Warranty and Options (what to get?)

hi ryan! welcome and congrats on the new car!

i have full confidence in the warranty through this site. danny (our "fearless leader") has never lead us wrong and many have already purchased through the site. i haven't heard a single complaint yet. personally i'm waiting until the 3/36 warranty is nearly up, if you change your mind you get a prorated refund and you really don't need an extended warranty until the original is up anyway. besides, i don't like giving people money way ahead of time, unless it's extra principal on my car payment

gap insurance- if it makes ya comfortable. my 05 with near 15k miles was still worth more in blue book than my original purchase price last time i checked (couple months ago) and that doesn't include all the fun things we've added to it.

anti theft- if you have smartkey it's insanely difficult to steal this car- i haven't heard of any drive-away thefts yet. and that system probably won't protect you against someone coming up with a flatbed and taking off with it.

i haven't heard of final touch, but if it's anything like the "toyoguard" they marked in the southeast... pass. find something to take care of the leather but the "paint protection" package that cost me over six hundred bucks was a little bottle of sealant- not even applied at port- some fabric protector and undercoating spray. get a good wax and take good care of the car. you should be fine.

4 year prepaid maintenance... i also disagree with this one. the majority of what you're doing is tire rotation, oil change, inspection. the bigger stuff is basically tire rotation, oil change, air filters, inspection. i don't know how that could be worth about a grand. i haven't looked but i think the site here has a cheaper plan.

hope that helps, good luck and enjoy the new toy!

 

I say it's all worthless dealer scams:

1. The extended warrranty is not needed. After all, it's a Toyota. But if you want it, your dealer is charging twice what you'd pay here on Prius Chat.

2. Never heard of gap insurance, but if it was legit, your regular insurance agency would sell it. And with your dealer charging double for the extended warranty, he's probably charging double for this also.

3. What exactly is the "Mobile Guardian?" Is that where they etch your VIN mumber into the glass of the windows? Big help that's gonna be! Likelihood of theft of a Prius is minimal: The key code (with or without SKS!) makes it essentially impossible to start the car without the fob; demand for parts is low, so chop shops won't want it; and service availability in Latin America, where many stolen cars are shipped, is zero, so the market for it there is nil.

4. Final Touch is a scam! The car already has the best possible exterior and interior protection available, standard, from the factory. If you really want one of those clear-coat type things, get it done at a reliable independent shop. But if you just want to protect your car's paint, wax it.

5. Buying prepaid maintenance will NOT prove that you had the maintenance done. To prove the maintenance was done, be sure to have the dealer or mechanic or lube shop stamp the book, or keep your oil and filter receipts if you change your oil yourself. Do the math. In the unlikely event that that a thousand bucks is less than they'd charge you for all the routine maintenance, still, it forces you to use this particular dealer. If you move, or you decide their service quality is sub-par, you've lost the remaining portion. The Mexicans have a saying: Musica pagada, mal tocada." In other words, if you pay for something in advance, you'll get poor quality. Pay for 4 years of maintenance in advance and they can treat you like dirt with impunity, because they've already got your money.

Rule of thumb: Never buy anything from a car salesman but the car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ryn01599 @ May 3 2006, 04:51 PM) [snapback]249397[/snapback]</div>

It is the genuine thing from Toyota Financial Services.

 

GAP Insurance ($295)

Check with your insurance company, you may already have it. Metlife includes replacement value for the first year of ownership.

From their web site:

1. Replacement Cost for Total Losses
New auto owners, take notice! If your new car were totaled, you'll get back a new car. We don't charge depreciation for the total loss of your new auto within its first year or first 15,000 miles, whichever comes first....

 

I did get the extended warrany for mine. While I don't anticipate any problems (it is a Toyota after all, and Consumer Reports ranks the Prius as the most reliable car sold in the US), this car does have a lot of sophisticated electronics. I wouldn't want to have to pay to replace a malfunctioning MFD.
All that other stuff seems like a ripoff to me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 3 2006, 07:31 PM) [snapback]249473[/snapback]</div>

the prepared service deal on this website seems like a great deal...

 

Gee, he only tried to sell you $5,175 worth of (largely) garbage?

As IsrAmerPrius beat me to saying, the extended warranty sold here is the best you can get, not an "after market" one. It is actually sold by a "friendly" Toyota dealership in the East, and they're not losing money on it---so you can see how much markup there is in them. The record we've had reported here is $2,495---and the person bought it! (Before we advised him/her to cancel and get the money back.)

The only other item that might remotely be desirable, if you are unable or don't want to do any of your own, is pre-paid maintenance. But generally, these plans are overpriced, based upon what DEALERS routinely charge for maintenance, which is almost always more than you can get it done for elsewhere.

You can do the math. In most urban areas of any size (say, 75K +) there are franchised (and sometimes purely local) "Jiffy Lube"-type places where you can get a simple oil change for between $20-30. Where I am, as with many cities, there's a local "penny-saver"-type publication that is distributed monthly, and it almost always has coupons in it for $19.95 oil changes. Check and see what your dealer charges. It's often $40-60.

The biggest maintenance ripoffs are always the 30K and 60K "major services". Part of each such service is, of course, the usual oil change and tire rotation. Two items are things almost anyone can do: replacing the engine air filter and the cabin air filter (which is behind the glove box). ALL the rest of these services are simply "inspecting" things. True, you don't want to ignore these things. But dealers often charge over $300 for these services, which is ridiculous.

Again, I suggest looking to local franchise places that perform these services. Again, they often run "coupon specials" for the "major services", usually between 1/2 and 2/3 the cost of a dealer. You could contact one or two and see if they've had much experience "checking" maintenance items on Priuses. Now that they've been on the road for five years, many of these places have by now become familiar with them.

That doesn't mean all these places of which I speak are always honest themselves. Like anything else, some will tell people they need something "fixed" that doesn't need fixing. In that perspective, ultimately, car maintenance is always a [well-documented] crap shoot.

Bottom line: with a little research, you can pretty closely find out how much profit is built into "pre-paid maintenance" plans. It may be a pain in the butt, but my opinion is that more people unnecessarily spend more money on car maintenance than on any other single car-related expense---except possibly insurance.

Contrary opinions welcome, of course.