extended warrenty are they safe

Regardless of what the dealer told you, you cannot get a Toyota extended warranty. It must be purchased within the initial 3 yr / 36K warranty period. Also, don't buy from the "other" companies offering warranties (probably seen them on TV). They won't cover the expensive hybrid components. Those components are still covered by Toyota.

 

If you want a warranty, I would recommend looking at aftermarket warranties:

1) The Toyota Platinum warranty isn't available after 36k miles. They may be selling you another warranty.
2) $2400.00 is WAY too much money. For my car (a '97 with 10k miles), a 100k warranty was $980-$1400 depending on who you go with.

Some things you want to look for in a warranty are below. Please note, you probably won't be able to find all of these in one warranty:
- No mandatory arbitration clause.
- It should be exclusionary, listing the parts it DOES NOT cover, rather than the parts it covers.
- Fasteners, hoses, and valves should not be one of the exclusions. This is done primarily to deny claims, claiming that your engine failed because of a faulty fastener, so they don't cover the engine.
- A good BBB rating.
- Insured by an insurance company with A or better ratings from AM Best.
- They should not hold you liable for maintenance prior to your ownership. Some companies may inspect the car before selling you the warranty to waive prior maintenance requirements - that's OK.

I haven't found an aftermarket warranty that meets all of these criteria, but a few are close:
- WarrantyDirect has a arbitration clause, but is otherwise pretty good
- Old Reliable (sold by carchex.com) doesn't have an arbitration clause, but excludes fasteners.
- Check your car insurance company. Some offer mechanical breakdown coverage, but I don't know how good it is.
- I had a Premier dealer service contract that was good, (similar to old reliable, but cheaper) but it could only be sold by the dealer (not available on internet).

That said, don't expect to save money overall on a warranty. Odds are, the warranty will cost you more than you get in benefits (just like any insurance). The Prius is a very reliable car, so the odds that you will have a covered failure that costs more to fix than your warranty is probably something like 10-20%.

-->Adam

 

Oh, and don't feel that you've missed out by not being able to get the Toyota platinum warranty.

It's not insured, C rated by the BBB, has an arbitration agreement, holds you responsible for the prior owners maintenance, and excludes fasteners. In short, it isn't the best warranty out there. Odds are the warranty the dealer is offering you is better.

-->Adam

 

The dealer should be able to get you a NAV manual. In the mean time, there is a pretty good demo here Toyota Navigation System. You can also find good info at John's Site (John's Stuff - Toyota Prius and more)