Toyota Pre-Paid Maintenance Cancellation

I am going to the dealer today armed with a written letter and my Platinum Sevice Agreement booklet clearly stating my right to cancel my warranty, aside from telling me how crazy I am I don't expect any problems with that. (Aside from maybe trying to charge me more than the $25 which I will point them to the contract)

My problem and the reason for this thread is that I cannot find anything in writing to indicate that I have a right to cancel my pre-paid Toyota maintenance plan. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I would like to be armed with something in writing.

I purchased my silver 2010 IV on September 31st and couldn't be happier, I just want out of the warranty and maintenance contracts.

I have searched the forum and found many existing threads most of which focus on the warranty but the few that I have found about cancelling the maintenance plan fall short of any verbage that might be helpful if needed at the dealer.

It sounds as if I might be able to do it over the phone but since I am going to the dealer today it would be nice to do both at once and leave with something in writing.

By the way, I paid the warranty on credit card so I expect they can refund that without any problems, the maintenance is on the financing (Toyota) but I am not concerned with getting the money back, crediting the financing (ideally the principle) would be fine.

I have not yet received a maintenance booklet so any verbage in there is not accessible to me.

Please consider this is my first post when responding. ;-)

Thanks,

 

Yes, that is my fallback. I will wait awhile for some responses here and if nothing turns up right away I will go to the dealer to cancel the warranty. I really want that part done right away and locally if possible. I won't sleep until I have something in writing from them.

Without the maintenance booklet I am not sure who to call at Toyota regarding the maintenance plan.

 

I just got off the phone with Toyota, they were very cordial and offered to take care of everything over the phone. They told me I would have to mail in a signed request which I was aware of from reading previouse posts. I asked if there was any way to get a confirmation number or some record of my request having been made out of concern that the grace period might expire while everything was in the mail etc. (Or lost in the mail for that matter) He told me he would put a note in my file indicating my desire to cancel both contracts but that made me uneasy.

I then inquired about the process at the dealer and he told me they would have a cancellation form that I could fill out and they could give me a copy, sounded like your basic triplicate form. He also offered that if for some reason the cancelation from didn't arrive from the dealer (funny really) they could complete the process after the fact using the copy since the dealer witnessed my signature at the time the cancellation form was filled out. (Which is really the point of mailing the letter in the first place, they need a signature.) By the way, the fact that he offered up that little tid bit about it not arriving from the dealer tells me either they must get asked that question alot or they have a way of not showing up from the dealer! :mellow:

I expressed that I wanted to get it done sooner than later and he understood, offering that if I had any questions or changed my mind I was welcome to call them back and complete the process at any time within the 30 days. He also told me that the 30 days starts at the time they complete the paperwork and not the actual date you fill it out at the dealer. I figured it would be effective the date the contract was signed but it sounded like otherwise. For example, he said my maintenance paperwork was just completed and I should get it this week and that the 30 days hadn't started until then. Good to know I guess but none the less I am making a bee line for the dealer today. That is not something I would want to test unless I found myself narrowly outside the 30 day window, I guess then it would pay to call. I should point out that this part of the conversation was regarding the maintenance and not the warranty. I know with the warranty you can cancel any time and there is some pro rata verbage but I am not sure the pro rata applies to the maintenance. I didn't ask for clarification since it is not applicable in my case as I will do everything now.

He was nice enough to give me my application number which I had but more importantly my newly issued contract number (which would come with the booklet) which I did not have. The dealer should have access to both but I like walking in to the dealer with all my ducks in a row so to speak.

Stay tuned...

 

I am up in the air about whether I will repurchase the plans but having the time to make an intelligent decision is worth it, not to mention the obvious savings available repurchasing from a more competitive dealer. i.e. WS ;-)

I have no intention of renegotiating with the dealer I purchased from, if they were to propose it that is. The experience was not terrible other than the fact that when I asked if the warranty was something that had to be acquired at the time of purchase the answer was yes. Seemingly deceptive but having thought about it I am sure they would say, oh, that is because we are planning on bundling it with the loan or something like that. Anyway, buyer beware as they say. Admittedly I went into the purchase rather blindly, something that is out of character for me. Frankly, I was anxious to unload my gas guzzling full size (Chevy imagine) pickup truck with 206,000 miles. Honestly, with the exception of gas mileage it was a great vehicle, I haven't had a payment in years. But I digress.... Anyway, no regrets, there is no way I would have gotten $4500 for it and I was already tempting fate mechanically with that mileage although it still ran great. The way I see it the savings in gas alone easily cuts my payment in half on the Prius. I didn't buy the Prius exclusively because I want to be green although I take some comfort in it. I figure from a carbon footprint the best I can likely expect is to break even with the years I drove my truck. None the less it is never to late to cleanse the soul (and the environment) I suppose.

 

September??? What was I thinking... I think it must have something to do with me just finalizing my Alaskan Glacier Bay vacation plans today which, by the way, I am taking next month. (as in September!) Yep, that's my story, I'm sticking to it... September on the brain...

I left for the dealer at 2:30 and was back at work by 3:30 including the 25 mi round trip. :rockon: It went well, when I arrived I asked to speak with someone in financing and after waiting a few minutes someone came out and asked "how may I help you?" I told them that I would like to fill out a warranty cancellation form and we proceeded to his office. Note:I made a point not to offer to the receptionist why I wanted to speak to someone in financing and she didn't ask. I suspect had they asked, or had I mentioned the reason, perhaps they wouldn't have been so prompt. He he...

Once we sat down he asked me more or less in passing why I wanted to cancel, is there a problem perhaps I can help with??? or maybe something like that but he didn't come off as confrontational. I basically said in so many words that "it just wasn't working out for me" and left it at that. I figured if he wanted to pry I might give up a bit more but ultimately I wasn't going to give him a chance to counter any reasons I may have so I left it vague. Maybe he didn't care either way or maybe he could tell I was adamant. First he asked for my last name, keyed it in, and then my first. He said, this doesn't look right, this is for a 2005... That's when I suggested we look it up by the contract number which I was now sliding across the table. That brought it up in the system and he proceeded to fill out the form. It is a one page form for those that are curious and it is in triplicate. He checks a few boxes, fills in the VIN and contract number etc. He knew I meant business when he asked how many miles were on the car (I read it was required on the form) and I promptly opened my planner and read to him the mileage I had just wrote down in the parking lot.

Anyway, I hope I don't make it sound any harder than it is, it was quite easy. As a matter of fact, on the same form is the check box and space for the contract number of the maintenance (TAC) contract which I had him cancel as well. I left with my signed copy of the triplicate form and he was nice enough to point out that if I have any questions or don't hear from anybody in a timely manner (I think he said a couple of weeks) I could follow up with the contact information he pointed out at the bottom of the form.

In the end I got the feeling he would have liked a different outcome but I think I must have come off as a bit short with him, at one point I think he started to say something to the effect of "you know, if you don't use it you can get a refund later and that way you will be protected in the meantime or something like that and I just said flatly, I just want to cancel the contract.

The whole process was a rather anticlimactic experience on some levels. I guess initially when I found out what other people were paying I felt dooped (my own fault) then finding out Toyota allows cancellation there was elation followed by dread at how incredibly painful they must make the process. Turns out it was very easy and after gathering enough information to feel like I was ready to do battle with an unwilling dealer it turns out it was mostly unnecessary.

Let's hope the money doesn't show up before the vacation! (Just kidding) Actually it's going back towards the principle. Whoohoo, already I have a baloon payment! (Ok, all you buzz kills out there, let me revel in my ignorant bliss)

p.s. Just shy of 2000 miles on her so far, can't say I am not getting to know her... :car:

 

Fortunately in the SF Bay Area there is no shortage of Toyota dealers so if I decide to repurchase a warranty and to do it locally I will have many options besides the one where I purchased. After learning more about the Toyota warranty (after the fact) I am not aware of any significant advantage to do it locally unless all other things being equal. i.e. same price.

Congratulations on the discount, that might be a first on a Prius. (At least that's what they you would have you believe when talking to most dealers.)