2011 Prius timing cover leak not covered by pre-owned warranty

Hi all,

I bought my 2011 Prius as a pre-owned vehicle (came with 7 year, 100k mile warranty) in July 2015 with 1 owner, 66k miles, no accidents, above average maintenance history.

My first maintenance on it revealed a timing cover leak that I was assured would not be a problem for a few years. I was told now on my 90k mile maintenance that the timing cover will need to be fixed in 2019 for $2000...and that 7 year, 100k mile pre-owned vehicle warranty doesn't cover mechanical parts anymore (the timing cover is considered mechanical). The KBB value of my car is ~$8500.

I have $4000 left on the car's loan. I do not know the lifespan of the Prius battery as of now. The car needs no other work aside from $550 in fluid changes.

Any advice on whether to pay for the timing cover leak to be fixed as opposed to trading the car in would be appreciated. In my mind, it's hard to justify $2k worth of work on a vehicle whose KBB value is about 4x that, especially when the battery's lifespan could be coming to an end soon. All my maintenance has been done at Toyota dealerships.

I'm a grad student in my mid-20's so to trade in this car next year and get another car loan would be a major financial decision.

Not to mention, I feel SO ripped off by the caveats in the 7 year, 100k mile warranty. UGH.

 

Hi there,
The leak is getting worse over time. I park on dark asphalt so I haven't seen any spots. No other mechanical issues to my knowledge. I have never used anyone other than the dealer to perform the maintenance but I have seen three dealers:
1) Gatorland Toyota (Gainesville, FL) 2015-2016
2) Toyota of Corvallis (Corvallis, OR) 2016-present
3) Toyota Tri-Cities (Richland, WA) once in 2017 because I was driving through the area
And they have all said the same thing about the timing cover leak: it's getting worse over time.

That is a good point. The issue has consistently been described to me as a leak, not a seep. But the Toyota dealership also said I'd have to wait for it to get to severe levels before any warranty would even consider covering it...before I contacted the warranty company found out that the mechanical coverage had expired...

 

1) The warranty was sold to me by the Toyota dealership in Gainesville, FL that I bought the car from. The warranty is through a company called Sublimity.

2) I have not considered that option! But I do have AAA.
2b) I park on asphalt at home & work so I have not seen any oil.

3) Wow. It was explained to me that the fluid changes have to happen because the car was not ever given its 60k mile maintenance by the last owner.

4, 5, 6, 7) Thank you.

8) Portland is a bit far but it's worth the drive for the magnitude of this decision! I never even thought to consider taking my Prius to a hybrid-specific shop.

 

Hi all,
I contacted the warranty company. They explained that my 7year/100k mile warranty expired at the beginning of this year because "7 years" is defined from the model year of the vehicle (mine is a 2011 Prius) not from the purchase date.
This was not explained to me at the time I bought the car. My only recourse is to fork over the $ for the repairs on a problem that this car was sold to me with or beg the dealership that sold the Prius to me to give me a credit toward the repairs.

 

Also, I said earlier that the warranty company was named Sublimity. It is in fact Fidelity Warranty Services.