1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

GAP Insurance? Extended 75K warranty?

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Joe Rieder, Jan 27, 2013.

  1. Joe Rieder

    Joe Rieder New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2013
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Huntington Beach, California
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Hello!
    I purchased a 2013 Prius C last night, sort of on a whim. The finance guy convinced me I needed Gap insurance ($700) and the extended warranty ($2500). Do you guys think this is necessary? I got $1800 for my trade in, and put $3,000 down. I feel like I didn't need all this extra stuff.

    Thanks!
     
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2005
    29,110
    8,589
    201
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Welcome to Priuschat and congrats on the new Prius c. I quite frankly can't give input into the gap insurance as I've never financed a car. The extended warranty I feel is highly unnecessary especially at a ridiculous price of $2500. I'd definitely go back and get that taken off while it is still early.
     
  3. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2008
    11,627
    2,530
    8
    Location:
    Southwest Colorado
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    OP, describe why you were convinced to buy gap insurance. We might at least be able to tell if your reasoning was sound.

    As for the extended warranty: No
     
  4. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2010
    1,167
    259
    0
    Location:
    South Carolina
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Check with your car insurance company for the gap insurance - much, much less than $700!!! No on the warrantly too! You should be able to cancel both and even if they send the money back to the lender instead of you, at least your loan will have a lower balance.
     
  5. Blu-ray

    Blu-ray Blizzard Brigade #215

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2012
    471
    198
    0
    Location:
    TampaBay, FL
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Always get GAP. It's worth it. However, 700.00 is really ridiculous. I've never heard of it being that high.

    I have a friend who didn't get GAP and the car was totaled a little over a month after purchase. He ended up getting sued over the differential between what the insurance paid and what his loan amount was. He could have avoided the suit by making payments but refused to since the car was totaled. Yes I told him he was a dumb butt for not working out a payment plan as opposed to the suit. Once they started garnishing his wages his payment was 25% of his take home each pay period I think and was 3 times the amount of the car payment. Probably 10 times more than an arranged payment plan for the remaining portion of the loan.
     
    Kmullin80 likes this.
  6. jhinsc

    jhinsc Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2010
    1,167
    259
    0
    Location:
    South Carolina
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Agree - don't cancel the GAP until you get other coverage to replace it.
     
  7. born_again

    born_again Member

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2012
    103
    47
    0
    Location:
    Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Yes on the extended warranty, specially if you are a "people" person with social skills.

    I had extended warranty on my previous vehicle and became very friendly with the service dept crew. They really took care of me.
     
  8. epi117

    epi117 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2009
    82
    6
    1
    Location:
    oregon
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I didn't do gap last time around, i did about 5k down payment, figured the prius would hold its value. The credit union offered it for a few hundred if i remember right.
     
  9. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2010
    7,669
    6,485
    0
    Location:
    Redneck Riviera (Gulf South)
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Warranty?
    No way...no day.
    Especially for the C-model!
    Besides.....you're out on the left coast. You guys (and gals) put the "C" in CARB.....meaning many of your hybrid components are already covered well past the extended warranty period.
    If you REALLY have to blow your money on the extended warranty, don't do it at the dealership.
    Two reasons.
    1. You can buy the OEM warranty more cheaply outside the dealership.
    2. You can defer this purchase (at least with some manufacturers.) That way if your car suffers from fire, flooding, famine, pestilence, civil unrest, or you fall out of love with it and want to get car number next in a year???
    You're not out whatever the dealership jacked you for the coverage.

    Oh yeah.....there's probably a third reason.
    You probably rolled the warranty into the car loan. In addition to paying too much for the warranty you're paying interest on it over four or five years. If you're an average or high mileage driver you're going to be paying for this coverage long after it's expired due to mileage. If you got a “zero interest” loan…..then you probably paid too much for the car by leaving incentive money on the table to grab the shiny bauble that they distracted you with.


    GAP.
    I've never been really wild about GAP coverage. I've always presumed that if you 'need' GAP then you're either over paying for the car or you're driving out of your depth band.....or both.
    The "C" model is (or was supposed to be) Toyota's "entry level" hybrid.
    Why should there be a 'gap' in a car that is supposed to start for less than 20K?
    EDIT: A previous poster brought up a very good point.
    Priuses have a very high resale value....especially out on the left coast.

    OK.
    So....let's pretend you need the GAP coverage. Why buy insurance at a place that sells CARS?
    See if your insurance company offers this coverage. Some do.
    See if there's a Credit Union near where you live and talk to the finance person there about a re-fi.
    Most CU's have very competitive rates (if not the cheapest) and some provide GAP coverage for their shareholders.
    More importantly…many CUs or even brick and mortar banks will essentially give you a new car loan even if you bought the car a month or two ago.
    I haven’t checked in a while but my CU was writing money at something like 1.9% not too long ago.
    I just looked at CARS.COM. Not my favorite site, but it was quick for this purpose:
    Prius "C".....Starting MSRP $19,080–$23,360
    If you put 3K down....and got another 1.8K in trade where the heck is the GAP???? :eek:


    Reader’s Digest Version: You’re right. You don’t need either. Get a refund.
     
  10. scott.in.colorado

    scott.in.colorado Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2013
    80
    9
    0
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A


    This is a little late to this thread, but I'll post anyway. I HATE extended warranties - the PRICE that is, not the warranty. I got my 8yr/75K extended warranty for $800 - and it was a hassle for sure.. My Prius is a late (Dec) 2008. Just had it in for Recall work and they found the 2nd water pump leaking (news to me, never any signs of this), but it was replaced free (so they say it was replaced - and the paperwork shows this) because I have the extended warranty. Perhaps it just paid for itself. We all complain about how expensive dealer service work it, and it's a good 2X more than we can get it done in other places, and my fear, and perhaps others, is you purchase the warranty at high prices only to hear, "oh, that component is not covered" when it comes time. You know, if a Dealer wants my return business (buying another car from them), the service shop should not charge us a arm-and-a-leg for repairs. This only leaves me a bad taste in my mouth. Service my car at a fair price, and I'll be back to buy another $30K car. Make me feel like I'm getting 'taken' and I'll never purchase another car from you again. Back to the topic; if I can purchase an extended warranty for under $1000, I'll do it every time, provided it's a true bumper-to-bumper warranty - no hassles, just fix the car if something goes wrong and don't charge me. I’ll also look for 80K miles / 8 years on the car.. or very close to this.. they have many options to chose from these days. I’d like 100K miles, 10 years, but that would be too expensive.
    Scott
     
  11. Tyintegra

    Tyintegra Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2012
    28
    18
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    Extended warranty - If you are going to get this, you should wait until the last 1 to 6 months of the factory warranty (depending on the waiting period of the new warranty) to purchase it. If you are out of warranty, they make you get a full inspection before they will let you buy their coverage. I have had extended warranties on my last two cars that were outside of factory warranty and they more than paid for themselves. Also, remember that if you sell the car before the coverage period is over you get a refund for the amount of the warranty that you didn't use.

    GAP coverage - The purpose of GAP coverage is to protect you in the situation that you total the car and you owe more on the note than the car is worth. If you don't put a decent amount down ($5,000 might be enough) then you should get GAP coverage unless you are ok with taking the risk of having to pay the difference out of pocket. We are leasing our C so there would be a gap for sure if we totaled it right now, therefore we purchased the GAP coverage through the dealership but it was only a couple hundred dollars. $700 seems WAY too high.

    You should go back and have them remove the extended warranty for sure and see if you can find GAP coverage somewhere else (if you want it at all) for cheaper.