My mother is going to buy a prius v Five model and she has been quoted $1100.00 for the Toyota extended warranty. She paid 29,750 for the car with everything but the ATC; we even did get the remote start. But, I really don't have any idea what to offer for the extended warranty. I think you can deal on that too, and we were going to try to when the car comes in. In general, I don't get extended warranties, but she seems to want it for this car because of all the NAV, etc. So, what is a good price for the warranty? Thanks!
$1100 is good for a 7 or 8 year 125,000 mile warranty, but they have several, some with less time and coverage. Some dealers might offer a third party warranty which are nearly useless. You want the Toyota Platinum (see attached). They start at 3 yr 80k miles up to 8 year 125k miles, all of which overlap the standard 3 year 36k factory warranty. So the 3yr 80k warranty is just for high mileage drivers since it upgrades the factory warranty only on mileage.
Personally, I wouldn't bother with the extended warranty. All it buys is peace of mind because it's very, very unlikely you will use it. Why not bank the $1,100 and self insure?
If you talk to the dealer, go to the Service tech he will tell you that the Prius comes in for service problems the LEAST of all the Toyotas by far. He called it Bulletproof............ Save your money!!
Extended warranty-never did or will purchase. If you want to gift the stealership $, then go for it iPhone ?
first time around, in 2007, I did it. Got a good deal for it, theoretically. Reality? I only used it to do one $400 repair. Now most of it has expired due to high mileage. Toyotas are really well built. Unless you get a super-rare lemon, a extended warranty is a waste of $, no matter how "discounted" it is. W/ my new car, I didn't buy it. lesson learned...
Dealers promoting extended warranties are just preying on people's fears. Toyota is not a brand that needs an extended warranty. Mercedes, BMW's, VW's; now that's a different story. Based on personal experience, the fears are real.
9-6-13 My thoughts were thus when I purchased a 2006 and 2009 Gen II Prius: Yes, Toyota is the most reliable company, of which most people trade Toyotas only because they get the itch for something new, not that it has proven unreliable. I, however, believed that the Prius is a virtual rolling electronic maze of interconnected electrical parts. So, I bought the Toyota Platinum warranties for both cars. With our 2009 model, a clicking sound emanated from inside the steering column while driving slowly over our personal rocky, rutted road. After we duplicated the road surface near the dealer's, it was taken apart, then required most of the steering column to be replaced. Cost was $2300. The service manager has never seen this occurrence before or after our replacement. I expected some sort of electrical problem--didn't happen. But a mechanical fluke did occur. It would have cost much more to replace than the original Platinum warranty. Recently our 2009 was wrecked; now we are purchasing a Prius v Five w-ATP, and will again purchase a Platinum warranty. More things to potentially go wrong, yes, but we are also purchasing safety technology which was not available until now--and that most car still do not offer. Thanks, archiveman2977
One anecdote does not provide any statistical evidence that buying an extended warranty is a good deal. It is just like a casino. Some few will come out well ahead. A few will break even. Most will lose. And the house/dealer will get a percentage. Only with warranties, the dealer takes up to 70% on average (Consumer Reports figure) where at a casino the take is more like less than 10%. Just think of who gets paid from the proceeds of the sale of a warranty. Salesperson, sales manager, dealership manager, owner, warranty company, etc. And only 30% goes to parts and labor fixing cars. Got to be a bad deal...on average.
Only extended coverage I would consider would be like the non-advertised, bumper to bumper that Chrysler offers. My buddy put lifetime bumper to bumper on his 2006 1500 Ram pickup for another $2700. No mileage limit. Commonly referred to as MaxCare. Now if only Toyota would have a like hidden warranty.
