Extended warranty worth it?

Talking about warranties....This is somewhat fun to toss back and forth cause its all opinions and good chat

This is ONE of the things companies HOPE you do. Toss the vehicle after paying for a warranty that isn't ever used.
Maybe Toyota's are transferable, I'm not sure...if so, then that COULD be a selling point of course.
I bought a brand new 2001 Highlander. Talk about the 1st of any new car..not even a redesign. No warranty for me besides the factory one. Never EVER took it to the dealer except for a trans and coolant flush when the time was right.
Had it for 13yrs and dumped it for a new 2014 Rogue. Now, with the Rogue I did end up getting a 7/100 warranty simply for all of the dam electronics. It cost me $650 for a factory Nissan extended warranty. I've had this car 2yrs now and so far the only thing it needed was airbag and fuel pump recall. Maybe this was a waste. We won't know just yet but so far all of the worrysome things have been rock solid. Even the stupid Nissan CVT everyone has whined about online...this version seems decent (although I hate CVT transmissions).

My 2013 Ram? - Got the Mopar Care lifetime warranty. Instead of stating what they cover, they simply state what they do not.
Its essentially the 3/36 factory warranty for life. If anyone has ever owned a Dodge, they understand the "NEED" for a warranty..
Life? Really? - Yea, until the repair exceeds the value of the RAM.

Dealer wanted $4200 for this warranty. Talk about insane! - Since I get Chrysler employee pricing, I only paid $1800 for it.
Not bad but once again shows the markup here. It is NOT transferable in any way. But I felt $1800 for a $53k truck for life was a fair price.

On the other hand here...I had a 2000 Pontiac Grand AM. What a piece of crap. I had nothing but issues with it (along with everyone else and the same issues) - yet of course GM wouldnt do a campaign or recall. But I didnt have any warranty post 3/36 with that car.
When I look back at what I ended up paying for all of the crap that broke that a warranty could've covered, it wasnt even $2000.
I had the car 14yrs....I am very glad I didnt pay for a warranty in that case.

Now, if I can find a way to purchase a warranty thats priced right either within WI/IL/IA I would probably do this. But the price has to make sense or the money is dam well left better in my pocket.

 

I paid well under a grand for my warranty, and yes, it is transferable and/or refundable at a pro-rated rate depending on when you cancel it, sell the truck, etc.

 

This is why this needs to be shopped around........My dealer wasn't interested in negotiating at all.
"Here is the price. Take it or leave it" - Needless to say I passed.

Monday I will start to make some calls - although it likely is better to do this in person. If I can find
a dealer with a fair offer I will toss it on a credit card...Heck 2% cash back helps there too

 

^ This, shopped around, lowest I got was $1200 for 6 year/ 125000 miles, put it on my credit card, paid it off on pay day, earned $30 in rewards or something lol.

 

That's how I would go. We've bought 2 cars in the last 18 months, both down payments on credit. It gave me almost $300 cash back between them lol. My dealer offered the extended warranty for 1800, then 1600, then stopped trying.

 

On a 2015 I wouldn't have bothered but a new powertrain and design I figured I'd rather have the security.

 

Disclaimer: As previously mentioned, i bought the extended warranty after haggling the $hit out of it with the dealership. With that said, I kind of am laughing at and making fun of myself for doing so, but at the same time part of me keeps telling myself to keep the extended warranty. If Toyota is/was known for their reliability and dependability, why are so many of us shelling out the cash for the extended warranty? The last two vehicles I bought (from a different car manufacturer) I didn't even consider the extended warranty. I even joked with salesman when he suggested I buy it for the vehicle I bought before the Tacoma, telling him, "You made the fact that these cars are so dependable and reliable and never break down such a big selling point, now you're trying to sell me an extended warranty? No thanks."

 

I hope I never have to use mine, based on previous tacomas I won't but seeing more and more issue as of late so would rather have it than not with a new design.

 

Never owning a Toyota before, I'm wondering if this happened to the extent (all the complaints, be them petty or just people complaining, to the legitimate and concerning) last time the Tacoma was redesigned. Or are Tacoma owners just more nit-picky and whiney these days? I came from Subaru and remember when the Outback was redesigned in 2010, and can't recall people being this up in arms about stuff going wrong (be it real or perceived or blown out of proportion) with their cars. Also have to say that they were way more civil to each other online! But I guess that comes with the demographic. I'm 40 and feel like I'm too old for a Tacoma. I was also never in a frat, don't wear MMA t-shirts or backwards baseball hats, and don't call everyone 'bro'.

 

For what it's worth, I know I'm not a 3rd Gen, but my extended warranty on my 2012 @74,000 miles came in handy when the stupid air emissions pump and valves screwed up a couple weeks ago. They paid the tow bill, nearly $1,800 parts and labor, and reimbursed my rental car fees to the tune of $150. I purchased the extended warranty from one of the discount dealers back when Toyota allowed purchase across state lines. Purchased right before my 3/36 ran out. It was $1,450 for the longest term available, 8 years 125,000. I'm good until April 2020 but will probably hit mileage before then.

 

Lol. Agreed, I think a lot is blown out of proportion here and yes some of the 2005's had issues with engine mounts, etc. I think a lot of it was Toyota had 10 years to bring us a new Tacoma and it fell a bit short in what every one was hoping for, I really think it was thrown together last minute from the parts bin to compete against GM, and then coupled with what seems to be a not so flawless execution. I'm 31 and I've always been a midsize truck guy, I owned a full size briefly, but I don't think you need to be a certain age to drive these, not to mention they cost as much as a fullsize so you don't see teens driving new ones, etc. Most of us here aren't MMA backwards hats kind of guys either, those are usually 6'' lifted diesel types, Tacoma owners are a bit more unique, though I'm afraid based on some of what I see in the 3rd gen section they have migrated here too.

 

Sorry to hear that, but exactly what I mean when people criticize getting it, it will pay for itself with one major issue/repair, and contrary to belief Tacomas are not infallible.

 

I purchased my 2004 4x4 TRD Tacoma back in March from a Toyota dealership in San Diego. 24,500 miles on the odometer, supercharged. Paid $17k for it.

I caved and got the extended warranty through 60,000 miles because even though this is a very low mileage truck for it's age, it's STILL a 12 year old vehicle and the peace of mind it offers me is worth the cost, IMO. I get that for some people it just doesn't make sense on paper, but to me it helps put my mind at ease.

I've already had to use it on two separate occasions, both relatively minor but it covered them none the less. Had a CEL that wouldn't go away and the shop had to replace the MAF, 02 and air/fuel sensors....all covered by the warranty. I have a feeling that my throwout bearing is going bad too and that should be covered as well, which if it is would already have the warranty paid for itself.

 

Yep, I'm already over $500 to the good from just this one issue alone and I still have nearly four years/50,000 miles left of warranty coverage. Worked out well for me.

 

Here's a key point. If you WANT to buy an extended warranty, do so. Absolutely nothing wrong with doing so. But you can't justify it financially, it is a bad choice. When you go to Wal-Mart, Best-Buy and such and buy a TV, or whatever, do you buy their extended warranty? I just bought a giant two-cabinet rolling tool chess. Was offered a 3 year extended warranty. I declined.

If anyone wants to take the stance "I'd rather pay a fee up front to avoid the possibility of paying another fee later on" that's their choice and I don't try to criticize such. But I own a bunch of things that I am willing to pay for if something goes wrong, because when you add up ALL of those potential extended warranty options, it is a lot of money. Money that can grow where an extended warranty just drops dead at some fixed point in time.

Auto insurance is similar, a form of risk and reward. Most know to have liability because one moment of inattention and you can end up owing someone a million bucks via a jury award. So insurance minimizes that risk. At a pretty modest cost. But I used to have a 1970's Toyota that I ONLY had liability coverage on because if it had been totaled the insurance company would probably have refused to write me a check for the $2.00 it would have been worth were it totaled. Very little risk, very little reward, no comprehensive or collision.

The extended warranty market is a cash cow (for the dealer), made solely to make money for the dealers that sell 'em. Yes they pay off sometimes, but overall they are a losing proposition for the large majority of folks. Of course, if you go to Vegas and stuff those bucks you would have spent on the extended warranty in a slot machine, you MIGHT win enough money to take care of all future truck problems easily. And with Vegas, you stand a better chance of making money at the slots than at the extended warranty window...

So buy 'em if you want 'em. Nothing wrong with that. But trying to justify 'em is a wild stretch.

 

I paid extra for an 8 year extended warranty and now I'm not worried about anything... The touch screen alone is a couple thousand imagine if that went bad!! afterall it is a totally new redesigned Tacoma!!

 

Could punch holes through this flawed logic but not worth it. Whatever makes you feel better bud. You do you I'll do me. When your dif takes a shit ($1800) or crank shaft sensor goes bad or host of other issues already being reported later down the road on an unproven all new powertrain (was not the case in the 2nd gens when released it was already being used) we will see who made the better choice spending a measly $1200 which is least than what most spend on lifts or wheels and tires here.

 

My Tacoma has about 115K on it. Zero problems to date. Warranty would have been a TOTAL loss. As it is in the majority of the cases. You say "when your ...". But it is not exactly a guaranteed failure. In fact, it is almost a guaranteed non-failure otherwise the dealerships would NOT be offering something for sale that ends up costing them more than it makes.

Simple economics. Only an idiot continually sells a product at a _loss_.

There are no "holes" in that logic...

 

BTW, I am going to go back a ways here, and list EVERY new vehicle I have bought, and the "failures:

(1) 1968 Hemi Roadrunner - ran fine until traded

(2) 1972 Dodge 340 Challenger R/T. No failures

(3) 1976 Toyota Celica. Ditto.

(4) 1982 Buick Century v6. Ditto

(5) 1980's Datsun 200sx (wife). No problems.

(6) 1984 Datsun Maxima. Ditto.

(7) 1989 Chevy Astro customized minivan. Engine failure at 130,000 miles, head gasket failure hydraulically locked engine and bent crank / rod.

(8) 1991 Honda Accord no failures

(9) 1994 Dodge Dakota V8 no failures

(10) 2000 Honda accord no failures

(11) 2004 Ford ranger 4.0 v6 no failures.

(12) 2011 Honda accord (no failure at 80K miles so far).

(13) 2007 Tacoma V6 auto no failures at 130K so far.

NOT ONE of those would have been worth taking out the extended warranty on as the only failure was with the 4.3 v6 Chevy motor at 130K miles, beyond most any reasonable extended warranty period.

I could have contributed a ton to dealerships. I didn't. There are some other vehicles in there that we bought for my son and daughter, but they were used and again, no failures and no extended warranties bought.

Your method of argument "when it happens" is specious. Probability is HIGH that such a failure will NOT happen. So long as you take care of the thing. If "peace of mind" is more important that "money in the bank", by all means, go for it. One can make a similar argument about a 50K truck vs a 20K truck. 20K is a better deal. But if you want the 50K truck, and can afford it, you should do what you want. Just don't try to convince everyone what a "smart" move it was...

Sounds more like you are trying to convince yourself than the rest of us.

 

2007 prerunner. not a 4wd new powertrain truck.

You rambling off about how you've never had a mechanical issue on any of your various vehicles is speculation and highly unlikely/believable. Your basing your argument on personal experience. I could give a shit if you think it's a silly purchase but they like anything else serve a purpose if people didn't use them there wouldn't be a market for them, sure it's a gamble or bet but I'd rather take the investment of what it costs to put a lift or tires on my truck and have it covered by Toyota for 125000 miles than roll the dice and hope for the best. There are countless threads of issues out of warranty in this forum. Again your logic is skewed but whatever you need to CONVIENCE YOURSELF, not me, or anyone else here. You wandered into a thread spouting off about how its a cash cow stupid purchase and your argument is flawed. I bought mine a month later it wasn't an uneducated purchase and I'm far from a sucker or idiot as you allude those that buy these are. I even do my own maintainence, etc. but a vehicle with more tech, a new unproven powertrain I'll take that gamble/bet buying an extended warranty, you act like $1200 is some outrageous amount of money, most people's TV's/appliances cost more, I don't even care if I never have to use it but as others have mentioned here one issue, a bunch of little issues, etc. could easily pay for itself whether you did a nuns version of maintainence or not. Just because you think it's not a wise purchase based on your thought process and personal experience dosent mean your right dude, I was just calling you on your shit argument as to why buying it is a terrible or crap idea.