It's a crap shoot. Our's paid for it self almost 2x over. Here's to hoping your luck will be as good, doing the 180.
Geeze, when I got the warrenty for my 4Runner, it cost $2K. It paid for $6K worth of repairs, I came out $4K ahead! Same reason I got it for the Prius, I plan to keep the car for at leat 8 years, this too will pay for itslf!
I have 100,000 mile on my 2010 Prius with zero repairs. I put 305,000 miles on my 2000 4Runner and nothing broke that would be covered by any warranty until I hit 170,000 miles. Toyota makes the most reliable cars in the world. Chances are slim that you will use an extended warranty. There are hundreds of threads here that go over the facts. Consumer report sends a survey to all their subscribers asking if they had any issues with different parts of a car. The Prius gets a perfect score. Bases on these results a repair is extremely unlikely. There will always be people that bought an extended warranty that will defend their purchase to the end. There will also be dealers posting here that claim it is a good investment. Anyone thinking about it should do research on what is covered and what is not. It does not cover 100% of the car. They should also do research on how reliable the car is.
My thoughts exactly! I have a 2004 Highlander w/ 128K. Nothing ever went wrong!!! I didn't even take it in for regular service. I did keep up with oil changes. Now where's some wood so I can knock on it.
Roll the Dice without the warranty. If you're good to your car and do the maintenance as scheduled chances are good no major repairs will be needed for the first 100,000 miles.
I agree. Yes it is a crap shoot and comes down to how much risk are you willing to accept. For a Toyota I figure that the odds are heavily in Toyota's favor and, as reported above, Consumer Reports agrees. So I would prefer to keep the cost of warranty in my own bank account and take my chances.
The good thing is you have up until the 3yr 36,000 mile mark (or whatever it is now) to change your mind. There's never a reason anyway to buy an extended warranty until then. Don't look for the dealer to ever tell you that little nugget. brain via Galaxy Note
I didn't buy the extended warranty for my very basic '04 Prius, and paid only for normal maintenance. Display unit was replaced under original warranty, and that was it. When I bought my '06, with NAV, etc. I figured there were more things to go wrong, so bought the warranty. Wound up using it only once, to replace the rear hatch struts just before the warranty expired at six years. Cost of covered repairs was $295.43, a far cry from the price I paid for the warranty. Lesson learned, so I didn't even consider an extended warranty for my PiP. If I see problems cropping up during the period I'm covered under the factory warranty, as Hill suggests, then I will consider buying further coverage.
You may want to consider taking the money that you would have paid on the extended warrenty contract and invest it in one of the stock market indexes like small cap value and in 3 years when it is worth 30% to 40% more you have a nice chunk of change for yourself. That money will always be there if you ever need it for repairs.
I have had mine 32000 miles and bought it before time expired.figured at my age this may be the last car i will own and really wouldn't have anything else.I could get a new one but no problems with what i have,figured i could eat up the price for the contract with one breakdown.Would be my luck to cancel it and have everything happen the next day.
1994 Toyota Pickup sold after 10 years, zero repairs. 2004 Highlander trade-in for my Prius after 8 years, 1 minor repair worth about $50. I did get the extended warranty with the Highlander, $950 down the drain. Why do you think the "finance guy" tries so hard to sell you the warranty? He gets a commission!
I hate scumbag dealers!!!! In Oct 2009 I had an appointment to pick up my car at 7:00pm. The dealer made us wait until 9:00pm claiming they were working on paper work. I finally meet with the finance guy and I had all my numbers in excel and check written for the total price of the car. He had a goal to sell me all the BS crap like an extended warranty, extra service, Teflon coating for the interior and exterior and all the other stuff they push. He told me that if the battery in the car dies it could cost me $3,000+ and the warranty was a great deal. I pointed out it was covered by a factory 8 year 100,000 warranty. He made us wait another 20 minutes while he researched this. Then he came back and said your right. The lesson I learned from this is all dealers are scumbags and if their lips are moving they are lying. Next time I buy a car I will make them sign a contract that I will be in and out in 1 hour. It will cost them $100 for every 10 minutes it takes longer then that One more time ALL DEALERS ARE SCUMBAGS!!!!!!
Hmm. I remember when Gen III came out with the 2010 model, a lot of folks on this list were complaining about rattles. Now we see that after a few years, the Gen III is listed as above average for squeaks and rattles, but not very much above average. I wonder what that says about who we are who visit Priuschat. On the value of the extended warranty--I have never seen a study of the percentage payoff there is. You have to assume that like any insurance, this is priced to make money, but it's hard to say how much that is. Does anyone know of studies about payouts on these things??
Were there other buyers ahead of you waiting to get of there like you? It's possible that's what the holdup was. But I understand your frustration. I recall years ago (80's to early 90's) dealers used to take advantage of me in their "finance" office. As I got older and wiser it changed. The last 7 cars - Prius included - I purchased/leased, not once did the dealer attempt to sell or delay me during the purchase process. Thinking back on all my car purchases, the primary difference I can point to is this: Dealers took advantage because they had "power" over me to do so as I felt grateful they would sell to me. That changed when I realized that I have the "power" over them; I don't have to buy the car at this moment and I don't have to buy it from them. The dealer needs to be grateful for my business. I don't act cocky or have a chip on my shoulder in the least, but I treat the sales person and staff respectfully which in turn means I expect to be treated the same. If I don't get it, I'll exchange pleasantries and say goodbye. A few cars ago, everything was going fine until the I got to the finance office to sign the paperwork. At the first sign of their hard-sell tactics, I calmly started gathering my stuff without saying a word and stood up. The finance guy asked where I was going. I politely told him "this was not what I agreed to, so I'm leaving." We had the paperwork done in 5 min!
I purchased a Saturn in 1993. Not the greatest car but the sales and service folks sure were nice. The car only had one price, buy it or not. They washed the car with every free service.
I guess I should clarify the ratings A black dot is the worst A half black dot is better than the worst A white dot is average A half white and red dot is above average A red dot with a circle in the center is the best rating you can get. This means close to zero people had issues with this item Here is the chart again. I am not sure how my people subscribe to Consumer Reports or how many filled out the survey. I assume it is a lot. Based on this feedback the car does not break. An extended warranty is a waste of money.
Just noticed something else. For all the bad publicity about Toyota's brakes, and the "lurching" problem some of us felt on Gen III's when they first came out--look at the brake reliability: Better than average in 2010; Much better than average every other year. Not too bad if you ask me.