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Extended Service Contract-Platinum

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by vinit207, Mar 7, 2011.

  1. vinit207

    vinit207 New Member

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    Hello All,

    I tried reading all existing threads on the 'extended warranty' and was not exactly sure if they applied to my case. So please bear with me if you feel this is a repost thread.

    So I purchased my 2008 Prius in January 2010 with 44,000 miles on it at the time of purchase. I bought the 'Toyota Certified Extended Service Contract(Platinum)' for $1067. The dealer salesperson convinced me at the time that it was 'bumper to bumper'.

    Now, I just took the car to the dealership last week for regular maintainence and the service guy there told me that my 'drive belt' needed to be changed and that my warranty does not cover it as this is a case of 'wear and tear'. I tried to reason that I had 'bumper to bumper' warranty but they did not listen.

    So my question is, is this platinum warranty worth having ? Did I get ripped off ? Is it better to shift to just Powertrain (or Silver, Gold or Gold Plus) to save money on the warranty ? My aim to be covered in case my Prius needs work but at the same time not waste money.

    Any replies will be appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Vinit
     
  2. aztoyotascion

    aztoyotascion New Member

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    Hey Vinit,
    As far as I am aware, there aren't any warranties that cover wear and tear items. Those are things such as the belts, hoses, brakes, etc. A bumper to bumper warranty covers things such as your radio going out, your ignition getting stuck, cars computer getting fried, door handles breaking off... and sooo much more!
    I do not know of anyone that works at a car dealership that does not put an extended plan on their vehicle. The reason is because, like insurance... it's their when you need it most. It can pay for itself in 1 shot but hopefully you don't ever need to use it.
    Hope this helps!
     
  3. vinit207

    vinit207 New Member

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    Thank you Gene.

    Can you or anyone else explain me (from personal or professional experience) if the Platinum coverage ever gets used or if the Powertrain, Silver, Gold or Gold Plus coverage is usually sufficient ?

    Thanks,
    Vinit
     
  4. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    You wanna save money? Don't buy an extended warranty. Bank the purchase price.

    I know, I know, you want someone to convince you which one is the best buy. The answer is, none of them. You would almost certainly never get back as much as half what you pay for it; most likely you'd get nothing at all.
     
  5. DGH

    DGH Thread Terminator

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    Yep, just like your auto insurance hope you don't need it.
    My platinum warranty paid for 4K in repairs. Your experience may differ.
     
  6. sktn77a

    sktn77a Member

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    I thought you could only get the manufacturers (Toyota) Platinum/Gold/Silver extended warranties while the car was still under the original 3/36 factory warranty (?) Are you sure you know what you got?

    If you got the usual Platinum extended warranty ("Vehicle Service Agreement"), you should have got a list of "excluded" items. Anything NOT on the excluded list is covered.
     
  7. srschrier

    srschrier New Member

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    I purchased the Platinum extended warranty for my first (2001) Prius and found the extra investment more than paid for itself. Since the Prius was new to the US in August 2000 I felt an extended warranty might be a good safety precaution. And, for better or worse, over ten years several significant replacement parts were needed. On every occasion when a repair was needed I found Toyota consistently came thru and honored the warranty agreement. But after the warranty expired at 100K miles then the parts replacement costs became prohibitive. It was as though any fuel cost savings achieved during the first 100K miles were being lost. It was more a question of did I want to keep rebuilding the car component by component or simply get the newest version.

    Given enough resources almost any car can be maintained, customized and rebuilt indefinitely as the owner chooses. While I'd never owned an around town car for over ten years, the 2001 Prius was my first Japanese car, I simply enjoyed driving it. Yet when the traction battery began failing at 166,000 miles I felt comfortable purchasing a new 2011 Prius III. Thankfully I've had mostly positive experiences the past 10.5 years with my local Toyota dealership and Toyota "the company" whenever repairs were required.

    I decided to invest again in Toyota's Platinum extended warranty. While I hope not to have to use it the warranty's transferable, at a diminishing value as the car ages, to future owners.
     
  8. archebald23

    archebald23 Junior Member

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    well some of the Michigan auto repair would take up some of the warranty for the repair.. I guest it would not cost you that much.