Is the Xtnded Warranty Worth It?

Up to four years and 64,000 miles.

 

Yes, it's still new technology and, IMHO, would be worth getting. It's good that you don't have to get the warranty at the same time as you pick up the Prius, so you have some time do decide.

 

i'm also trying to decide whether or not to buy the warranty. i have 32,000 trouble free miles thus far, i've always avoided such warranties, thus far to good effect, but...new technology, big bucks. my dealship indicates toyota will do out of warranty repairs on the prius, because it is the flagship of this new technology...and the service mgr. recommends not (can you imagine?) buying the warranty.

 

All it takes is one moderate repair bill to break even.

I have read of tales of transmission (or rather planetary power splitting devices) failures on four years old first generation Priuses for which Toyota refused to pay for repairs.

The way I look at it, one air conditioning compressor replacement (@$3,500) and I am way ahead.

 

extended warranty

It may not have been well-publicised, but the two recent cases of this were resolved by shared expense to Toyota and the owners involved, apparently to the satisfaction of all parties.

When I bought Prius in 2001 I also spent about $1000 for the extended warranty (EW). I am now at 78k miles and have made no claim sgainst EW.

I certainly agree that the "transmission", the many vehicle computers, screen display, and yes even the HV battery would cost a lot to replace. A few Prius drivers will benefit from having purchased the EW. Most will only sleep better. In general Toyota will benefit. But don't we love them?

It has always been difficult to advise new buyers about the EW, because it has so much to do with one's own personal risk assessment. Should you sell a Prius with EW, you should do better.

Speaking only for myself, I intend to drive the car to 300k, thus the EW will just be a small thing in calculating its lifetime operating costs.

 

Don't think of an extended as a warranty, think of it as an insurance policy, because at the end of the day, that is what they are. Sure, most of the parts in the Prius are rather expensive to repair, however how many of them are actually going to break? I'm inclined to believe that Toyota has done their best to keep that from happening. This is one of their flagships right now, they don't want egg on their face 5 or even 10 years down the road.

I did purchase an EW, however that was only because I didn't feel I could absorb a major repair out of warranty, and the price was very competitive. However, any other vehicle and I wouldn't have purchased it. And, if my experience with the Prius is as positive as I believe it will be, I won't be buying an extended on my next hybrid.

The winner in an insurance situation is always the person you pay the premium to. However, you win if you have to make a claim. Ideally in any insurance situation, you never want to make a claim. So, I'd make my decision based upon your current financial situation, your comfort level and your future expectation of the vehicle's mechanical performance.

 

Is it worth it? Well, let's see. I paid Troy $585 for 6yr/75k - 3 yrs/29k beyond the Toyota new car warranty. Less than $200 per year and I save that much in gas dollars by July 1 of each year! I'll sleep much better with the EW under my pillow and my bank account will barely have a dent.

 

Extended warranties are designed to make money for those selling them - plain and simple. They have very smart people that calculate the expected costs and price the policies accordingly. "YOU" as am individual may make out, but on balance everyone looses on these things. If you cannot afford the risk of paying for an unplanned repair bill then you are living to close to paycheck-to-paycheck and should be driving a used Hyundai to start with (this is a generic statement not a personal attack).

One should only buy insurance for things like liability where exposure can be huge. It does not make sense to spend $1,000 (or whatever) because there is a slim chance that you might have a $4,000 repair at some point down the line.

 

I was going to get it but not worth it with a Yota... 6yr, 70K mile warranty on the powere train is good enough for me. I did by one for my Sienna Limited fully decked out but more crap to break on that.

 

Isn't the powertrain 5yr/60K?
Even the brake system is expensive, and that is only covered 3yr/36K.
It may be insurance, but so is homeowners and auto.
Several thousand dollars is a big amount to have to pay. One thing that would have helped if Toyota had the different components repairable. I can't believe one can't just replace the PSD gears themselves, but the whole transaxle.

 

No, you are comparing apples and oranges. Your liability insurance on a car or home covers you for "Virtually" limitless risk - up to the limits of coverage. That is a huge potential risk. Your homeowners insurance covers you if the entire house burns down or if there is a sudden and immediate peril that destroys the place. It does NOT cover you for things in the house that wear out or break gradually over time.

You need insurance for these big things, most people don't or shouldn't need them for parts of a car that might wear out. Why be 100% certain that you are out $1,000 when you buy an extended warrantee (or whatever the price is) You would be ahead of the game if you skipped that expense and instead put $30 a month into a cookie jar. At the end of three years when the base warranty expires you would have over $1,000 saved which would cover most expenses. If you kept doing that for the next three years you would have amassed almost $2,200. Look how much ahead of the game you are if you don't have a meltdown.

Point is, some people will make out on an extended warranty just like some will leave the casino with more money than they went in - BUT all in all consumers and gamblers are all loosers in aggregate.

 

The last warranty I purchase on my Integra actually paid the premium back if there was no claim. I paid $1300 for a 3 year extended warranty from Acurca Care. 9 months in, the water pump went. They needed to replace all gaskets. I was amazed that Acura Care did not even quibble. Everything was covered with a $50 deductable. The total cost or repair was $630. They even rented me a car for the day. I did not break even but at the time of repair, I did not have $630 and no way of getting the money. For me it worked out.

When I get to 3 yrs, I am spending the money. Everything I have bought recently, I have got the extended warranty and have had to use it. That includes my BOSE, SONY TV, DVD player.

Experience also tells me to get the warranty from the manufacturer and not a second person.

 

That is an interesting option to get money back if you make no claim. They are probably trying to motivate people to not make claims. But you made one so cannot get your money back and so far have put out $1,300 and only got $630 back. Your are still down. You might break even but might not.

As far as buying everything with extended warranties that is where most people loose the most money. You have had extremely bad luck, but most people don't have everything break. By buying no warranties you are generally ahead as only a few things will break. That aside, these days you generally do no fix a 4 or 5 year old TV as the repairs cost almost as much as buying a new one with more features.

You might want to consider not buying so many toys and saving some money so that you could afford a $630 repair. I think you might find if you did that you could afford more things down the road and might save by not having to buy these expensive security blankets. But, to each their own.

 

I'm on the fence myself, but I've got another 30K miles to go before I have to decide.

Generally, I never buy extended warrenties on anything. If I had bought every extended warrenty every offered to me, I would have paid much more than the cost to replace 3 or 4 of the items covered under the warrenties. None of which have broken.

The only extended warrenty I did buy in the last 10 years or so was for my big-screen DLP TV that I bought in February. The only reason I gave in on that one was because it specifically covered replacing the bulb which is almost guarenteed to blow out at least once during the life time of the warrenty, and costs about 50% of the cost of the warrenty.

So, most likely, if my car begins to routinely require repairs while it is still under the standard warrenty, then I will definitely get the extended warrenty. However, if it is problem free, then there's a good chance that I'll roll the dice and skip the extended warrenty.

 

I wouldn't be able to save $1000 by putting $30 monthy within the base warranty timeframe, as I'll burn it up in a year. Nearly there now at 31K.

For most thinks and even most cars, extended warranty is a bad deal. But I don't think so when it comes to a fully equipped Prius.

 

Dan - you can't start to save for retirement at age 62 either That was not the point. The point was that if someone put $30 a month in a jar starting the day they bought the car then in 36 months they would have $1,080 in the jar. If they invested it they would have more

 

And in 36 months I'll have 100K on the car. Good chance of something expensive occuring during that time.