Need Help Finding A Good Extended Warranty-Insurer

[firsttimelexyowner]

I am a New Member with a used 2005 RX330. First Lexus....I am a female and sorry I dont know a whole lot about the mechanical side of autos so trust you members are the ones to turn to for some answers . I would sure appreciate help from you more experienced owners as to what problems are identified as the"" most common"" to expect between years 5-10 on these Lexus RX's..

I only have 67,000 kms on it at present and dont do a lot of driving but can anyone """shortlist""" what repairs I should expect to run into over the next 3-5 years.... I dont have a lot of time to do the necessary research and I need to PURCHASE a warranty pkg ASAP. I thought someone out there may have a lot of this info in their memory bank and readily available to someone who needs mentoring h....Please Help as I have a pending Oxygen sensor replacement to do and need to know if this would be something that is typically covered on a warranty these days..Are most sensors even covered on a five year or older vehicle?

I tried to get ahold of a finance person at a Lexus dealer (there isnt one in town)in hopes of finding out what insurer they use for their own Pre-Owned Certified Autos Sales but he was out of office and no call back yet.. Anyone out there know WHO they use or know if all dealers use the same insures in N.A. for their extended warranties.? I am Cdn so dont know if that makes a difference but I assume most of these insurers are multi-national corp's... IF not is there Any Cdn owners out there that can advise where they got their pkg and its price tag?

What essential coverage do I need to be sure is included, based on your own experiences.? Any other tips or warnings on what to look out for when shopping for a warranty pkg?....

Has anyone dealt with the Cdn company FCPP(First Canadian Protection Plan)... the dealer offered this plan to me but it doesnt seem to cover some obvious things I expect could go wrong between yr's 5-8? Cost is $2393.00 plus tax and there is NO coverage on Power Accessories ie, window motors, door lock actuators, power seat motor, antennae motor sun roof motor ,no coverage either on electrical ie; heated seats, window regulators theft deterrant sys , radio, dvd,, daytime running lights module, complete vehicle wiring harness, any manual switches . Also no external sensors per engine, no ABS sensors No ABS hydraulic modulator. Seems like a lot that ISNT covered to me but I am no pro at this vehicle stuff and dont have a clue as to what really is critical to have covered!!!! Does this coverage seem to be the industry standard for 5yr old vehicles OR are better plans out there that u can direct me to. HELP PLEASE

Prior experience on my other vehicle showed the power windows became a recurring issue between years 7-10. Have any of u had problems that were NOT covered by warranty that I need to be on the look out for.... Any big dollar ones to be wary of? Hopefully doing due diligence, maintence- wise will avoid major issues but I would like to be prepared in advance.

I am assuming now by the cost of the sensor replacement(if they are even covered typically), that even the small things that could go wrong could make NOT having a extended warranty way too risky.. YET Previous experience taught me that anything that could go wrong with what was ""covered"" on the warranty only started going wrong 9 days after coverage lapsed..Indusry had it timed perfectly in those days that they didnt get too burned but I can see cars have become a lot more complex in a short period of time so maybe things have changed and a warraNty is more necessary now... Some clients said they would prefer to put that money the warranty costs aside, pay for things as they came up, and figured they saved money in the long run when the repair costs totalled less then the cost of the warranty... I was warned lexus parts could be 2+xs higher then domestic parts so does that blow their argument ?......Having had no experience with Lexus owners before who still werent under warranty, I just dont know how to make this call on what to predict will happen and the costs involved if I am NOT covered. I just know the research done before purchase said that there was only 1% of these vehicles with major issues between year 5-10 , way lower then N.A. made products..That they calculated just under 11,000.00 to repair or replace if every system failed on it. I know that is highly unlikely to happen.... thamks in advance for any guidance

[Filehorse]

Where to start...?? As you've already noticed, some (most) aftermarket vehicle warranties have a list of things they WON'T cover that will reach from here to Canada; and those are just the items they spell out for you. The 'fine print' may also limit their liability on lesser items. Unless you purchase an extended warranty through a Lexus dealer, keep in mind that if the company underwriting the warranty goes in the tank, your warranty probably will circle the bowl with it. There is a long history of these extended warranty companies declaring bankruptcy and leaving warranty holders with nothing but that canceled check for the premium. Additionally, there is a deductible for each covered expense so factor that in your decision matrix.

The critical piece of information that you need to carefully consider is this: Statistically, the $2393.00 plus tax example you used will exceed the warranty claims paid over the life of the contract. This is substantiated by your data showing that only 1% of vehicles in your group experience "major issues" during the time period you are likely to own this vehicle. If the expected claims were not less than $2393.00 plus tax, the warranty cost would be higher.

Statistically you are better off taking that $2393.00 plus tax and putting it in an escrow account to be applied against expenses which would otherwise have been covered by an extended warranty for as long as you own this vehicle or until the extended warranty period would have expired. Statistically (there's that word again), the odds are in your favor that there will still be funds remaining in your escrow account on the date of sale or expiration.

Does a good extended warranty provide a warm, fuzzy feeling about driving into the future towards possible high-dollar maintenance expenses? Probably. Is that warm, fuzzy feeling a good investment and actually worth the cost? Well, it probably is 1% of the time. If somebody ask you to give them $2393.00 plus tax and told you there was a 1-in-100 chance of you getting it all back and perhaps a bit more, would you take the chance.

Caveat emptor.

[firsttimelexyowner]

Where to start...?? As you've already noticed, some (most) aftermarket vehicle warranties have a list of things they WON'T cover that will reach from here to Canada; and those are just the items they spell out for you. The 'fine print' may also limit their liability on lesser items. Unless you purchase an extended warranty through a Lexus dealer, keep in mind that if the company underwriting the warranty goes in the tank, your warranty probably will circle the bowl with it. There is a long history of these extended warranty companies declaring bankruptcy and leaving warranty holders with nothing but that canceled check for the premium. Additionally, there is a deductible for each covered expense so factor that in your decision matrix.

The critical piece of information that you need to carefully consider is this: Statistically, the $2393.00 plus tax example you used will exceed the warranty claims paid over the life of the contract. This is substantiated by your data showing that only 1% of vehicles in your group experience "major issues" during the time period you are likely to own this vehicle. If the expected claims were not less than $2393.00 plus tax, the warranty cost would be higher.

Statistically you are better off taking that $2393.00 plus tax and putting it in an escrow account to be applied against expenses which would otherwise have been covered by an extended warranty for as long as you own this vehicle or until the extended warranty period would have expired. Statistically (there's that word again), the odds are in your favor that there will still be funds remaining in your escrow account on the date of sale or expiration.

Does a good extended warranty provide a warm, fuzzy feeling about driving into the future towards possible high-dollar maintenance expenses? Probably. Is that warm, fuzzy feeling a good investment and actually worth the cost? Well, it probably is 1% of the time. If somebody ask you to give them $2393.00 plus tax and told you there was a 1-in-100 chance of you getting it all back and perhaps a bit more, would you take the chance.

Caveat emptor.

Thanks so much for your reply...Well laid out...Your final thought was the same one I had at the time of purchase and one recommended also to take, by a mechanic I had consulted prior..Put the money aside and pay as you go....

The panic, then fear mode set in though when after 7 weeks of minimal driving there was multiple issues..I would never have dreamed this would be the case with buying this kind of quality vehicle.Dealer told me in 35 years they had never seen anyone buy one of their used cars and have such bad luck.... I had the #1 a/c sensor needed replacement ... Cost 500.00, #2 A possible ignition cylinder replacement... -Cost 660.00 ( one of the lucky ones with the "'key wouldnt turn syndrome"' but fixed by the hammer tap suggestion made by the forum)#3 plus a heat shield replacement Cost ? -(minimal i'd think) but these cost were adding up so fast I thought, considering the low mileage and time lapsed since purchase that I started to feel the cost of the warranty was going to be eaten up in a matter of weeks at this rate...God knows the $ value if things continue to fail at that pace over 5 years....Maybe not having gotten a warranty was a huge oversite on my part I was starting to think...

I did get a call back from the Lexus finance Dept later and was told they only use the one company in Canada, FCCP, the same co. and plan I was offered here but interestingly enough I was told by Lexus that I was qualified, based on the low kms for a '''5 yr term''' at 150.00 less then they were trying to sell it here for, plus here ,they were only giving me a ""'3 year term''' for that 2395.00 + tax!!!!! Interesting deception I thought as did Lexus..Now I know used car salesman have earned their reputaion rightfully..

Neither of us have a clue why they had marked off half of the covered electrical items the plan covered either as ""not covered"" , but Lexus told me these electrical items I mentioned certainly WERE covered by this plan..Maybe the dealer was hoping to double dip on these items they thought would be the most likely to go and hoped I'd be stupid enough not to check the fine print of the plan and just pay for them w/o checking the plan first, thereby giving them opportunity to collect both from me and the insurer...

Make a long story short, I was told that I had the right to expect the standard of excellence that Lexus is known for..That this was expected of their Toyoto/Lexus dealers. That my buying experience was to have been a ""wonderful experience"' not the experience I had had to date with a number of issues that were indicators to Lexus that the service done on the vehicle prior to its sale had not been up to the standard they expected. I then let my dealer know I had made the call to Lexus and I have a feeling now that things are going to improve. That they now know it isnt acceptable for them to be trying to replace parts ie, the headlight kit that was a condition of the purchase due to a broken seal, with a off- market one to try and save their dealership some $'s. It left me concerned about what else they may have tried to fix with off-market parts instead of the genuine ones so I had lost trust in them big-time.

With that call to Lexus they now know I will hold them accountable to a much higher standard of service in the future....If they want to hold on to their dealership they will have to change their way's..As a result of their being "'called out"' a genuine lEXUS light kit is finally on order and I will certainly be looking for an excemtion on the cost of the sensor and will enjoy the full tank of gas that they also tried to get out of giving me per the recall. Yes this finance guy did confirm that a tank of gas was their protocol and the dealers even if its a split Toyoto/lexus dealership should know this... Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on the purchase of a warranty.