Toyota's Extended Warranty is a Crock!

It's an insurance issue, not Toyota. I had the windshield on my Toyota Echo broken a few years ago (from flying debris), and the dealer replaced it, insurance (not Toyota) paid for it. Then it broke the year after that (from more flying debris), again replaced at Toyota, paid for by insurance. Then it broke the year after THAT (a branch fell on it), and again the bill was paid for by my insurance.

Warranties traditionally do NOT cover anything made of glass.

 

If it's a broken window, of course the warranty won't cover it. If it's the electronics/mechanical (I.E. a undamaged window not rolling down because the motor or wires are shot), it should be covered.

If you are fed up with the warranty, it does have a clause that you can cancel it. You will get some of your money back (prorated depending upon % time and miles driven in contract has been used). However, it's kindof a rip because when you return a 7/100, they count the first 3/36 (which is free) against your refund. Then, you can buy a third party warranty, or just keep the money.

Third party warranties can be BETTER than the Toyota warranty. The good ones, anyway (and there are a lot of bad ones, and very few good).

Toyota warranties are about C rated by the BBB. That's pretty abysmal and means that they get complaints from the BBB, and don't respond to them well. They also have a mandatory arbitration clause in the warranty, so if you try to file a grievance, they will forward you to a ludicrously biased arbitrator who will rule against you, and you have no ability to sue. A link to the BBB report of the plan administrator (or at least Toyota financial services, at the same address as the warranty administrator): http://www.bbb.org/iowa/business-re...financial-services-in-cedar-rapids-ia-4000620

In contrast, many dealer services warranties (which may be offered if you buy a Prius used, from a non-toyota dealer, like I did) tend to have much better ratings. They may also (depending on terms) cover more, and permit you to go to any repair shop, not just the Toyota dealer who they pay cut-rate amounts to.

Third party warranties should be backed by an insurance company. Some good ones I have seen:

- Premier Dealer Services: A rated by BBB (I'm considering buying this one from my Honda dealer - they matched the Toyota Platinum price on PriusChat)
- Carchex.com sells Old Republic warranties that look good
- WarrantyDirect has good terms, but has an arbitration clause

Again, there are good third party warranties, and there are bad ones. The best ones have the following:
- No mandatory arbitration clause
- Insured by A-rated insurer
- A rated by BBB
- Ability to study contract in full before purchase (not just a 2-minute glance)
- Be exclusionary, meaning they cover everything except the stuff specifically excluded. Bad warranties list what they cover. Good warranties list what they don't cover.
On this scale, the Toyota Platinum warranty meets 2 of 5 (the last two). They fail the first three. WarrantyDirect gets 4/5, and Old Republic gets 5/5.

A good third party warranty may cost a little more than a cut-rate Toyota warranty like the one through PriusChat, but will be way cheaper than the ripoff warranty price most dealers will charge you. I've been seeing $1100-$1500 for the equivalent of Toyota's 7/100 warranty.

-->Adam

 

I can't understand why the power window wouldn't be covered. Also you should have the original warranty paperwork from Toyota which clearly shows the deductible. From my understanding platniumn has a 0 deductible. Should be cut and dry, but luckily I've never had to use my extended warranty so i don't know first hand.

 

The OP didn't say what had to be repaired with the power window. If it was the glass, this probably would only be covered by his insurance. But if the power drive, window regulator, etc, I would think that this would be covered by the warranty, would it not?

 

Always read the fine print, specifically the list of exclusions. Nobody sells a bumper-to-bumper no-causes-barred warranty.

 

Sounds like a slimey dealer.

 

+ 1

Yes, slimey dealer.

The Toyota Extra Care Platinum Plan has never been a "bumper to bumper" extended warranty. No extended warranties are. They all have exclusions.

I'm not even sure that OP got the Toyota Extra Care Platinum Plan extended warranty because it most definitely comes in $0 deductible.

So far, to me, OP hasn't pointed out how the actual Toyota Extra Care Platinum Plan extended warranty is a crock.

 

We had a headlight sensor problem with our '05. Took local dealer 3 years to own up to it! We drove with our high beams on at night! We found out later via PriuisChat that there was actually a technical service bulletin issued on this issue with 05s!Finally got the matter fixed, covered under Platinum, no mention of deductible.

 

Can you list what repair was done for under $100.00? The window regulator is $93.41 , a window motor is $290.23 . When you add labor to either of those items it becomes pretty expensive so I'm very curious what kind of repair was under $100.00 total. As others have posted was this the Toyota Platimum warranty?

 

If the insurance company is involved and willing to cover the "damage/failure" it sounds like a comprehensive item like vandalism, a broken window or similar. Definitely not covered by the extended Toyota warranty (or probably any other warranty); also, not covered by the original vehicle warranty. There is no overlap between insurance coverage and warranty coverage that I can think of.

Loonyhiker: can you give us any details as to what it is that warranty won't cover?

 

Um, not true. When I bought my 300ZX Twin Turbo back in '94, I got Nissan's bumber to bumber extended warranty with no deductible. It didn't list inclusions or exclusions. All it said is that it extended the original 36K bumper to bumper warranty to 7 years or 100K miles. I used that thing so many times for small clips that broke and dozens of other items that I've never seen covered by an after market warranty.

 

You either don't have the extended warranty here that everyone thinks you have or the dealer is screwing you and you need to contact Toyota and blow the whistle.

What exactly does your warranty say?

 

Hmm, that sounds pretty unlikely or maybe that was why Nissan almost went bankrupt in 1999, by offering warranties like that earlier on.

I've never seen any car warranty w/o exclusions, let alone an extended one w/o exclusions. For instance, on my former 02 Maxima and 04 350Z, certain things like adjustments like alignment are only covered for 1 year/12K miles. The battery is only fully covered for 1 year/12K miles and is prorated beyond that for the 2nd and 3rd year. Brake pads aren't covered at all.

You can see recent Nissan warranty booklets at Nissan Vehicle Warranty - Nissan USA.

The Nissan extended warranty I bought for my Z has a whole bunch of exclusions and specifically will NOT cover any squeaks and rattles.

 

Looks like the passenger side window switch is defective.
It should be covered by the basic 36K/3yr warranty, not your extended
warranty unless you have more than 36K miles.

 

A new power window switch costs $57.79 (MSRP) and it looks like you just unclip the panel it's mounted on. This assumes it's the switch itself that's failed; it's unlikely to be the wiring as the path to ground is via the master switch when the passenger side switch is operated, using the same wire that the master switch uses to run the motor.

 

....but then they'll probably use you replacing the window problem yourself as an excuse to void your warranty. But then, that opinion comes from the fact that I'm a little jaded dealing with Toyota's dealership service departments.