Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
Options
Comments
There are a few contracts out there that require the customer to return to his selling dealer, but I don't think the Easy Care one does.
Something to think about, too: in the seven years of your contract, you'll drive 70,000 miles, that puts your car at 81,000. You've got the remainder of the factory warranty to go through first, then Easy Care kicks in. How much benefit do you think you'll get out of this service contract?
dealer quoted more than 2 arms & legs- but have found 84/100k 0 ded for approx $900 online toyota platinum plus-- thanks
1) Toyota Platinum 7yr/75k $0 deductible - $855
2) 3rd party (Phoenix American Insurance Company, which is supposed to be the top company with no claims to file, no hassles, etc). 7 yr/100k $0 deductible - $1687
The big difference here is that the Toyota warranty is 7 yrs from original purchase date (meaning, 4 years of coverage). The 3rd party warranty is 7 years of coverage starting today.
A guy I know that owns a leasing company says to get the Phoenix American warranty. He says that I can still get my car serviced at the Toyota dealer, Phoenix American pays directly (on the phone by credit card) and will pay for a rental loaner. On top of that, he says, if the car ever needs transmission work or weekend work (when the dealership is closed), I would get faster service going elsewhere.
What do you folks think?
On the rental loaner: how do they pay? One day for 8 billed-hours? Most of them tie rental to the nature of the repair being done, so it comes out to be a useless 'benefit'. You don't get a day rental paid while the dealer orders and replaces your window motor.
It's been awhile since I read it, but I believe the Toyota plan allows for emergency service at non-Toyota repair shops.
All service contract companies are 'the best in the business', if you go by their websites or salespeople. There's one that has 50 years 'combined experience' even though they've only been in business for about 10.
If they have an AMBest rating of A+, remember-Warranty Gold had an A+ two months before it went bankrupt.
Get copies of both contracts and directly compare them.
If you must buy a service contract, go with the Manufacturer-backed plan. Toyota has a vested interest in keeping you happy. Phoenix American has a vested interest in keeping your money.
Go with the Toyota warranty hands down.
2) 3rd party (Phoenix American Insurance Company, which is supposed to be the top company with no claims to file, no hassles, etc). 7 yr/100k $0 deductible - $1687
The big difference here is that the Toyota warranty is 7 yrs from original purchase date (meaning, 4 years of coverage). The 3rd party warranty is 7 years of coverage starting today.
Do the math. Four years of Toyota Platianum (at $855) is a lot cheaper, per year, than 7 years of Phonenix American at $1,687. Plus, you don't have to worry about Toyota going out of business.
1) My friend (who owns the lease company) has policies for his personal cars, and has recommended them to many friends. He claims to have never had a problem, and all repairs were paid directly to the service provider over the phone at the time the repair was done. No claims, no hassles (so he says).
2) From their website: All Phoenix American Service Contract Programs are 100% insured by a Member company of the Nationwide® Insurance group, rated A+ VX (Superior), by A.M. Best Company.
3) They have been in business since 1985, and bought Wynn's in 2002.
4) Their Better Business Bureau rating is B+, with no outstanding complaints.
5) If you search for their name on Google, it looks like many of the smaller car companies use Phoenix American to administer their extended warranty programs.
I am getting a copy of their contract and will compare to the Toyota contract.
Well, actually it was worse than that. In about June a few years back, they stopped paying claims, telling policy holders to pay out of pocket and they would eventually be reimbursed, yet they continued to sell new policies and assured current policy holders that this was just a short term cash crunch. They also continued to deduct premiums for policies that were set up to be paid monthly by automatically charging their credit card or deducting the premium from their bank account.
In September, the cat got out of the bag and they were forced to tell all policy holders of their financial problems. At the time you only found out if you had a claim. They still denied there was any long term problem and they continued to sell policies and deduct premiums.
In November they filed chapter whatever that forced them to liquidate everything. And I'm still waiting for my refund. The last I heard was that the original owner is back in business under a different name selling the same type of auto warranties. Sweet huh?
Do what you want to do, but you won't find any recommendation from anyone here for anything but a manufacturer backed policy.
I did a side-by-side comparison of the Toyota Platinum policy and the Phoenix American policy. The are almost identical, except:
* The Phoenix policy is 7 years of coverage and Toyota is 4 years of coverage (7 years from the date the car was sold as new)
* Toyota policy covers air-bag repairs; Phoenix does not
* Phoenix roadside assistance covers anything you need (lockout, out of gas, flat tire, etc), and will tow you anywhere you want. Toyota will only pay for roadside assistance to tow to a Toyota dealer, and will only pay for the towing if the breakdown is for a covered repair.
* Toyota is more generous with rental/loaner and hotel allowances
* Toyota covers a few bits of the exhaust system (but not the stuff that usually breaks), but Phoenix American does not.
Phoenix American's claim fund is insured by Scottsdale Insurance Company, which is A rated by S&P and A+XV (Superior) by A M Best.
The guy I spoke to at Phoenix American is going to get back to me regarding the total dollar value of their claim fund, and the amount of insurance coverage they have from Scottsdale.
IMO, there really isn't anything to think about as it's a no brainer to me.
Go with Toyota. Phoenix will tell you anything you want to here.
Enough said on this.
Sheesh!
I'm not asking for anything more than informed opinions of the people on this forum. Sheesh, indeed.
Thanks a lot in advance
Rule #2: A Lexus Extended Warranty is the biggest waste of money
Even if you have not, I would appreciate your thoughts. My 2005 Mini maintenance and mechanical warranties (two separate agreements) are up in March 2009.
I am considering extending either, or both, warranties for another 2 years. They are separate decisions, and are priced separately, so I want to know what you have done or think I should do.
Maintenance warranty covers all routine stuff like oil changes ($200 if bot separately), alignment ($200), tune ups at major milestones ($800), wiper replacement ($100), convertble top alignment ($200), etc. To extend the warranty unitl March 2011, it will cost me $1995.
Mechanical warranty covers everything except the exhaust system, such as engine failure, brakes, transmission, clutch, etc, and that's another $2095.
Where I put about 6k miles per year on vehicle, I figure things are going to wear out slower than the avereage car. But the routine maintenance will still need to be performed. So, I'm thinking of skipping the mechanical and going with the maint warranty extension. What do you think?
Your thoughts?
It would be a crazy decision, and a complete waste of money, to purchase either of these warranties.
You will only put 12K miles on the car during this time. In all likelihood, you'll only need two oil changes during this time period and shouldn't require any of the other items you listed. And I'm not sure where you those prices, but they are grossly inflated...$100 for new wipers?!?...$200 for an alignment?!? Anyone paying those prices is being robbed!
The mechanical warranty is also unneccessary and unneeded. Unless you are a highly unlucky individual, you will NEVER need the repairs you mentioned (engine failure, transmission, ect.) over the course of 12K miles on a relatively new/low mileage car.
My suggestion is to put the $4000 you would spend on these warranties in a savings account. You will have plenty of money to cover the repairs you are likely to encounter. And in the likely event that you do not encounter $4000 in maintanence/repairs during those two years, you can use that money on something nice for yourself or family.
I have 2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL with 57k miles on it. Presently only power train warranty is there until 60K. Today I asked the dealer about extended warranties, he quoted me $1784 for 36months/36000 miles with $50 deductible (Bumper to Bumper).
This warranty from Easy Care. Is this expensive ?
Can you guys suggest me?
Can you guys suggest me?
You won't find any recommendation here for anything except a manufacturer backed warranty. Too many of us have been burned when, not if, they go bankrupt. I've never heard of Easy Care. Is that some 3rd party warranty company?
I'm guessing it's junk, but without more information, hard to say.
Does anyone know the most reliable and safest aftermarket warranty Co.? I have a 2003 Mini cooper and im desperate to get coverage and be safe! From what i have read it seems like alot of Companies are not worth the time or price. Once again just need some honest advice and guidence. thanks
Nope.
That does bring up a good point. Buying the warranty from the dealer "may" give you some leverage for covered repairs if the 3rd party warranty company goes bankrupt as the dealer does have a vested interest in keeping you happy, especially if you're a life long regular customer. I would think in that case, you could at least negotiate discounted parts and labor.
Nice try, guys, B+ for ingenuity. :P
*I've seen the Hosts do that before with blatantly obvious shills.
" Where I put about 6k miles per year on vehicle, I figure things are going to wear out slower than the avereage car. But the routine maintenance will still need to be performed. So, I'm thinking of skipping the mechanical and going with the maint warranty extension. What do you think? "
That pretty well say's it all. As you are 1/2 normal mileage, any extended warranty would be a big mistake. But it does beg another question. If a man makes a mistake in the forest and there is no woman to hear him,is he still wrong ? But of course silly wabbit. You are foolish to buy an extended warranty unless you are unlucky enough to require major work in which case it is a bargain . But of course the wheels on the bus go round and round Next ?
The point i was trying to make with the insurance comment was the majority of people spend a lot more on insurance then they'll ever recoup in a lifetime. Its a risk based product, just like a warranty. In reality you're almost 30 times more likely to have a mechanical failure than an accident. Also, the warranty company can never raise the "rate" and charge you more money, AND they can never cancel the policy. I'm just trying to convey warranty's arent as bad of a cost-to-reward as many people make them out to be.
Example: i'd charge around $1500 for a 6yr/72000 mile warranty on an impala. In 6 years its not hard to spend $1500 on repairs, at TODAYS costs. 5 years down the road costs will no doubt rise. Even if you readily have the cash available, why not just lock in todays rates, and not have to worry about it anymore. It'd be the same if i offered someone fixed prices on gas 5 years ago. Once again, its not a sales pitch, its reality. You gotta take a more objective look at it and not focus on the consumer vs. dealer factor.
That may be so, but first, we actually are coerced by the government to have an auto insurance and while risk may be significantly lower, potential loss way higher. My total insurance with high liability limits costs me about $1000/year - about 40-60% more than an extended warranty. However, the potential payout on my warranty is a few thousands, while my auto insurance might pay out couple of hundreds of thousands for just liability portion (yes, my limits are that high) plus a few grand for collision/comprehensive. So, if we adjust for risk of high-end payouts fo each of those and then mix in possible consequences of losing a few grand vs losing "shirt", I think auto insurance comes ahead.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
A $1500 warranty would run you about $250 for each year of coverage. I personally don't see it as that big of a gamble, but i also see the service records on a weekly basis and know how expensive some things can be. I'm just trying to express my point about how warranty's are worth it, in the right situation. We all have varying opinions and i'm just gratefull the conversation can flow without any immature talk amongst us.
I personally would love to see how some of the questionable dealerships operate, i've worked at 3 different ones that have all upheld high ethical and legal standards.
What if I told you that if you never use your extended warranty I will give you back all of your money. We have a money back gauruntee on our extended warranties. If you use it than you don't get any money back. If you don't you 100% of your money back.
GP
The way I look at it, I just gave you an interest free loan for 6 years.
The only way I think I would spend $1,500-$2,000 in uncovered repairs in 6 years (you aren't going to cover any wear items like tires, battery, belts, wipers, brakes, etc) is if something went seriously wrong with mechanical bits. Even the major items like drivetrains are usually covered by an included power train warranty (that ranges up to 100,000 miles). Anything connected to the pollution controls (which may include computer controls) is also going to be covered for an extended period of time by the manufacturer.
Again, to some it may be worthwhile. To me, it's not. I'm not going to be your target customer.
That should be, "In 3 years it's not hard to spend $1,500 on repairs". The first 3 years of that 6 is the manufacturers warranty... correct?
Legally the terminology of those extended warranties should be changed, as the wording is beneficial to the dealership to the point misrepresentation can too easily be made.
The highly reliable Toyota and Honda have some good extended warranties from what I've read, about $800-$900 for an extra 4 years. I may go that high for an extended warranty, but $1,500-$2,500 is way to much.