty, the extended warranty (which is pretty comprehensive) would cover non-drivetrain issues from 36K to 60K and both non-drivetrain and drivetrain issues for 60K to 100K. Is it worth it?

A couple of points to note. My car is one of the first produced. It has not had many problems. Loose carriage bolts on the steering column, the tailight issue and the driver-side seal replacement (twice). The other point is that I don't like going to dealerships, I prefer my own experienced mechanic who deals mainly with sports cars.

You should provide some information about what you do with the car, as well as future plans for it.

If it's a DD that you absolutely will not mod outside of warranty, go for it! That's a fair price for a comp drivetrain warranty.

If you are itching to mod, don't even bother. Typically, within 60k you'll know whether or not you got a bad engine or transmission.

I'm against it, the big ticket costs that occur in the first 100k miles are regular replacement items not warranty items: tires, brakes, fluids, lights, clutch, bearings, etc. It's rare for cars to start seeing expensive things fail before their design lives in this day and age and anything truly defective from the manufacturer would have broken in the first 30k.

Anything widespread that has a chance to affect you (i.e. Porsche IMS Failure) that the factory should honorably covered will likely have the OEM stepping up to replace it, this $1.2 thousand dollars is for the odd fluke that there's a lurking failure waiting to happen, on a product Toyota has placed their name on. And despite the shit Subaru gets, they aren't exactly a disaster manufacturer.

If you decide to buy, read the fine print, it may cover less than you think and written word takes precedence over what the salesman bullshits, something like the door seal may be excluded as a wear item.

I've seen both pros and cons of the extended warranty.

My wife used hers twice, well past the warranty period for things like power window and electrical issues (Mazda).

I never used mine on both a Nissan and Lexus.

I drive quite a bit (100 miles a day) so I feel in my case it might be worth it as I will blast through the base warranty period fairly quickly. I purchased the 125,000 mile plan, but am still on the fence as whether or not to cancel it.

I like the way you think.

BTW, my car is a daily driver and I am not modifying it.

In that case it's worth it. Depending on the price. See if you can negotiate the pricing at all. I got the same 7year/100k miles for only $750.

It comes with a few benefits that will probably be rarely used but helpful. Like 24/7 roadside assistance. Free gas delivery if you run out of gas (I can't believe this actually happens to people, but hey you never know).

Even if you mod it, that doesn't void the warranty. Check with your dealer to see how well they respond to modded cars. My dealer is very mod friendly, so they will probably honor the warranty even if I mod. Unless, my mod is the cause of the damage, obviously.

I said that when I got my car too.....and yes I do have the extended warranty, and I don't care that I have mods. They don't just void your entire warranty over it. They have to prove that any mods you did caused the part to fail. So worth it to me.

Read Consumer Reports occasionally.

They recommend never buy an extended warranty on anything.

I'll stick with that very good advise for sure.

See Consumer Reports April 2014, pg. 21...Extended Warranties: An expensive gamble

from that article: Average amt. paid for extended warranty $1214. % of consumers who would definitely buy it again 26%. % of owners who purchased a policy yet never used it 55%.

Policies can also be bought from auto clubs and insurance companies.


Also from Consumers Reports: Nov 2014, pg. 57...Warranty Extensions "secret". Lists a few cars which had 'service campaigns'....FRS and BRZ not on there though.

I got it because my last Scion started to nickel and dime me as soon as the warranty expired. (Things that would have been covered by an extended warranty)

Do you mind going into further detail? I'm genuinely curious.

A customer of mine works for a insurance company and told me only 1% of those policies pay out... = never ever do it

Doesn't take much in car repairs to add up to $1200 these days. However, I'd read the fine print, definitely. I've never bought an extended warranty but always hear horror stories of the reasons they come up with to not cover something.

It's hard to say what's good for you (the OP), but for me, I never go for it, on anything I buy. The best reasons are already listed above.

Also, as one poster mentioned, there are other ways to get coverage besides dealership extended warranties. For instance, I am shopping for insurance right now (my new FRS bumped up my premium!) and GEICO offers bumper-to-bumper for 7years/100K miles with a $250 deductible included in my quote. I've read the fine print. They cover everything except normal wear items such as tires and brakes and a few other things - it's a very short list. Plus, policy owners say really good things about their extended coverage on the 'net.

One other thing, my dealer offered me the same extended coverage 2 weeks ago when I purchased my FRS and the price was $2100. Still, for me, I wouldn't touch it.