Toyota Extra Care Platinum or Gold

I am looking to add the Toyota Extra Care warranty. Should I go with the platinum or gold, price difference is about $400 over 6 years.

Thanks

Tell us more.....

How old is the car (in miles?)
How many miles a year do you drive?
OK...I already know you have a base model G3-II, or at least that's what it says on my screen.

I've never been crazy about extended warranties, and depending on how many miles you drive, it's not going to be six years of coverage---just a certain number of miles. If you drive 30,000 miles a year, diamond-coated gold platinum coverage tends to make less sense. Also, the base model II has fewer gee-whizz gadgets that can break during the coverage period.
I've heard that there's a person on the forum who can give you a good deal on the extended coverage, and maybe he/she will chime in.

However (comma) If I had to snap-shot an answer...I'd say no. It's usually better to just roll the dice.

JMHO...

It's a 2010, 6 yr 125K miles. The price of the warranty is no concern as two minor repairs will pretty much take care of it. I just want to see if the platinum is worth the $400 more than the gold

Get the platinum. With all the high tech electronics, it would be your best protection.

Since it's your money we are talking about -- go for the more expensive option.

What is the pricing on the platinum coverage on a new prius III

It is all a scam. I have close to 50,000 miles with zero repairs. Many Gen I and II owners have zero repairs over the life of the car. Toyota makes the most reliable cars in the world. Do not waste your money.

I think if you have the money it all boils down to are you a person who will loose sleep over spending the money, or over not having the long warranty.

I had an Avalon for ten years not one problem, no extended warranty. But for some reason I just felt better after I bought the extended for the Prius. I would rather not have to worry about the car for six years, it's a complicated hunk o' metal.

Toyota indeed makes one of the most reliable cars in the world. But they're not 100% yet, maybe 99% . And I think a bit in the back of my mind I just might have one of those 1% in my garage and about due.

Like in Vegas, the house always win. Statistically, extended warranties favor the dealer. But since you prefer peace of mind, why not get the best?

Last time I checked, the 6/100 platinum was $940.00 and the 7/100 was $1,055.00 and the 8/125 was $1,630.00. These all had a $0 deductible. I wouldn't consider anything but the platinum if you are going to do it.

I must think too logically. If I went to Vegas and played a game that has 4:1 odds it means for every $4 I spend I will get $1 back. My logic is to keep the $4 and not lose anything.

Extended warranties are carefully calculated so there is a huge about of money for the dealer and the company that offers the warranty. The consumer losses.

If you want the best piece of mind do not waste money in Vegas or at a dealer.

I bought it for my Corvette, it worked out great for me. For about $1K, it's worth the risk to buy for me.

Technically, I don't think that's true. The probability for each game is independent. You can play all night and not win once. Unlikely though.

Consider flipping a coin: Just because you flip heads once, it doesn't mind you'll flip tails the next time.

But we are really talking about the same thing. They have think-tanks dedicated to crunching numbers to try and scam more money from you. Which is why I don't buy travel insurance, car rental insurance, or get flu shots, etc.

The House (Toyota) wins on average over thousands of customers, but...
Assuming we are talking about a person who would have out of warranty repairs done at a dealer....

The dealer loses if you drive a hard bargain and buy the warranty for a small markup (at least 40% off list), particularly if you don't buy it where you bought your car. The dealer loses because the small profit he makes, 0 profit if you buy it elsewhere, doesn't begin to make up for what he can bend a customer over for if the customer is paying out of pocket. There have been countless stories on PC about dealers overcharging and selling people unnecessary work. It a lot harder for a dealer to slip it to Toyota than it is to slip it to an individual customer.

An extended "warranty" is not only insurance against car failures, it's protection against incompetent and unscrupulous dealers. The protection against the dealers could easily outweigh the value of the protection against car failures.

One thing to consider is if there is a problem in a unit, it may very well show up within a couple years of ownership. That is what happened on my 2009 Prius - After about 7 months from new, the volume knob on radio wouldn't always change the volume. One of those digital knobs.

I got a new or refurbished JBL unit put in for free and it worked perfectly after that. That's not so say all things that are going to fail will fail within the basic 3 year warranty.

So, basically, you are looking to cover yourself from that 3 yr to 6 to 8 year period on non-powertrain, non-hybrid components.

There are many ways to skin this cat. If you say you can haggle the dealer for extended warranty and that there are shady dealers out there, then I can say I can source parts for less, work with a mechanic that I know, or even fix some really minor things myself.

I bought warranty for my last car, an equally reliable Honda Accord. I knew something in the suspension was gonna break, so I bought it. I was surprised by the loophole in the contract saying that the warranty covers parts but not labor or shop fees......something to that effect. Bottom line, out of a $500 bill, Honda paid $300.

Later on, my fan wouldn't work at low speeds but works on higher speeds. A little internet research and $20 later on a resistor, I fixed it myself. I did overpay the warranty due to my naviety. But there is no way I can recoup the cost. I'm not looking to break-even (Dealer has to eat too) but to get half of it back would be nice.

The point is, personally, I'd roll the dice and fix whatever comes up at my expense.

You are correct the probably changes based on the game. Keno has odds from 31:1 down to 4:1. I never understand why people pick the games with 31:1 odds.

You are correct that that if you flip a perfectly balanced coin you can get the same side over and over. With enough flips of the coin over time you will find that 50% of the time it will and one side and 50% of time it will land on the other.

Like you said. “But we are really talking about the same thing”

We are. I agree with you 100% Everything you mentioned has a calculated return on investment. I would not buy an extended warranty or any of the other things you mentioned.

Some people believe in paying lots of money for the perception of peace of mind. Some people believe in fairy dust, others snake skin oil. “There is a sucker born everyday” W.C. Fields

Given the rate of extended warranty from the vendors, one repair will pay for virtually 20-30% of the cost. The extended warranty can pay for itself after two repairs in most cases.

How many miles are on your 2010 Prius and how many repairs have you had?

I have 49,000 miles and zero repairs. My last Toyota had 305,000 miles and it was close to 200,000 miles before anything broke that would be covered under any warranty.

Consumer Reports rates Toyota, Scion, Lexus as the top 3 most reliable cars manufatures in the world. All Toyota companies. There are way too many factors against buying an extended warranty yet people still shell out the money.

I have 34k with one repair that would have cost about $125-200 to fix. I am planning to get a warranty until 120K for $1000. It makes sense to me because cars are getting so complicated now that everything requires Toyota to do the work. In most cases, all it takes is two or three jobs to have the warranty paid for. I don't recommend paying full retail for it, but the cost you can get them for is so low that it is worth the risk to me. I also have an early built 2010, so this is extra security for me.

This car is also driven long distance a lot by my wife, I would prefer her to just bring it in rather than to diagnose any problems over the phone.

On my last car I got over $4000 in repair work done thanks to the extended warranty, you really do win some and you lose some.