Extended Warranty or trade up?

welcome to priuschat! there are some excellent deal on the outgoing '14's.

the problem is, if you put a lot of miles on per year, it's expensive, no matter which way you cut it. if i have used up 80% of my warranty, i would want to have paid at least 80% of the note.

 

I'm on similar debate. Replace a high millage vehicle against a costly extended warranty and wait to completely depreciate.

 

How about neither?

If you have a 5 year old car that you're still upside down on, then you're doing it wrong.
If you keep this pattern up then you're going to be making car payments for the rest of your life.

Extended warranties are a rigged game, even for the OEM warranties that they rook you into buying at the dealer.
Once a car gets to be old enough to be outside the base warranty, you get into the realm of even more crooked "coverage policies" that have more holes, caveats, exclusions, and exemptions in them than you'll be able count.

Advice:
Take the money that you would have spent on the warranty and start an automotive emergency fund.
Add to it...aggressively.
In a few years, when your car gets to the point where it's no longer economically driveable, and with a dash of good luck you can buy your next car (WITHOUT the warranty!) and not be upside down....even on the day that you buy it.

Good Luck!

 

^ What he said.

How do the people selling the extended warranty want you to be thinking? They want you to dread a future without insurance. Go with ECT(SS)'s advice, you dodge this extra, fear mongering expense, and more-n-likely end up with a nice nest egg.

 

Stop worrying, that is not going to happen, or anything even remotely close.

 

Boodapest, there's a better chance your car will be totalled in a collision. If an extended warranty is a good deal for the buyer then why is the seller selling it? Save your money. Now you have 4 of us saying it--Don't worry, be happy now.

 

Extended warranties are a rip off. Save your money. Seattle and Vancouver taxis are Prius and the get 300 k on their rides.

 

If you are really worried about warranty, I wouldn't buy a new Prius, I'd buy something cheaper to avoid being upside down. A new, inexpensive Hyundai or Kia. A used one with warranty left. A CPO Honda Fit or something. A good Prius with warranty might still be too much. 15k or less.

 

Boodapest, if you bought the car in NJ the last of the warranties covering the hybrid parts expires at 150000 miles. I've got over 90000 on mine now. It's just getting broken in.

 

I think that you should get the extended warranty.
The trouble is that like I read from someone else, you drive a lot of miles and you'll take a knock on either one. It would be better to stay where you are at and drive the wheels off your car.
My wife purchased a new Prius in 2005, I have made sure to always do the recommended maintenance. The car has never stranded us, still getting an average of 45 - 49 mpg and it is ready to turn 185K. She is now in a 2013 Prius and the 05 is my daily driver. At times I drive 100 miles a day to work.
I hope this explanation has been helpful.

 

What extended warranty ? Not from Toyota so far as I know. So who knows what it will cost, whether the company will be in business to honor it, and whether they are reputable.

I say save the money, and buy a new traction battery when the car is ~ 10 - 15 years old. You know, when the warranty is history regardless.
I understand that people are considering a warranty because they do not have savings to cover repairs, but those are the people least able to waste money on a crap extended warranty.

 

I do agree with you about the extended warranty. A relative said that Toyota made the Prius a very good reliable car, probably due to the hybrid. It is built tough and usually doesn't have any issues. Everyone is squalling about the battery life...I don't know of anyone having issues with it except for my brother-in-law who bought one with bad batteries and purchased replacement at scrap yard for under a grand.

 

I had purchased extended warranty on my 05 new, never used it and got my money back. Of course they have stopped that gold plan now.

 

If the car does not die in a wreck, there are very good chances that a battery replacement will come along -- usually at 8 - 15 years old. Or around the time other cars are on their second or third transmission