Vehicle Service Agreement, is it worth it?

You can get a Toyota extended warranty much cheaper here on Prius Chat at Welcome! | WarrantyShack.

 

I had a similar experience a month ago when I bought my 2010 Prius II. I ended up purchasing the plan, for me it was $2,100 for the Platinum plan. I was also harried by the end of the process, mostly because I hadn't realized my wife had a doctor's appt. that day and I had to basically sign all the paperwork and then run and pick up our 3-year-old daughter to get her home. This put me in a less-than-ideal negotiating position. They told me the plan is "no use, no lose," meaning that if I end up not using the full value of the plan I'll get a refund at the end of the 7-year or 100K period. No idea if that is valid; I expect I'll get a fraction of that money back, if anything. At this point I'm almost half-hoping for a catastrophic failure of some kind so I'm sure to get back the value of the plan (pretty twisted, I know). I think if I had gone in that day definitely planning to make this purchase I would have researched more ahead of time to be more objective about it. I was lured by the 0% APR, 0 down offer, which at the time was set to expire that weekend. Turns out they extended it for at least another month...

 

There's an easy way to confirm this. Have you read the contract?

 

Long story short, I had some misgivings within 24 hours of the sale (not about the car, which I love, but about the overall deal and that horrible feeling that you've just been screwed)... when I realized Washington does not have a "buyer's remorse" law—which again it says right on the contract, except that I was in such a rush to sign the papers I failed to see it until after the fact—I just decided for the moment to enjoy the car and consider the deal I agreed to "water under the bridge."

At some point I'll have the stomach to review all the paperwork in greater detail, and/or call Toyota Financial and get the facts. For now I have set a reminder in Outlook for March 27, 2017 to request a refund under the "no use, no lose" policy. I only drive about 3K miles per year so I doubt I'll hit 100K within 7 years—unless I take a couple unanticipated trips to Patagonia. For all I know this guarantee is legit; it's written in bold 98-point font at the top of one of the pieces of paper I received. But having worked at a law firm for 12 years I know that the most important text on a contract is always written in the smallest print.

 

If you only drive 3000 miles a year, why on earth did you buy a Prius?

 

Why wouldn't I? I already own a bicycle.

 

Heh, I know that feeling. My dealer has a 3-day, 250-mile return policy, and a 7-day, 700-mile exchange (equal or greater value) policy. I wasn't completely sure that I wanted the AT package, and my test drive wasn't nearly long enough to really try it out, so I relied on that policy to give myself some peace of mind if I decided the extra dough wasn't worth it. I asked for full details of the policy in writing, and they gave me one of the hangtags that they put behind the rear view mirror on all the cars in the lot; no details, no small print. Not terribly reassuring, but luckily, I decided to keep the car...

I do wonder if I would have hit any snags if I had decided to try returning it, though.

 

I also bought my Prius at Toyota Sunnyvale!

 

Do not waste your money on a extended service contract.

1) Toyota makes the most reliable cars in the world.
2) The first gen was proven extremely reliable.
3) The second gen was proven extremely reliable.
4) This third gen will be extremely reliable.

Do not fall for the sales pitch that is a really advanced high tech car so things will break. Toyota has been shipping high tech Prius cars for 10 years. They are extremely reliable and do not need an extended warranty.

 

I knew I was being taken. But, I figure the Prius is not exactly something I can take to anybody for service and I have had problems with a prior Toyota that I found totally unacceptable (related to standard transmission.) It is one reason I have not gone back to Toyota until now. I was actually hoping that Honda's retooled Insight would be much better that it is.

Worse, I was NOT given a copy of anything that has the recommended maintenance schedule on it - but the current incentive is supposed to 2 y free standard maintenance.

I was quite disappointed in the "intro" to my Prius. (Sorry, spoiled by picking up my Volvo back when Volvo was Volvo - going over every feature, including emergency backups... with a final presentation of a bouquet of flowers welcoming to the Volvo Family. Now that's the way you make a buy feel wedded to the brand.)

 

There will always be people like this in the world

They need SPECIAL instructions like the gas pedal makes the car go. The brake pedal makes it stop and the steering wheel makes it turn. It’s a car, why do you need special instructions on how to use it.

I would rather save $1,000 on my car then get flowers with it. If you make $300,000 a year and love to waste money you should by a car from a company that goes to these extremes. The Prius is not the right car for you.

Most people making $300,000 have learned how to save money over the years to get to that point in their life. They lived a frugal life and never stop.

 

@dbldbl - While there is some disagreement as to whether it is worth buying the service agreement, there is a positive way to look at this. Given any doubt or pause people may have about Toyota in light of the recalls, product issues and the litigation frenzy that's been amping up, the service agreement is an attractive selling point if you need to sell your car before it expires.

 

Stop judging the guy because he wanted a little explanation about the large and very technical purchase he just made. If you hadn't noticed the prius has a LOT more functions than just a gas pedal and steering wheel.

I wish my dealer had gone over all the ins and outs as well. Maybe then I wouldn't have had to take it back to get the reverse beep and and other options changed.

 

Yeah. When I sat down in my new Prius I couldn't even get it to start at first. They had to explain that the brake had to be depressed to start the engine. I didn't even figure out for a week (after finally viewing the user manual DVD) that I could unlock the car just by grabbing the door handle, and lock it by touching the little touch pad. All the different display options took a while to figure out too. Those are the kind of details that would have been useful to go over before leaving the dealer, after just making the second-largest purchase of my life.

But rather than a bouquet of flowers, I'd prefer a box of chocolates (or a bottle of scotch, although that will never happen)...

I'm going to take another look at my papers tonight - I just saw on another site that someone had a 60-day full refund clause on their platinum warranty. I'll seriously consider it if I have that option, I could definitely use that $2,100 back. Especially now that I know the dealer marked up the price...

 

Hmm. That's odd. Dbldbl: Check the papers again. You should have a little booklet that says, "Warranty" and such on it. Strangely enough, the service schedule is in there.

If you didn't get that.. COMPLAIN LOUDLY TO TOYOTA! I don't know if the warranty counts as a contract or not, but a nickle bet says that there are laws that say you should get the real document saying what Toyota will cover and not.

KBeck.

 

I just called Toyota Financial about my plan (purchased 3/27/2010) and they said that as of today I can get a refund of 98.8% of the $2,100 purchase price, minus a $25 processing fee. So if you did buy this plan and you're having second thoughts it seems you can probably get out of it without too much pain...

However, under the "No Use, No Lose" provision (administered by a completely different company), the only way to get the full amount back is to not use the platinum coverage for anything at all. If I get through the 7 year/75K mile period without applying the platinum coverage for any repair, replacement etc. whatsoever, I would get the full price of the plan refunded to me, but otherwise I would get nothing back as the "no use, no lose" provision would be void. This is materially different from what I understood from the dealer, and makes a big difference as to whether this plan makes sense for me.

There are also ways that these plans are apparently transferable if you sell your car, but at this point I don't intend to sell the car before the 7-year period expires. Hopefully this info is helpful, it sure was for me...

 

I disagree Judgeless... I picked up an 8 year plan for around $1000 online, its the Platinum & fully covers the computer & electronics. I paid through the ROOF before on a simple repair just b/c they needed a "special tech." to work on it.

I'll always go with an Extended Plan, just never from a finance guy.