[lindavid]

We're going to pick up our new 2005 Prius later this week. Full BC pkg - all the chimes and fog horns.

My wife and I are having an disagreement about whether or not to purchase the extended warranty from Toyota. We are on our 3rd Toyota (A 1982 Tercel that lasted us 13 years and two 1999ish Camry's because one was stolen). The legendary reliabililty is her cogent reason for saving the money. My reason for wanting it is for all the bits and pieces, many electronic, that will follow Murphy all the way to our bank.

What have other folks decided on this?

Thanks. Don't worry about siding with my wife. I can take it.

 

[firepa63]

Do a search on this forum for extended warranty. You will find numerous opinions. I, for one, don't believe in them.

 

[lindavid]

Thanks, firepa63, that was a FAST response!!

I'm new to this forum. I had actually tried that search before posting my question but got spurious results. Evidently, the quotes putting the words "extended" and "warranty" together don't work as with other search engines I'm used to so I got results for each word. But then, at your suggestion, I looked deeper and found a long string, including wisdom from you, which is plenty of infomation to help us.

Thanks again.

David

 

[mrv]

http://www.vfaq.net/docs/ExtendedWarranty.html

 

[hyperion]

When you check out all the systems in the car which are completely different from anything encountered by Toyota mechanics in their careers and read the comments in this forum about the complete lack of hybrid knowledge shown by most dealers I think as you learn more of your car you will sleep a lot better after purchasing one of their warranties. I wouldn't have come within ten feet of one without the reasonable priced extended warranty. Just try to get the AC air conditioning system repaired any where. The speciality AC shops have never seen one. The car in it's high technology is full of "different" systems like this.
Did you know the internal combustion engine in a Prius operates on a completely different "cycle" system than all other engines or that there is no such thing as a 12 volt starter on the engine and it is spun up to 1,000 rpm before any spark or gas is given to it and it is spun up by an electric motor that is used for propulsion, starter, and generator?
A six or seven year extended warranty which would also be an asset to selling the car as they are transferable will give you many more nights of sleeping bliss.
Just my thoughts and I've had a trouble free 04 for over a year and a half.

 

[J Tiffin]

extended warranty

Just got off the phone with my service rep at Grossinger, gotta hand it to the guy, they are really trying after a couple of not so good reviews. Extended warranty is covering the replacement of the Rack (part of the steering) on my '02 that I bought used in Wis. Had some raised eyebrows with the 'extended maintenance' offered by a Florida outfit, but the benefits keep flowing. Will keep you advised. Go for the warranty.

 

[jeromep]

My vehicle purchasing background said not to get the extended warranty. However after doing my research I chose to get one, but only at a price competitive with what is being offered on Priuschat.com. Look there first. The warranty offer is a thread which is at the top of just about every forum there. That warranty is a Toyota Platinum which is the only one that is offered on the Prius.

I was able to negotiate the price of the extended down to just $90 over the price offered on Priuschat with the finance office guy at my selling dealer. First off, he didn't try to sell me the warranty, only mentioned they were available. I indicated that I was going to think about purchasing one later on as the vehicle got older but before the regular warranty had ended. But I invited him to quote me his price. He noticed that I had printouts from the Internet in hand and gave me his price, which wasn't all that bad. I showed him the price being offered on the Internet. He said the best he could do was within $90 of that, but he also dropped my interest rate by .55%. I wasn't unhappy with that exchange. So, I took it.

If I were buying a conventional vehicle, there is no way I would have purchased the extended. However there are also not the informational resources out there for most conventional vehicles, as there are for the Prius. Nobody is out there offering Ford extended warranties at realistic prices for the 500 or F-150 as there are for the Prius. That makes a difference in my willingness to entertain this purchase.

This has been said many times before. The extended warranty is an insurance package. Insurance is a gamble and usually the seller of the policy wins. Sometimes an individual comes out even or ahead, but in most instances they spent money for piece of mind rather than actual goods and services (as represented by parts and labor on the vehicle).

I'm inclined to believe that the Prius is going to be very reliable. On the other hand, it is a mechanical device which can break. If it does, I'm not sure I want to be holding the bag on those charges.

 

[mrv]

Re: extended warranty

Just got off the phone with my service rep at Grossinger, gotta hand it to the guy, they are really trying after a couple of not so good reviews. Extended warranty is covering the replacement of the Rack (part of the steering) on my '02 that I bought used in Wis. Had some raised eyebrows with the 'extended maintenance' offered by a Florida outfit, but the benefits keep flowing. Will keep you advised. Go for the warranty.

Most 2001-2002 Prius have a 5 year unlimited miles extended warranty on the power steering rack, for cases of wierd vibrations/oscillations of the steering wheel... Nothing to do with a purchased extended warranty at all.

 

[lindavid]

What an honest salesman tole me:

I'm told that Toyota Corporate won't allow dealers to warrant any used Prius over 36k, when their bumper-to-bumper ends. This fellow tells me Prius is the ONLY Toyota vehicle in this category. He explains that Toyota is confident about their product, but deep down unsure how the vehicle will fare after several years. THEY don't want to get stuck holding the bag. (He also tells me that Toyota looses money in the production and sale of hybrids. I believe he was told that. I don't buy it.)

For that and all the other advice above, I'm inclined to go the safe route and shell out the $985.

Thanks for posting the dealer in Kansas who have the (MUCH) better rate and the honest answer quoted above. My dealer wanted to charge $2050 for the Platinum 7/100k.

David

 

[jeromep]

Re: What an honest salesman tole me:

I'm told that Toyota Corporate won't allow dealers to warrant any used Prius over 36k, when their bumper-to-bumper ends. This fellow tells me Prius is the ONLY Toyota vehicle in this category. He explains that Toyota is confident about their product, but deep down unsure how the vehicle will fare after several years. THEY don't want to get stuck holding the bag. (He also tells me that Toyota looses money in the production and sale of hybrids. I believe he was told that. I don't buy it.)David

Well, as I understand their warranty policy, if your vehicle's new car warranty has expired, which would be 3 years or 36k, then you cannot get a new Toyota extended, however you are eligible for a Toyota extended warranty if you sign up in side that 3/36k window.

I am not certain if you are past 3/36k if you can get an inspection from a Toyota garage and then qualify for an extended.

 

[lindavid]

My language was faulty:

When discussing the pros and cons of purchasing an extended warranty, an honest dealer told me, by way of explanation, that if I wanted to buy a used Prius from Toyota, the dealer is specifically DISallowed by Toyota Corporate to put a warranty on the car if it has more than 36k miles on it. In other words, the well advertised (and I think worthwhile) Certified Used program applies to all Toyota vehicles EXCEPT the Prius.

 

[DanMan32]

You might be able to get a third party warranty. They may get scared off by the hybrid system though.

 

[Isabelle]

Un-Certified?

Could a tech or perhaps a dealer member confirm what some have said above...namely that Toyota specifically excludes a used Prius above 36K miles from their certified used program?

If true, this would be the strongest argument for buying an extended warranty before 36K

 

[pma]

Re: Certified Used

When discussing the pros and cons of purchasing an extended warranty, an honest dealer told me, by way of explanation, that if I wanted to buy a used Prius from Toyota, the dealer is specifically DISallowed by Toyota Corporate to put a warranty on the car if it has more than 36k miles on it. In other words, the well advertised (and I think worthwhile) Certified Used program applies to all Toyota vehicles EXCEPT the Prius.

Hi. I'm new here. 1. Are used Priuses with less than 36K mi. allowed to be sold as "certified"? 2. What is not covered by the warranty that comes with the "certified" designation? 3. Is any part of the car not FULLY covered (100% of repair-cost) by the used car's remainder of the original 3/36 warranty &/or the 6/100 "certified used car" warranty?

 

[J Tiffin]

I purchased my 2002 from Wilde in Wisconsin with 25000 miles on it, fully Certified, and an extended maintenance contract. Having it serviced at Grossinger in Skokie was taken care of under the original agreement without any problem, but we did get a little flak from one of the more mouthy service writers about the maintenance contract being sold by the Mafia in Florida. The tires, however were extra..... Now at 46000, they still honor the maintenance contract tear off coupons even tho it is from another dealer.