Extended Warranty Worth It?

[Animenchilada]

I realize this topic has been done before but the last reply was back in March of 2007.

My mother just got her 2008 Prius yesterday and wants to know if buying the extended warranty is worth it - yes I am aware of the much cheaper warranty you can get through PriusChat, but essentially she wants to know whether or not it's a waste of money or if it's something she and my father should seriously consider investing their money in.

Basically, there are two questions I am asking:

1. If you DO own the warranty, do you regret buying it?

2. If you DO NOT own the warranty, do you regret NOT buying it?

Thank you so much!

[bbald123]

I bought it. I don't regret it. But, I wish I had bought it in the PriusChat store here for half the price!

[freshmtt]

It is a waste of money to buy it now from the dealer, you can pick up the extended warranty at any time before the 3yrs/ 36,000 miles, so it makes no sense at all to buy the warranty at the time you buy the car brand new.

Since I will be keeping my Prius now for a long time, I will pick up the warranty from Prius Chat when it gets close to the regular warranty running out.

My opinion is that nobody should EVER buy the extended warranty from the dealer when the car is brand spanking new. You are buying something that you will definately NOT use for at least 3yrs/ 36,000 miles, makes no sense at all.

[sorka]

The only reason you'd buy it now is that sometimes factory extended warranties go up in price.

However, given that the Prius is supposedly the most reliable vehicle on the planet, the warranty should be very very inexpensive and if it isn't, it's probably not a good gamble.

[Godiva]

I bought it for peace of mind.

Now that I have it, nothing will happen to the car and I won't need it.

If I had not bought it, I'm sure I'd be the one in a million with the lemon car that would continue to have one expensive repair after another not covered under the regular warranty.

I get warranties for computer too. But nothing else. For most things they are a waste of money.

If you're going to buy it, buy it on Priuschat, not from dealer.

[Animenchilada]

My mother is more curious as to whether or not anyone has actually had to utilize the warranty. Thanks to everyone who has responded so far! We appreciate your time

[fcc]

in my case they significantly lowered my interest rate at the time of purchase
which made buying the extended warranty a no brainer.

i have no regret at all buying it at the time because i simply did the math.
yes it cost more then what prius chat sells it for but when you thought it
through it was basically a wash either way. I could save with prius chat's
warranty or save a tiny bit more buying it from them. Plus i am already
agressively paying off the loan which saves even more money over time.

and for some reason, which i cannot explain, i feel better buying the warranty
from the same dealer i plan to service the car at for most of its life. i do not
expect to move anytime soon.

[Bob Wible]

I always buy the extended warranties and every time it has pay’ed off. I had a turbo-charger go bad at 78,000 miles on a Volvo, and a catalectic convertor on a Camry at 81,000. So I was not going to tempt fate even with a car that has a solid record as the Prius.

[aaf709]

Last April Consumer Reports did an article on that and basically said no. According to the article, if you put that money into some account to use if you need money for fixing it you'd probably be better off. The nice thing is that you have until the original warranty is about to expire before you get it; so you don't have to get it at the time of purchase.

That being said, I did get it at 35K miles from this site and don't regret it.

[rigormortis]

i bought it from the prius chat link. i haven't regretted it. ill regret it later when it expires, heh