Extended Warranty vs. Basic

Hi All

Just bought a new 2012 Prius IV. Thanks for having me in the forum. Quick question

I have until the 3 years/36,000 miles expires to purchase one of the Toyota Extended Warranty plans, correct? If I plan to eventually get the Platinum Extended Warranty, is there any benefit to getting it sooner than later? In other words, would the Platinum cover anything not covered by the 3 years/36,000 basic warranty?

Also, if I wait to buy the extended warranty closer to the end of 3 years/36,000 miles, will it be more expensive because the car is more used at that point?

Thanks in advance

I'm not a fan of extended warranties, so my vote (not that you asked... ) would be to avoid them.

I've never gotten one before either. With all the computer tech in the car, that's whyI was considering one this time.

Welcome.
It would be nice to just hand the car over to the trained expert in 4 years to replace the failed whamadyne and not have it cost you anything.
Whamadynes aren't cheap.

I'm getting close to a fixed income and may be doing the same thing before the warrany ends.
What funds are available to me at the time I'm sure will dictate my decision
Most folks aren't fond of 'em.
It's a crapshoot my friend.
But what isn't.

The extended warranty is a profit center for the dealer and the car manufacture. There are many people with over 100,000 miles on their Prius with zero repairs. I am at 90,000 with zero repairs. Toyota is known to make the most reliable cars in the world.

I do understand the pros/cons about getting a warranty or not. There's been times in life I didn't get a warranty, but then there was a glitch with the product, and it would have been better if I had. And there are other times I've paid for a warranty, and didn't use it. That's the gamble I suppose.

Would be curious to hear more though re: the questions in my original post should anyone know.

Try Troy Dietrich @ Toyota Of Greenfield, Greenfield, MA
As I recall he is a warranty expert.

I don't have the basic warranty in front of me -- but my recollection was that Toyota-care (the 2 year 25k free service agreement) gives you roadside assistance/ towing. You don't get roadside assistance with the remainder of the warranty ... you do get roadside and towing with the extended warranty -- aka .... VSA. So if it is your only car and you would not need AAA that is worth $50.00. The towing parts is a bit foggy as Toyota does provide money to dealers to provide towing for covered components past the 2y 25k. So you may get that anyway

Without getting into all of the ins and outs of the agreements -- the 7 year 125k agreement purchased correctly is not a bad value ($1400.00+) when you put it up against other agreements. We purchase a lot of cars and happen to purchase many CPO (certified pre-owned) cars .... we almost never purchase any preowned without a extended factory warranty. Our only recent experience with Toyota products is through our purchase of Lexus vehicles ... and since we keep them a long time we normally hit the 100k ending point of those warranties -- it is a bit of a crap shoot ...... some require almost nothing and others have needed quite a lot near the end. Lexus just replaced all the shocks/ springs on one of our 2005's ES at 94k a few months ago. If we could purchase the 125 coverage we would as we have always had something fail at that point with all of them. For the most part those that only extend out two years and 60k are not worth it -- with modern cars if something is going to fail ... it will by 30k and then it is up past 80k when things start go. Our 2007 ES lost an alternator a few weeks ago at 81k. Everybody has a different feeling about this stuff. We need the cars to be working -- if something is up .... I don't have time to play around ---- it goes to Lexus -- they even pick them up . If it stops they come and tow it. If I was an individual, retired with only one car ...... and took many trips...... the ability to go to a Toyota dealer anyplace I was and not worry about finding another service provider would be a real advantage. Obviously if you take few trips and have many cars this is less of a benefit

To get a Lexus certified adds a bit north of 2k to the cost but the dealers have to do additional work on those cars to get the warranty from Toyota ... so the cost of the warranty is a bit less than that. Having the extend absolutely adds value at resale to private party sales .......... how much? it depends .......... normally I price them +$500.00 over those without ..... and the roadside is worth $50.00 per year.. so for the 4 years you get some value back. For our use only the warrantees at higher miles have worked in our favor.

From what I just read one car need shocks and the other car need an alternator.

Shocks are excluded from any warranty. The warranty on that car was a waste of money.

An alternator is a $100 repair. Worse case $200 if you take it to a Toyota dealer. If you paid $1400 for the extended warranty you would have lost $1300 dollars.

Also most credit cards carry free towing. Also a lot of auto insurance includes free towing for any reason.

Judgeless -- You need to join the real world and also read the posts. They replaced all the shocks and springs -- for nothing... free ... zip ... no cost ... get it -- they are covered -- shocks are not covered although the strut rod is - and that is the seal that goes?? All the bushing are covered ... as are the springs. How do you not understand this? The proper Denso Alternator is only available aftermarket as a rebuilt unit - and the cheapest you can purchase it with shipping is about $175.oo and that is before anybody installs it and you can't get that price for the part from a service center that is going to warranty it .. It is a $400.00 plus job around here for a proper fix any day of the week and more like $700.00 from the dealer with a new belt -- that they also installed along with it for free. ... $100.00 for an alternator -- are you still finding 5 cent bread! The same car needed an A/C hose last year -- So it is the hose -- Receiver/Dryer and full A/C service -- It was a $750.00 fix - also covered .... Stuff happens! I can go on and on -- but I won't.

And you don't pick you insurance because they offer free towing -- nothing is free ... Same goes for credit cards (mine don't cover towing although many do cover CDW for rentals)

I am really surprised that it covers struts. That is a wear item. Still with all your repairs it does not equal $1,400. An extended warranty on the most reliable cars in the world is a waste of money.

Some of us are smart shoppers. Here is teh alternator for your car for $100.

Judgeless -- They cover the bushing and the springs -- most springs at 100k have dropped a bit sometimes they cause a problem other times nothing -- but the bushing can go also. Toyota/Lexus does not fix the strut assemble in many situations they just replace them - in pairs. So if you have a noise and it is the struts - they replace them.

It is only a waste of money if you don't get any value out of it ... for us to add roadside is $57.00 per year per car ... And if we know we will get rid of a car we sell it with a few thousand of warranty left because we get top dollar and they sell instantly .. so what is that worth? $300 extra plus the $228 for four years .. so the warranty is $900.00 or about $225.00 per year without any other use. But I also don't have to concern myself if anything happens - it goes to the dealer ... no hunting for the best price ... they just fix it.


I was in NYC last year when the AC went -- what am I going to do .. hunt down a A/C shop in the city?? Everybody has a different situation and a breakdown can cause different problems for different people depending on the location and circumstances -- and to pay $250.00 a year to eliminate the problem is cheap IMO. Plus it pays for supplement transportation?

Thanks for the info. gentlemen. Out here in Los Angeles I could average 20,000 miles per year. The 6 yr/125,000 mile plan would probably suit me best should I chose to do it Since I have until 3 yrs/36,000 miles to decide, I'll probably just wait until then.

I would wait. At 36,000 miles, if you have had zero repairs it is a good sign that nothing is going to go bad.

I have over 90,000 on my 2010 Prius with zero repairs.

I put 305,000 miles on my last 2000 Toyota 4Runner and nothing broke that would be covered by an extended warranty until 170,000 miles. Over the 305,000 miles I had less than $1,000 in repairs including one set of new brakes on the front. Toyota makes extremely reliable vehicles. Good luck with the new car.

Not so sure that is true with Gen III. They seem to have designed the car so that it is very expensive to repair.

And, the question is: will Toyota (and/or the dealer) find a way to wiggle out of honoring the warranty?

Judgeless -- I'm beginning to think you are not smart. The posted alternator has nothing to do with Denso - the link above it MAY take you to a remanufactured Denso alternator. I am talking about a Denso Alternator remanufactured BY DENSO. Anything less is junk --- and not worth installing ... as you will be paying for labor to install in again ....when it fails ........... most of this stuff is from China .. and cheap. Plus you have to add in the core cost and then the $25.00 to ship it back...... plus someone has to install it.

The parts the Toyota dealer install are of an even higher quality.

Some day you will get a lemon and wonder what happened -- maybe then the light will go on.

Ok, I am not smart. You are the one that pointed out that no one can buy an alternator for less than $100.00. You are clearly wrong. I predict you are wrong about a lot of things in life. The fact you think that a Toyota car will fail before 125,00 miles is a clear sign of that.

It sounds like you are one of the many scumbag dealers mechanics that love to suck the money out of naive people.

Let me ask a simple question. After looking at this data what car do you predict you will have the most issues? Would it be Scion, Lexus, Toyota (all Toyota companies) or Land Rover?



Being smart is doing a little research before you dump $1,200 or more on an extended warranty.

2012 Toyota Quality DOES NOT equal 2005 Toyota Quality.