Great forum. Thanks for all the good info. I'm buying a Prius hatchback Two and I can effectively choose a limited lifetime powertrain warranty for $180. I've never bought an extended warranty in my life because I carefully evaluate the numbers, but I'm wondering if this should be my first. I can't find a quote for buying such a warranty outright, so what do you all think? I've read the terms and it's: * $0 deductible * Can be used at any qualified repair shop * Doesn't require maintenance at the dealership I keep my cars forever. My "new" car has 290,000 miles on it, and my old one has 320,000. Thanks for the input, Luke
I would read the fine print on the policy carefully and then determine if it's worth the paper it's printed on.
You're right, fotomoto, it doesn't include hybrid/EV components. "car compulsive", I can't determine that because it hasn't been printed yet. It's a pdf. Okay, so I Googled "national warranty administration network review", which is the name in the contract. Wow. Now I don't think you could pay me $180 to accept the hassle of dealing with them. Thanks, Luke
Extended warranties are like Vegas Casinos. The company selling them or the house always wins. There are a few who win and a few who have car troubles and takes advantage of the warranty. But the vast majority of us loses. Odds are you're better off self insuring. I've purchased 4 new cars in my life and never bought the extended warranty. My Corolla developed an air conditioning problem that cost a whopping $1000 to repair. The other 3 cars are still running just fine and way past the extended warranty mileage. If I had purchased the extended warranty for all 4 cars, I would've been out $4000 assuming $1000 cost for each. $1000 to repair the AC is what the extended warranty would've cost on the Corolla. Now my 5th car, the PiP essentially has a $4000 repair budget. Am I gambling?
I agree in principle on extended warranties. I've never bought one before. I was just wondering if with this one I may be "cheating the house" since I plan to drive it for probably 300,000 miles, and it would just be $180.
I will sell you extended warranty for less than $100, but it will not cover anything. That is how most extended warranties work any way. This is the first time I am not buying an extended warranty, because I wasn't able to use the last two. I had some squeaky sound on steering wheel of my 2005 Toyota Camry and when I took it to the dealership, guess what, I was told that it wasn't covered. Save your $180. It is not a lot of money, but a penny saved is penny earned.
Generally, all warranties have clauses that invalidate them if you don't abide by ALL factory scheduled maintenance (inspections, fluid changes -- not just oil, etc), ON TIME. The more miles you have, the more they're going to ask you for your maintenance records. This can be a PITA. Yeah, it's probably a scam.
