PIP Extended Warranty ?

Not sure who is telling you a "couple days"....unless this is strictly being worked into financing of some sort...but....
my understanding was.....
you actually have til (up to) the expiration of the factory warranty to purchase an extended warranty.

 

I'm not sure what the proper rules are on this but there is a Toyota dealer who is featured (advertises?) on PriusChat who offers us significantly discounted extended warranty and prepaid matineance plans. He's been doing this for years and has great reviews. I would be surprised if you dealer could even approach his pricing.

 

I bet they are. Don't walk, RUN away

 

Financing guys (sigh!)
If you plan on keeping the car 7 years or more I "might" consider it, HOWEVER....
Given the GREAT... (if not outstanding/stellar) reliability of this particular vehicle I would push really really hard for a rock bottom price from these blood-suckers. (the reliability factor of the Prius should be an advantage for anyone "haggling" a deal for an extended warranty).
I might even call 3 different dealers as well as a reputable after-market dealer and get a couple more quotes.

Unless, of course, you got money to burn.

 

I emailed the guy (Troy) back in November to see what the ext. warranty costs might be for the PIP and his reply was:

I am currently offering the Toyota Platinum 7 yr / 100,000 mile Extra Care
plan w/ $0 deductible for $1055.00 or the 8 yr / 125,000 mile plan for $1630.00
on the Prius.

I think the dealer quoted me $2600 on a 7 year 125k one. I just know it was more than Troy quoted. Although the pricing may have changed since then since I'm not sure the PIP may have been listed in the system back then.

his email address was: Troy Dietrich <TDietrich AT FD-Warranty.com>

 

This is just me, but I would not get the extended warranty and save the money.

#1 The Pip Hybrid system has an 8yr. 100,000 mile warranty already.

#2 you live in CA so your Hybrid system warranty is longer than anyone elses in the country, right? via the CA emissions warranty
An extended warranty is not gonna buy you anything you don't already have.

#2 you had it on your last Prius and didn't use it......

Also look at your track record....how long did you keep your last Prius and how many miles did you drive it.?
How long do you keep a car?

To me its throwing away money.
But I know some people have to spend money for "peace of mind". And Dealer's feed on them.

The dealers love to hide the fact, or skirt the truth that the Prius has an extended hybrid system warranty already and are selling extended warranties left and right. Its criminal IMHO
I've heard of people buying extended warranties on a leased vehicle. How insane is that?

 

ONE other option....
(much like people do with PET insurance)...
Start your own savings account with the money you would've given away to Joe "Finance" department....
and use it if and when your car EVER.... gives you problems.

 

I declined the extended warranty (I just couldn't the the value given all of the factory warranty coverage), but did buy the pre-paid maintenance contract. Unlike what I have seen at some other dealers, this is offered through Toyota, so it is honored at any Toyota dealership, not just the one you buy it at. No coupons to present any more when you have the service done; they just pull it up by VIN on their computer. You get the first 5 services (which are "minor") with the car, and the prepaid contract starts with the first major service.

 

Funny, there is no "major" service involved with a Prius. Its oil changes and air filters for about 120,000 miles. Then a set of spark plugs.
Just don't let them "up sale" you anything else when you show up, because that what they'll do.
A transmission fluid change or two along the way can't hurt.

 

CharlesH,

What did your pre-paid maintenance contract include and what did it cost?

Does it cover MORE than the included ToyotaCare for 2-year, Complimentary Maintenance Plan - Toyota Care

 

It picks up where the complimentary service ends. See Toyota Care Plus Extended coverage. I pre-paid for all scheduled maintenance out to 5yrs/75000 miles. My dealer gave me a written statement stating that if I have the service done with them, that they waive the time limit. The cost was $1760. For whatever it's worth, it includes the towing service (whoopee... that's what I have AAA for). The details of the scheduled service are in the Maintenance Guide that you get with the car.

Is it worth it? I suspect that if I take my Prius to the dealer rather than doing it myself or finding a cheap independent mechanic, I would likely be spending at least that much. It's not like the Extended Warranty which you are very likely to see no return on.

 

I asked Troy Dietrich on pricing for the 5yr/75k svc and he said it was $980.

 

So ten service visits at an average of $176 each. At the 5K intervals you need a tire rotation and fluid checks. Do those again at the 10K intervals and add oil/filter changes. Throw in a couple of cabin air filters along the way. You can buy those either at the dealer or aftermarket, and install them yourself in five minutes. So the tire rotation might cost $30, the synthetic oil change maybe $50 (less if you buy your own oil and pay them labor to change it.) Total it up, and maybe you would pay $800 out of pocket for those same services all done by the dealer at retail prices. And, as you said, you have AAA for towing, etc.
You will most likely need tires sometime during that 75K, sooner rather than later, judging from comments I read here. If you buy them from Costco or one of the chain tire stores, you get free rotation and balancing. Seems like a whole lot of profit for the dealer in this prepaid service contract, and very little benefit to you, the customer.
If Troy is selling the same thing for $980, somebody is still making a profit, right? So your guy is making that profit plus another $780.
If you have a cooling off period on this like the extended warranty has, I would suggest that you think seriously about cancelling it. Put the money aside, as suggested in an earlier post, and draw from it as needed to pay for service. You will probably be able to buy tires and still come out way ahead.

 

One other thing to consider with an extended warranty. I recently sold my 2005 Prius which had about six months left on an extended warranty. I had a significantly easier time selling the car privately (and got a higher price - though that is debatable) because it had some warranty time left. If you think you might be selling your car in 5-6 years, it absolutely will help you sell it.

 

For me, an extended warranty makes no sense. I typically put between 22K and 24K miles a year on my car. Which means I blow through the manufacturers warranty in about a year and a half. An extended warranty would only give me an additional 3 years or so beyond that. So after just 4.5 years, that 7yr/100K mile warranty would be toast. Even if I got the 8yr/125K one, it would only extended things another year. If I had bought one for my 2005 Prius I would have never used it in the covered warranty period. Same for our 2004 Sienna. Any major repairs we've had to do have been outside the warranty period and were less than the cost of what we would have paid for an extended period, even at the dealers heavily inflated price for the warranty.

Buying the extended warranty at the time of purchase and rolling it into any financing you are doing will typically add between $20 and $50 a month to the loan (depending upon cost, interest rate, etc). For some people that is a small price to pay for peace of mind. I have a friend with a VW Jetta Wagon who has had several very expensive problems fixed for free, so her warranty easily paid for itself.

 

I would have taken the extended warranty over service any day. I do most of my own service, but I do let the dealer to the oil changes. I do however bring in my own Synthetic oil, Filter, and O Ring. Cost is about 30 bucks....
However if something major breaks, and it has happened, usually with a a couple of extra 0's in the price, the 7 yr/ 1000.000 mile, if you are going to keep the car for at least 7 years like I am, will hopefully payoff. For me it's inexpensive peace of mind!
I went the same route with my 4Runner. I ended up making $5000.00 bucks in repairs not paid for out of my pocket over the life of that warranty!
The trick is getting the best price on the extended warranty, like mentioned before, check out the PC members deal!