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Toyota Extra Care Platinum or Gold

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by cossie1600, Dec 31, 2010.

  1. twittel

    twittel Senior Member

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    Hey, why not compromise on the extended service plans and self-insure? Put your $600 or whatever into a pay nothing savings and then pay yourself something every month. If you need some money for service repairs, it's there. I mean isn't this the actuary assumtpion the insurance companies make; i.e. they're betting you don't need to use it and you're betting you do (maybe). I don't buy extended service plans for any products I purchase including vehicles and electronics, but I happily accept all warranties.

    Happy Motoring,

    Tom
     
  2. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    Coming from a guy who spent $4K in options to buy a IV over a II? For leather seats, radio and bluetooth? Really? The $4K you spent buying the IV is worth an extra $1K when it comes time to resale the vehicle. You paid extra to have things that are important to you, I paid extra for things that are important to me. At the end of the day, I spent $1K and you spent $4K. Big whoopie. It doesn't make anyone wrong, we just happen to disagree. Are you Glenn Beck and think you are right on everything? I don't disagree with you that Toyota will make money off everyone overall, but I have calculated the risk and believe it is worth it to me.

    I paid roughly $1200 on my last extended warranty, I got $4000+ in work done plus $400 bucks back when I sold the car early. I didn't do my homework? I lost money? Let me do the math again.

    Is this a competition on who makes more money? Really?
     
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  3. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    What car was this? Part of doing your homework is judging whether the extended warranty is worth it given the reliability of the car, not just assume that two minor repairs will pretty much take care of the warranty price.
     
  4. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    That's fine, I have no problem with it or without it. Personally I just want it for the convenience given the cost isn't that high.

    Your self-insured strategy is good, except most self insured companies also have reinsurance on claims that are above certain amount. You don't have that if your engine decides to let go for whatever reasons (yes i know the chances are small, but what if).

     
  5. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    That's not the definition of self-insuring. You put aside the money in your own bank account and use it toward any prospective repairs, not go through a company.
     
  6. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    Infiniti Q45 and I had a C6 Corvette that had extended warranty.

    You value warranty differently than I do, which is fine. I factor in a lot of things like my time/convenience/cost/possible exposure. I understand full well that there is a good chance that I won't get all my money back (I still think I can recover at least 50% of it), but I am buying myself a piece of mind and my risk is minimal given the time/cost. Some people believe the IV is worth the $4K over the II, so what? It's just a difference in opinions. Do we have to go Glenn Beck over each other?
     
  7. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    Read his first line

    "Hey, why not compromise on the extended service plans and self-insure?"
     
  8. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    He meant put the money that you would have spent on the extended warranty aside in your own bank account, not go through a company.
     
  9. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    I understand that, I was simply replying to what he said using his terminology. My point is still the same. In the UNLIKELY event that the car suffers a big expensive failure, I don't want to be the one forking out the entire bill. It's the same reason why self insured clients buy reinsurance. Same with term life insurance blah blah blah.
     
  10. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

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    Cossie1600 I do not think you understand cars very well. You use terms like “blown transmission” and “if your engine decides to let go for whatever reasons”

    As I mentioned before the Prius does not have a transmission. A transmission is a very complex set of gears that mechanically change gear ratios on the fly. The Prius has a single Plantary gear that gets power from the gas engine (ICE) or the two motors (MG1, MG2). It is a fixed 1:1 gear ratio. It never changes.

    Most people use the term blow engine when you bend a crankshaft, throw a rod into the head or down into the oil pan, or when a valve pops a hole in a piston because the cam shaft slipped or the timing belt broke.

    All these items happen when people modify the engine to run it out of spec. This will never happen in a Prius. The car was engineered to last many miles with zero repairs. If something goes wrong with the engine it is most likely a bad sensor that might cost $8 at Advanced Auto parts and 10 minutes of your time.

    The reason self insured clients buy reinsurance is because the claim can be a lot higher than the client can afforded. Maybe $300,000. On a 6 year old Prius with 80,000 miles if you had a huge repair that cost more than the car was worth you can sell the car for parts and buy a replacement Prius. The odds of this happening have to be over a million to 1. It is not going to happen.

    There are so many cheap ways to fix any car using parts from a junk yard. With a little effort a $4,000 repair can turn into a $400 repair. If you’re not mechanical inclined a local repair shop can do this for a little more. For the million to 1 chance you have to do this it is worth the risk.
     
  11. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    A six year old Prius with about 80K miles is probably worth $8K minimum. I would be pissed if I have to spend more than $1500 to resale the vehicle. I can afford it, it doesn't mean I want to do it. Car is still built with mechanical and electronic (more of them) parts, they can have random failures. I just clicked on the technical forum. I found people with check hybrid system light at 2500 miles and waterpump issues. With those two problems alone, you are talking about $500. Good luck getting your gas station to pull the hybrid system code, I am sure they have the computer needed to fix it.

    As I said, you don't have to agree with me. It also doesn't make you right. The extended warranty had covered me in the past, I have no problem getting it again. If it doesn't work out, so be it as I know I minimized my risk. Based on my experiences, the warranty is worth it.

    BTW. I could work on cars. It doesn't mean I want to work on it, especially if the car is still relatively new. It's like I could change my oil, but why would I do that when they are charging $14 for labor to do it?

    I believe the 1st gen Prius and early built 2nd gen had transmission problem. As I said, call it what you want, the job of the transmission is still to transfer the power from the engine to the halfshafts and to the wheels. It's like sitting there arguing about front mid engine cars vs. tradition mid-engine cars.

    Oh it's nice to go to the junkyard and everything, but good luck retrieving a SRS code or VSC code. You wouldn't even know where to start without the computers they have.
     
  12. twittel

    twittel Senior Member

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    I think this has been stated earlier, but people who have had positive experiences with extended service contracts will generally tend to continue to purchase contracts on future products and vehicles. I have just never got in the practice of buying them probably because I've never had a bad product experience; lucky me, I guess.

    Happy Motoring,

    Tom
     
  13. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    Defective parts usually fail early and would be covered under the standard warranty free of charge at the dealer, not the gas station. This is true with any products. After you catch the early failures (if any) in the first year, random failures are much less likely to occur if the product is supposed to be reliable.
     
  14. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

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    Kelly Blue Book shows it is worth $6,500 in good condition.

    Last I checked 2,500 miles is covered by the factory warranty. As stated by others most of the failures happen the 1st year. If you read the forums the majority of the people have had zero issues. I have 49,000 miles with zero issues. Consumer report this year rated the 2010 Prius as excellent in all service categories except the brakes, that was a software issue. The car is not going to break.

    Cossie1600 there are people like you that Toyota target for extended warranties. They make money from your type. Not me.
     
  15. bretaz

    bretaz Member

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    Why are you so concerned about what other people spend their money on? Or is it more of a matter of he is not "like you" or "your type". Since he doesn't think like you, I guess he is obviously wrong. You'd make a good republican.
     
  16. unkprius

    unkprius Member

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    Or Democrat.

    Us middle of the roaders are sure gittin' a poundin' for spending our money on something we want.

    Bummer.
     
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  17. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

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    It has nothing to do with anyone being like anyone else. Facts are facts. I posted this a few pages back.

    If someone thinks they are going to beat the odds they should go for it. Like I said before if you’re going to gamble when the odds are against go BIG, get the more expensive warranty.
     
  18. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    Yes Glenn Beck. Your car is so special that it will never break.

    Here is a fact (not that you listen). I got more than my money back on two different occasions. If I lose this one, I will still be 2 for 3.

    Also where the f are you seeing 2005 Prius with 80K miles going for $6K? The black book trade in value is $7730. I even did a 2004 for you, the trade in value is $6410 in average condition. Are you getting it from the same people that will retrieve SRS/VSC/ABS/TPMS codes for you for $10/hr?

    2004 Toyota Prius 4D Hatchback
    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    VIN: JTDKB20U4 UVC: 2004900288 VIN + UVC: JTDKB20U4288 MSRP: $20,295 Finance Advance: $8,050 Model#: 1224 Price Incl: AC Mileage Cat: B Weight: 2,890 Wheelbase: 106.3 Base HP: 76 @ 5000 Taxable HP: 13.9 Tire Size: 185/65R15 Drive Train: FWD Transmission: A Fuel Type: Gas Cylinders: 4
    Black Book Retail as of 01/31/2011 Extra CleanCleanAverageRoughBase$11,325$10,075$7,975$5,350Options$0$0$0$0Mileage$0$175$300$0Total$11,325$10,250$8,275$5,350
    Black Book Trade-In as of 01/31/2011 CleanAverageRoughBase$7,770$6,110$3,595Options$0$0$0Mileage$175$300$0Total$7,945$6,410$3,595
     
  19. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

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    Good for you. That is not the norm.

    Keep thinking that Toyota loses money on their extended warranty program. They do it as a charity to make their customers happy. Only special people know about this.
     
  20. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    It's no different than people who paid $27K for a IV vs a $22K II. Some people value things that others don't.