Advice needed: Extended warranty for the new Prius or not?

Prius is a good reliable car. Just routine maintanance is the norm for a long time. Save your money is my take. However if you need peace of mind go for it but more likely than not a waste of money.

Congrats on the new car and enjoy years of worry free motoring

 

Why would you buy a "warranty" that typically makes the seller money but pays out for the benefit of the buyer only 30% of the purchase price? You get three times better odds in Vegas. (The 30% figure is from Consumer Reports.)

Isn't the national Toyota new car warranty good at least in the lower-48? I bought in Md and have no trouble getting warranty service in NC. And the free services are no trouble either. Yes, you do want to keep the services up during the new car warranty period if for no other reason that you want a reliable car and the dealer/Toyota could deny a claim if you hadn't.

If you do buy the warranty, be sure and read the contract and research who is the company that stands behind the warranty. Many of the companies offering warranties go out of business just about the time they are going to start paying out so you need to know the financial stability of the company.

 

Just put that warranty money in a savings account and use it to pay the repair bills you have during the time period covered by the warranty, my guess and the insurance companies' guess is that you will have money left over.

 

I agree 100%

 

I also agree! Put the money in an account that you'd spend on the warranty or buy something that will add the value (whether that be intrinsic or personal) of your new Prius if you want, you'll be happier you did in the end. The Prius is very reliable, plus it comes with good factory coverage. Or you could give me the money to hold on to

 

Yeah the Prius will be nothing like your Beetle in terms of reliability. You are in for a pleasant surprise

 

Don't get me wrong, there may be a very very small percentage of Prius owners who might some time in the future benefit from having an extended warranty. No car is perfect every time. It is just that the odds are so in favor of the insurance company that anyone who can afford the risk ought to pass on the extended warranty. I bought a car a few years ago and had the option of buying the car with warranty or having the seller get a refund and giving me the $2500 discount equal to her refund. I took the money and, when I sold the car 6 years later, was at least $2000 ahead. But to do that, maybe I had a 5% chance of having enough troubles it would have been better to have the warranty. At 30% payout, I'll take the 70% side of the bet. But I could have had to pay even more than the insurance/warranty cost. I decided, that I could afford the worst and could take the risk, your situation may be different.

There are a few who come out ahead, a few who about break even and lots who fund the salesman's trips to the Bahamas.

But do your homework if you do consider buying one, the exclusions can kill you and lots of the companies are flaky as heck. I once researched a warranty and had gone through 6 shell companies before I found something that might be there 5 years from now.

 

My unsolicited advise is stop by the dealer and get your refund check and stop at House of Pancakes or similar establishment and for one day forget about counting calories and extended warranties and splurge with the authentic maple syrup and come to the conclusion you have a Reliable car.

 

I recently bought a 2013 Prius C model 3. I'm looking at an extended warranty. I can buy one online from Jerry (mentioned elsewhere) for about $1600. It covers ALL Toyota parts for 8 yr/125K miles (no deductable). I'm thinking of buying it, then when there's about 2 months left (or about 1K miles) left on the warranty, I'll sale the car, and transfer the warranty. Then the new owner will have peace of mind for at least a few months and 1K miles that they did not buy a lemon. (Would someone actually want to buy a used hybrid that is off warranty and has 7 years, over 100K miles on it?)

I know that people say Toyota is a great brand and probably does't need the extended warranty. But I also thought Honda was a great, or better, brand. I had a 2007 Honda Fit that needed about $1,000 in engine repair after it went off the 60,000 warranty. Then the temp. control knob seemed like it was almost ready to fail, too. Seems to me these hybrid cars are much, much more complicated (they have two different kinds of engines, electric and gas).

So that is my plan. Any feedback? Maybe you can sway my idea?

 

Most people buy the Prius to save on gas. That fact that it is a very reliable car is why people still keep buying them. Warranties and extended warranties are nothing but insurance against costs related to failures. You can run cost-to-failure numbers all day, but the "oh crap" factor can not be figured. There is nothing wrong with getting an extended warranty if you like the extra insurance, and there is nothing wrong with a person who whats it. It is merely a choice.

 

In your original post (OP) you wondered if the 3 year warranty is applicable since you are moving from Mich. to Texas. Yes it is. It is a Toyota national new car warranty and must be serviced/honored at any Toyota dealership no matter where you move.
BTW: I worked at a large university and they had no insurance on any buildings. They self-insured and cut out the middleman. If a building burned down they took interest bearing money out of an earmarked account and payed it.

 

Dude these cars can go 10 years and 150,000 miles just on routine maintenance and minor repairs . Put that $1,600 into a mutual fund and stop worrying.

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FYI, an article about testing a 10 year old Prius (really good results):
Ten-Year Old Toyota Hybrid Priuses Defy Early Critics

Consumer Reports Tests Find The Gas-Electric Hybrid No Hothouse Flower--Going Strong After 200K Miles

Ten-Year Old Toyota Hybrid Priuses Defy Early Critics

 

This topic has been beaten to death before. Extended warranty is an insurance policy. If you want to feel warm and fuzzy being insured then fork over the dough. If not then don't. Machines sometimes break, and toyota is the most recalled auto manufacturer in the US. Do what's best for you and it will be the right choice.

 

In California and other CARB states, the hybrid battery, inverter and other hybrid-related items have a 10 year, 150,000 mile warranty. The other two expensive items are the engine and transaxle (transmission), which carry a 60,000 mile warranty.

On my 2010, right after the basic 36,000 mike warranty expired, one of the hydraulic hatch struts began to fail. But it wouldn't have made sense to have an expended warranty pay for something so minor.

I would not buy an extended warranty, but see if you can find a repair shop like Luscious Garage in your area. Most mechanics do not understand hybrid systems, and so they over charge for repairs. (Why find and fix a loose cable inside the transaxle when you can replace the entire thing for $2,000+?)