Extended Warranty

I stopped in at my local dealer, Family Toyota in San Juan Capistrano, a couple of weeks ago to show my wife a Prius. The sales lady blurted out, "We actually have one for sale! A deal fell through." We walked out to it and, sure enough, she had to take a "Do Not Sell!" sign off the window. Knowing how rare this is in Southern California, I bought it on the spot. But by the time we got it all together, it was about 10:30 PM and I was neither properly prepared for this nor thinking on all six cylinders. The money guy asked me if I wanted an extended warranty and I said I did. He explained it to my satisfaction and said it cost $2350. That's about what it cost on my last car, a Mercedes, so I just OKed it and signed the deal. Then I discovered PriusChat.

I saw in a posting by "Danny" dated July 2004 that a 7 year/100,000 mile Platinum warranty cost $990 but don't seem to find any modern history about this. I called my dealer and told him of this and, further, that I noticed my $2350 purchase was for only 7 years/75,000 miles. Over the past week we have been in discussion. Today the sales manager called and said he was under no obligation to renegotiate, but that he would, out of kindness, gave me three options: 1) $1,695 for 7/75,000 2) $2,350 for 7/100,000 or 3) they'd send me my full $2,350 back and cancel the deal. He seemed to indicate that such warranties as "Danny" discussed were not available in California and that he wasn't used to haggling about Prius costs. I elected to take option 3 and get my money back, knowing I have three years (36,000 miles) to get the extension and shop around.

So my questions: how and where can I, in California, get a 7 year/100,000 mile Platinum warranty? How much should it cost? Are warranties like the one in the "Danny" posting equivalent to the one I just cancelled? Am I right in thinking there is no great rush to get this? Is there something special about California and new car warranties? Do I need an extended warranty? Where has the PriusChat discussion of this topic moved to since 2004? (And anything else you think might be useful.)

Thanks,
Bob

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SCDrJ @ Jun 26 2006, 09:53 PM) [snapback]277223[/snapback]</div>

You're right! I was reading the thread first-post-first and never saw the recent additions later on. I'll be signing up for this as soon as my check arrives.

Bob