Extended Warranty

[leejia]

Took delivery of my 400h last week. Yippee! The dealer promoted the Lexus Platinum Plan with several options:

5 yrs or 100k miles: $2400 (400h - $2141; 330 - $2180)

6 yrs or 70k miles: $2250

7 yrs or 75k miles: $2750 (400h - $1858; 330 - $2010)

Has anyone purchased this? Are you getting comparable prices? Note that the clock starts when your new vehicle leaves the showroom and the mile value is the odometer reading - these limits are NOT tacked on to the end of the original warranty.

This is my first Lexus, and I hope that Lexus quality means it's less likely I would need such coverage. On the other hand, given that hybrid technology hasn't been around that long, I was thinking about hedging my bet.

Edmunds.com links to Warranty Direct, where I got quotes for a comparably-equipped 400h and 330. Their prices appear above in parenthesis. Interestingly, prices were higher for a 330. This doesn't make sense - wouldn't additional hybrid components increase the insurance cost? Are the actuarial tables showing the 400h to be more reliable than the 330? I don't know what Lexus is currently charging for a 330 extended warranty.

Finally, has anyone purchased an extended warranty (Lexus or other party) for a 330, and did it pay off? Any input is appreciated.

[SKperformance]

If you know you want to keep it then it is a good idea

if you know you want to sell it ,it is a good idea

It is not because it is a Lexus but because it is a piece of mind in newer territory than other cars.

Either way if you sell or keep it then you have less worries since the price of the warr is probably one component and labour alone ,never mind future repairs if needed.

For under $2000 it is a steal

I know if i wanted to buy a 2006 400 in 2010 i would choose a higher mileage more expensive one that still had factory issued warr over a lower mileage one that already ran out.

On other Lexus it is not that important but you have a special one that could need to be updated to revised parts later as it is still a product in testing in ways.

[LCB]

If you plan to keep it past 50k miles, then its a wise buy. Otherwise its a waste of money. I get a new every 2-3 years, so it doesn't make sense for me.

Also - ONLY buy from Lexus. Those aftermarket warranties are not worth the paper their written on. Lots of horror stories and warnings all over the internet.

[larrytrk]

Took delivery of my 400h last week.  Yippee!  The dealer promoted the Lexus Platinum Plan with several options:

5 yrs or 100k miles: $2400 (400h - $2141; 330 - $2180)

6 yrs or 70k  miles: $2250

7 yrs or 75k  miles: $2750 (400h - $1858; 330 - $2010)

Has anyone purchased this?  Are you getting comparable prices?  Note that the clock starts when your new vehicle leaves the showroom and the mile value is the odometer reading - these limits are NOT tacked on to the end of the original warranty.

This is my first Lexus, and I hope that Lexus quality means it's less likely I would need such coverage.  On the other hand, given that hybrid technology hasn't been around that long, I was thinking about hedging my bet.

Edmunds.com links to Warranty Direct, where I got quotes for a comparably-equipped 400h and 330.  Their prices appear above in parenthesis.  Interestingly, prices were higher for a 330.  This doesn't make sense - wouldn't additional hybrid components increase the insurance cost?  Are the actuarial tables showing the 400h to be more reliable than the 330?  I don't know what Lexus is currently charging for a 330 extended warranty.

Finally, has anyone purchased an extended warranty (Lexus or other party) for a 330, and did it pay off?  Any input is appreciated.

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I bought it with my 400H 3 weeks ago about $2140 plus tax. They will knock off 10%. I called around other dealers for a better price, to no avail.

Piece of mind and I used it on my RX300, when I went on to higher mileage.

I expect to put on a lot more than the usual mileage and exceed the normal warantee before the date runs out.

Only buy the Lexus factory warantee for less hassels when needed!

[monarch]

Different owners have different concepts of "peace of mind". My idea of "peace of mind" is performing most scheduled maintenance about twice as frequently as the minimum frequency intervals suggested in the Scheduled Maintenance Guide. That way, mechanical component wear is minimized which in turn greatly reduces the chance the owner would ever need to use the extended warranty. 5 years / 100,000 miles is merely the break in period for most mechanical components of a Toyota / Lexus that receives frequent preventive maintenance.

Most owners take the opposite strategy; i.e. they buy the $2,000 extended warranty for "peace of mind", but then stretch preventive maintenance intervals out to the limit. The bad part about this strategy is that after the extended warranty expires, their vehicle has considerable mechanical wear and tear due to infrequent preventive maintenance intervals and therefore the owner may end up having to face major repair expenses as components fail, leak, etc. This is the strategy car makers like the public to choose because then the car makers win in two ways: 1) they make big $$ on the extended warranty and 2) they make big $$ again when the warranty expires because the owner will likely decide they need a new car because their car is getting too unreliable and expensive to keep running.

[larrytrk]

Different owners have different concepts of "peace of mind".  My idea of "peace of mind" is performing most scheduled maintenance about twice as frequently as the minimum frequency intervals suggested in the Scheduled Maintenance Guide.  That way, mechanical component wear is minimized which in turn greatly reduces the chance the owner would ever need to use the extended warranty.  5 years / 100,000 miles is merely the break in period for most mechanical components of a Toyota / Lexus that receives frequent preventive maintenance.

Most owners take the opposite strategy; i.e. they buy the $2,000 extended warranty for "peace of mind", but then stretch preventive maintenance intervals out to the limit.  The bad part about this strategy is that after the extended warranty expires, their vehicle has considerable mechanical wear and tear due to infrequent preventive maintenance intervals and therefore the owner may end up having to face major repair expenses as components fail, leak, etc.  This is the strategy car makers like the public to choose because then the car makers win in two ways: 1) they make big $$ on the extended warranty and 2) they make big $$ again when the warranty expires because the owner will likely decide they need a new car because their car is getting too unreliable and expensive to keep running.

←

Piece of mind doesn't equate with stretching service intervals. The 400H is a new product and even if the RX330 has been out for a few years we are still beta testing for Lexus. As I stated , for me, I put on high mileage and I have found the extended warantee useful and saved money on my 2000 RX.

And I figured it might do the same on my 400H.

I service, always ,at more frequent intervals than Lexus stipulated intervals.

Automobiles break, especially after the waranty's expire!!! Even Lexus!!

[Lexus_Jim]

Extended Warranties are one of the most profitable products that automobile companies sell.

I considered an extended warranty due to the Hybrid technology but decided to wait and see since the standard warranties are really good. (By the way, dealers don't like to tell their customers this, but you can buy an extended warranty at any time as long as your car is still under warranty.) I've just pasted a short synopsis of the warranties (go to http://lexus.com/models/warranty_vehicle_p...tion/basic.html for full details).

Basic Warranty - There's no way you can expect the unexpected, but you can definitely prepare for it with the Basic Warranty. The coverage lasts for 48 months or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. Wheel alignment and balancing, however, are covered for 12 months or 20,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Powertrain Warranty - The parts of the car that do the heavy-duty work need a heavy-duty warranty. The Lexus Powertrain Warranty lasts 72 months or 70,000 miles, whichever comes first. Except for the situations listed on the Basic Warranty page, this warranty covers repairs needed to fix defects in materials or workmanship of any component listed below: (http://lexus.com/models/warranty_vehicle_protection/powertrain.html )

Hybrid Warranty - Hybrid Vehicle System

Coverage lasts for eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first, on Hybrid control module, battery control module, Hybrid vehicle battery pack and inverter with converter.

With these warranties as standard and no additional cost, I decided that I could be paying a lot for an extended warranty and would actually be getting very little additional protection. And if the RX400h models do start to show any serious problems, I can always buy the extened warranty before my car runs out of its standard four year warranty. JMHO

[patt]

Well, we won't know the answer to the question for another 5 or 6 years.

We bought the warranty 6 years 100K miles platnum. We had an extended warranty on our Toyota Camry which I bought partly because they had knocked the price down significantly. Even with a good price on the warranty, we didn't have many repairs on it so if I was buying an good old standard Toyota I probably wouldn't get the warranty. Our Camry is now well out of warranty with 200K miles. We change oil about every 5k miles and do the other recommended maintenance and have had very few repairs.

On the other hand, this car does have a fair amount of new components - some leveraged off the Prius design but even then in this car they had to be modified for more power and more features. There are a lot of bells and whistles which can develop problems (one reason why the platinum warranty is a good idea - too many items not covered So we went for the extended warranty. I hope it doesn't pay for itself because broken cars are a pain even if they don't cost me money, but we felt in betting on such new technology that we wanted the insurance.

We did talk the price down in price to something under $2000. I don't remember the exact number but I think we got them down to under 1800 but that was before Lexus had posted RX400 list prices for the warranty on their website. And we were paying full list price for the RX400H itself so I figured they could afford to knock a few hundred off the warranty. I don't understand the notation of the pricing you are posting e.g.:

7 yrs or 75k miles: $2750 (400h - $1858; 330 - $2010)

What does 400h $1848 mean? The 400h warranty price should be higher than the 330 price. Also, the prices you have outside the parenthesis all look like the 100K prices for the number of years, not the 70 or 75K miles prices. Personally, I don't think the smaller mileage warranties are worth the cost - the standard warranty covers the power train and hybrid stuff to 70K and 100K so you are just buying protection for the other stuff for 20-25K miles.

[leejia]

Well, we won't know the answer to the question for another 5 or 6 years.

We bought the warranty 6 years 100K miles platnum. We had an extended warranty on our Toyota Camry which I bought partly because they had knocked the price down significantly.  Even with a good price on the warranty, we didn't have many repairs on it so if I was buying an good old standard Toyota I probably wouldn't get the warranty. Our Camry is now well out of warranty with 200K miles. We change oil about every 5k miles and do the other recommended maintenance and have had very few repairs.

On the other hand, this car does have a fair amount of new components - some leveraged off the Prius design but even then in this car they had to be modified for more power and more features. There are a lot of bells and whistles which can develop problems (one reason why the platinum warranty is a good idea - too many items not covered  So we went for the extended warranty. I hope it doesn't pay for itself because broken cars are a pain even if they don't cost me money, but we felt in betting on such new technology that we wanted the insurance.

We did talk the price down in price to something under $2000. I don't remember the exact number but I think we got them down to under 1800 but that was before Lexus had posted RX400 list prices for the warranty on their website. And we were paying full list price for the RX400H itself so I figured they could afford to knock a few hundred off the warranty. I don't understand the notation of the pricing you are posting e.g.:

7 yrs or 75k  miles: $2750 (400h - $1858; 330 - $2010)

What does 400h $1848 mean? The 400h warranty price should be higher than the 330 price. Also, the prices you have outside the parenthesis all look like the 100K prices for the number of years, not the 70 or 75K miles prices. Personally, I don't think the smaller mileage warranties are worth the cost - the standard warranty covers the power train and hybrid stuff to 70K and 100K so you are just buying protection for the other stuff for 20-25K miles.

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Wow. This was my first posting to this forum and the feedback has been very helpful. I've learned that the prices for these extended warranties seem to be quite variable, and that it can't hurt to go in and haggle. I also learned that the prices are on Lexus' website, and now realize that while my dealer has offered me a promotional 10% discount, they have shamefully marked up prices around 30%...definitely not consistent with the "passionate pursuit of perfection."

Patt - The prices outside the parentheses are what my dealer was charging for 75k miles, but after looking at the Lexus website, I agree that the prices I was given are more in line with Lexus' 100k pricing. My dealer was definitely gouging. The prices inside the parentheses were what a 3rd party insurer was charging, and yes, I also thought it odd that they were charging less for the 400h vs the 330. The prices Lexus charges are reversed, which makes more sense to me.

Anyways, thanks to everyone. I think we will bite the bullet and go for an extended warranty, but you all have given me the ammunition to go in and bargain hard. This forum probably saved us $500 or more!

[thesaintjim]

My dealer told me to wait until the standard warrenty is about to expire. I will probably trade it in by then for the 07/08 model :D