So I picked up my 2015 FR-S a week ago, January 24, 2015 in one of my favorite colors, red. I have been thoroughly enjoying it.
I was unfortunately sold overpriced warranties IMO:
- 7 yr/100k, $0 deductible extended warranty, administered by Fidelity Warranty Services - $2613
- 6 year, Tire Roation/Oil Change at every 10k miles, administered by Consumer Program Administrators- $390
- Dent Protection, 5 years, administered by DZAF, Inc. - $439 after some research, paintless dent remover companies in my area charge $50-$100 for up to 5 dents on a panel.
- Road Hazard, covers rims, stock tires, and replacement tires, 5 year, administered by Safe-Guard Products International - $429
- Gap, administered by Safe-Guard Products International - $799, ....... My insurance actually has a gap like program, loan/lease payoff, covers 25% of the total of the vehicle in the event of a total loss. This is $11 on my monthly insurance.
Total =
$4670
The finance person spun it like this, "How would you like to have your same monthly payment and have all these wonderful warranties?" He never mentioned how much each of these were. This is an error on my part in hindsight for not being diligent. Basically he lowered my APR, and extended my loan to make it the same price after including these add on warranties. Started at:
- it started at 72/mo at $414, 5.9% apr
- with gap he said it was 72/mo $463 at 5.9 apr..... after doing some number crunching during the week the jump from adding $799 bucks worth of Gap did not add up to what would be a $463 payment at 5.9%apr.
- with the extra warranties mentioned above, he finally mentioned 75/mo $463 at 4.9% apr!
I took it, and in turn added $4670 to my principal balance. He used some very unscrupulous tactics. I voiced my concern to him later in the week and he said (paraphrasing), "Alright, we can take them off, no problem. We just have to wait 45 days so your first payment can get to the bank." This made me scratch my head, because all of my contracts state I can cancel anytime, and before 30 days it's a full refund of the price. I was told by others this is so he doesn't lose his commission.
Furthermore, in hindsight, I probably should have gotten pre-approved at a credit union before hand. My apr would have been lower per the finance person if I decided to finance by myself instead of adding my spouse who didn't have a credit history, she pays everything in cash or debit, but we decided we wanted to build her credit for future purposes.
I'm currently shopping around for reasonably priced extended warranties, hoping to pick one up before the 36k/3yr warranty expires and/or simply deposit the money I would spend for a warranty into savings or a good interest bearing account.
I also mentioned to him that I've been doing research on different warranty prices at different Toyota/Scion dealers, and I said that many dealers offer comparable warranty coverage for less than half the price. The finance person also said (paraphrasing), "Don't listen to them. They are lying. All warranty prices are state regulated and are all the same price across dealers." This put up a red flag in my head.
After some research and help I found this -
http://www.myfloridacfo.com/division...m#.VMvV_2h4reE In Florida, warranty prices are not state regulated.
I mailed my cancellation letters this weekend for all my warranties. I think two of the five I may be receiving further instructions, the GAP and the 7yr/100k warranty.
I was so stressed this entire week regarding these warranties, and I think I made the right call for myself.
Otherwise, I love the car. There have been some issues that have been bugging me, minor - hard to shift from 1st to 2nd after cold starts. I'm learning more on how to remedy this. Today, I'm getting this clicking noise while braking in neutral which is odd. I'm trying to do more research on that.