Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

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artibug
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Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by artibug »

Hi,
We just bought a new Toyota Sienna for our growing family. The sale manager applied tons of pressure to get us to purchase the extended warranty for the new car for the reason that there are so many electronics in the car that's basically waiting to break. We did pretty much get all the options including a backseat DVD player and the navigation system. He has lowered the price from $1750 to $1250 for 6 yrs or 65000 miles. The fact that he is pushing so hard on this sale makes me think that its a money losing deal for us. But just want to hear what's your thought on this. Thanks very much! I always value what everyone's comments on this forum! :happy
dc81584
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by dc81584 »

I am not a fan of extended warranties. Think about it -- you purchasing all the bells and whistles = more money for them. Them convincing you to purchase what amounts to insurance for all the bells and whistles they just convinced you to purchase = even more money for them. With this in mind, I would perhaps reconsider your decision to purchase the model with all the bells and whistles. Sorry if I sound judgmental; that is not my intention.
hicabob
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by hicabob »

For an additional 6 years it's not too bad. If it's six years from the date of purchase it's redundant with the original warranty for most of the coverage period. I'd skip it either way though. Toyota is known for reliability in electronics as well as other things. I have a relative who works for HK which sells audio to Toyota and Chrysler among others. The acceptance procedures for Toyota are apparently many times harder than for Chrysler.
DFrank
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by DFrank »

Selling extended warranties is a money making deal for them. That means on average they take in more revenue from selling them than they pay out in warranty claims. Not a good buy in general, and especially not for Toyota's which despite having slipped here and there recently are still very reliable cars overall.
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scouter
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by scouter »

I don't like to bet against the odds. (The only exception is buying insurance to cover catastrophic losses that we couldn't recover from.)

The companies who sell extended warranties have carefully evaluated the expected failure rates and know what they will have to pay out, then set their rates to make a nice profit. So to buy an extended warranty is like buying a lottery ticket or gambling at a casino. It's possible that you could come out ahead, but in the long run the house has the edge and will win most of the time. You're betting against the odds.

The reason that the salespeople push extended warranties so hard is that they also make a nice fee for selling them, which tells me that they are overpriced.

It's amusing that this puts the salespeople in an awkward position. They first have to convince you that their product is wonderful and worth spending your hard-earned money on. They brag about the product's reliability and the included warranty.

Then as soon as you decide to buy, they shift gears and start trying to convince you that the product will fail soon and you'll need to buy an extra warranty.

I've often said, "But you just told me this is a great, reliable car. Now, you're telling me it's not? Maybe I shouldn't buy it after all."
cricket49
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by cricket49 »

Since my Toyota went over 225,000 miles with no major repairs, I would say no.

The guy pushing the extended warranty is usually making commission off the plan.
That is why they push so hard.

I was pressured many years ago when I bought my Toyota and did buy the
extended warranty. They stated I had 30 days to cancel. I cancelled it and
they gave me the money back minus tax. The tax was over 100.00 and they
told me to get the money back when I file taxes. After many visits and getting
a manager involved they gave me the money back on taxes.
Expect the best. Prepare for the worst.
scouter
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by scouter »

By the way, we just traded in our 2000 Sienna with 220,000 miles on it. Still ran like brand new. Never even needed the included warranty, much less an extended one.
terran
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by terran »

Don't you love how right after someone sells you the car and tells you how great and reliable they are they send you to someone else to tell you how unreliable it is and you should really buy an extended warranty? Mazda did the same to us.
cricket49
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by cricket49 »

A little OT but a family member works for Electrolux and he said the
profit margins are narrow on all their brands, Frigidaire, Electrolux.

They make most of their profit on extended warranties.
Expect the best. Prepare for the worst.
Quickfoot
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Quickfoot »

We just bought a new Toyota Sienna for our growing family. The sale manager applied tons of pressure to get us to purchase the extended warranty for the new car for the reason that there are so many electronics in the car that's basically waiting to break.
Electronics that are going to fail generally fail within the first 90 days so extended warranties don't offer you protection the manufacturer warranty doesn't already provide. Things that cause electronics to fail are shorts, poor circuits, insufficient cooling, etc and all of those manifest quickly.

You realize the sales manager is a salesman and his job is to get you to purchase things you don't need right? Fear is one of the bet ways to get someone to buy something they don't need. Salesmen are not your friend, they aren't even the dealership's friend, they are trying to make a sale and they will often put the customer and even their own organization in a bad position to get one.

Most major failures don't occur until after an extended warranty is no longer in effect. If you are interested in coverage instead of an extended warranty ask your insurance company about mechanical breakdown insurance. Geico offers it, it covers more than an extended warranty and costs less and you can cancel it at any time.
They make most of their profit on extended warranties.
This is almost always the case, an extended warranty is insurance and most the time insurance doesn't have to pay out. I bought an extended 3 year warranty on my Keurig machine because it is incredibly rare for a Keurig machine to make it past around 14 months, it is likely I will get 2 replacements and the cost was only 10% of the machine. That said that's the only extended warranty I've bought in over 10 years.

When considering extended warranties the questions are #1 how likely is the product to break and #2 how likely are you to need the insurance to cover the cost. Toyota' is known for high reliability so chances of needing an extended warranty are low however if your financial ability to pay repair bills is low then it may make sense. If you were to buy a higher maintenance brand again extended warranties or mechanical breakdown insurance makes a lot of sense.
Last edited by Quickfoot on Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:23 am, edited 2 times in total.
sk.dolcevita
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by sk.dolcevita »

My wife was in love with MINI and we bought it knowing very well that repair bills for this car can be high. We didn't buy an extended warranty from the dealer. But Geico offers mechanical breakdown coverage (not sure of the extent of electronics coverage) and one can add it to the auto insurance up to 15 months into ownership. In our case that was $51 per 6 months. The coverage is for 7 years from the date of purchase, so we would be paying premium of ~$600 (for 69 months). I feel odds are good that we will break even or better on this decision.

Unexpected car repairs stress me out to no end because I have no idea what the service adviser is talking about - I always feel I am being scammed. In fact, an ex-service adviser confirmed this suspicion with me. Given MINI's high repair costs, I felt getting this coverage would be good for my sanity down the road.
larsm
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by larsm »

Some cars (brands) an extended warranty makes sense. Personally, I would not with a Toyota, especially as 65,000 miles on today's designed vehicles is very low. Obviously, you could get a "bad" car, but you will most likely know this long before the OEM warranty runs out and you can ditch the car.
Dan999
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Dan999 »

I buy the most reliable car because it will not need repairs, so why would I buy an extended warranty?
If it were a vehicle with a poor reliability record and I lost my mind and bought it anyway, then I would buy the warranty.
I have to admit last year I bought a Toyota and caved to the warranty pressure, but then got my money back after 1 week. It was a full refund pro rated for the first month usage.
So see, even if you never buy one, the nice man can convince you why you need it.

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6miths
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by 6miths »

cricket49 wrote:A little OT but a family member works for Electrolux and he said the
profit margins are narrow on all their brands, Frigidaire, Electrolux.

They make most of their profit on extended warranties.
No bang on topic. Extended warranties are a major money maker for car dealers hence the hard sell. It is ridiculous really, anything for the sale. First the car - it's great, incredibly reliable, blah, blah... then the warranty - what your not going to get the extended warranty, if that nav screen fails the warranty would have paid for itself, and those doors and that lift gate and those wiper motors.... OMG why did you buy this lemon!

Insure for the catastrophic...
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

My response is always the same

"Oh, I didn't realize that this vehicle was so prone to failure. Let's reconsider this whole deal and I guess I'll just buy a (insert brand that the dealer doesn't carry). Ask for your down payment check back next. When he scrambles to save the deal, make him take another $100 off for your trouble. If the won't, walk.
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livesoft
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by livesoft »

You already paid extra for a reliable car by buying a Toyota. You could've paid a lot less for a Ford. There is no reason to buy the extended warranty.

When a dealer tried to sell us one, I said, "You sold me a Lexus. If it needed the warranty, then that would be pretty bad. Are you saying that the car you sold me is bad?"
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sogm
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by sogm »

Don't buy the warranty. When I had my HVAC business we sold 500 warranties at $495 for almost $250,000
Our repair costs? A little over $7000

I started selling warranties when I read a Forbes article detailing Best Buy made more profit selling warranties then product.
Glad I read the article.

One exception: I buy the Apple Warranty for when I get stuck. And, I do get stuck.
Dolphin1
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Dolphin1 »

Another thing to consider, I purchased a new Toyota a couple years ago. I was debating whether to purchase the extended warranty, but after doing the 5K/10K/15K services at two different local Toyota dealers, I discovered there were no dealerships in my area that had acceptable service departments. I decided I'd rather pay for any issues that come up later and use my reliable independent mechanic rather than be tied to sub-par Toyota dealerships in my area.
Pugs135
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Pugs135 »

I've considered "self insuring" on all my purchases, I just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I was going to take the money and instead of buying the warranty, put the money in an online savings account. If you do this for every car, tv, iphone, ect. that you buy, you will have money to pay for the infrequent repairs you do need on good products.
investor
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by investor »

Extended warranties are generally a great deal for the seller. Why else would they be pushing them ?

investor
Dad
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Dad »

I generally buy the extended warranty for expensive appliances (over 2k) and for cars. Treat it like insurance, which is what it is. You don't need to buy it from your dealer where you are buying the car though. Many times you can find a much better deal on the internet from other Toyota dealers for the exact same warranty, and if you are buying it you have a couple of thousand miles to decide before buying it and it will still be considered a warranty for a new car. I bet Toyota has an extended warranty program much like Honda does with its HondaCare warranty. I bought a 100,000/8 year warranty for about the amount you are getting quoted for a similar SUV.

Good luck with your decision.
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mojave
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by mojave »

Hyundai tried doing this to me as well when my warranty went up at 60k mi. It was about the same price and same warranty - I declined because my husband can do most repairs himself. Glad I declined because in the time frame that would have been under the extended warranty, absolutely nothing went wrong with my car (and this continues to stand past that warranty mileage limit as I approach 115k mi). The only times I ever used the original warranty was under the 40k mileage mark. My car was a rental in its past life, too.
bloom2708
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by bloom2708 »

We did buy the extended warranty on our 2014 Ford Explorer. It was $1,800 and brought the warranty up to 100,000 miles. We plan on keeping this car for 10-12 years, maybe longer.

I hope we don't have to use it. It is much like my generator. I hope I don't have to use that thing ever. But I do have it.

If we traded cars more often I wouldn't have purchased it. I like the peace of mind that driving under warranty brings with our primary family vehicle.

I would tend to not get an extended warranty on most things, but I wouldn't dismiss it automatically. Every decision doesn't come down to pure dollars.
anil686
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by anil686 »

Agree with the other posters that these are typically not worth it. If you feel compelled to get one - I second the poster "Dad" to look online. Just by googling toyota extended warraties - you can find extended service plans for toyotas through many different dealerships. Some dealerships make money by selling a few highly marked up, some make money by selling a lot marked up very little - it is amazing the price variation for the same product. Full disclosure I also paid for a honda care warranty on my pilot after 2 years and 25,000 miles - it was less than what you are being offered and it covered 8/125000. I did have issues with DVD system after 4 years and they fixed it but the total cost of all repairs covered under warranty (not tires/brakes - wear/tear) was about $1000 over the 8 years - about even with what I paid. JMO though...
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mojave
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by mojave »

Another thing to think about, and another reason why I opted not to get one - if something major needed to be repaired, how much would that cost? Likely, about the same as the warranty. If you're willing to spend that on the warranty, I personally would rather take the risk of waiting to see if I actually need to end up spending that amount on the car.
hudson
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by hudson »

I've had 3 Toyotas since 2000. One has never been back to a dealer. The other two went back for recalls only. Pretty much only wear items like belts, hoses, and oil changes.
Would I buy an extended warranty? no...but for you, that's your call. I know you'll do your homework.
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Imperabo
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Imperabo »

DFrank wrote:Selling extended warranties is a money making deal for them. That means on average they take in more revenue from selling them than they pay out in warranty claims. Not a good buy in general.
This is the most common reasoning we see on extended warranties: the belief that if the seller is making a profit then the buyer must be losing in equal proportion. But this is only true if the repair shop charges their cost when you get your car worked on. Do you think the Toyota service departments pay their mechanics $100+ per hour? Do you think they charge you their cost for parts? I think not, so I think there is room the warranty to be beneficial to both the buyer and the seller if the price is right.

If you buy a warranty from Toyota then they are locking in your service business. The other shops that you might have taken your car to are losers in this transaction. Toyota and perhaps you are winners depending on the price of the warranty and if you don't mind getting your service at Toyota.

All that said, I just bought a new Toyota 2 days ago and I probably won't buy the warranty. I know for sure that the price they quoted me for it is way too high, but I don't know what would be a price that would be fair to both of us, and I'm not in the mood for any more hard negotiating at the moment. But I do believe there is such a price, so I don't think you can categorically say that extended warranties are bad for the consumer just because they are good for the seller.
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mickeyd
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by mickeyd »

NO.

But don't worry you will receive many mail offers in the future to reconsider your smart decision.
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BigFoot48
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by BigFoot48 »

No, you shouldn't buy it. (Bought three myself over the years and never used one. Lesson learned the expensive way.)
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autonomy
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by autonomy »

artibug wrote:Hi,
We just bought a new Toyota Sienna for our growing family. The sale manager applied tons of pressure to get us to purchase the extended warranty for the new car for the reason that there are so many electronics in the car that's basically waiting to break.
I would just ask him, why then would I be interested in making a purchase of so many bells and whistles that are prone to breaking.
Quickfoot wrote:Electronics that are going to fail generally fail within the first 90 days so extended warranties don't offer you protection the manufacturer warranty doesn't already provide. Things that cause electronics to fail are shorts, poor circuits, insufficient cooling, etc and all of those manifest quickly.
That's what I read as well - look up the bathtub curve.
littlebird
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by littlebird »

I don't know if you should, but I did - for 2 reasons: Although my beloved 2000 Sienna needed only 2 (both were the liftgate latch) repairs in 14 years, my new 2014 is NOT my old Toyota. It's a computer on wheels; different enough that I consider it a whole new and untried product.

Second, my spouse no longer drives, cannot even accompany me to the shop and needs me at home. So I'm happy to let the "nice folks" at Toyota drive me home and pick me up and not feel guilty about taking my car to the most expensive shop - I paid for it already! My warranty covers minor body work ( Good. The first day I owned it, I drove out of my garage with the new magic automatic liftgate in the lifted position. It didn't fit thru real well that way. Also +2 parking lot dings so far). It also includes replacement electronic keys. After a month or so, I realized I had no valet key. Did they fail to give it? Did I misplace it?) Doesn't matter. Warranty replaces 2 per year if necessary. They made me a new one. In my situation - priceless. Only you can evaluate your situation. Good luck & enjoy your new Sienna (It's huge!)
SimonJester
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by SimonJester »

Just some data, I purchased a new 2004 Sienna and did not purchase the extended warranty from the dealer. I believe they came down to $1400. At the time there was another dealer selling the same Toyota extended warranty 7 year 75K miles for $520. This was reported to be only $20 over cost.

I did end up purchasing the warranty from that dealer. At the time you just needed to provide your VIN number and payment, they could lookup the VIN and purchase information from Toyota. the warranty was issued from TFS (Toyota Financial Services). So you can judge for yourself just how much markup is in these have.

Also I never ended up using the warranty, 11 years later I am just now hitting 75K miles, nothing has broken on the van. It has been a very well built vehicle.

I would save the money and self insure.
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mbcruiser
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by mbcruiser »

Anytime I get offered the "opportunity" to buy an extended warranty on ANYTHING, I just ask
the salesperson ( :greedy ) why are they selling me a product that needs it anyway?
I tell them, "are you telling me that you are selling me an inferior product such that the regular warranty isn't sufficient?". :oops:
That usually puts them on notice that I'm in on their game -- it's just :moneybag in their pocket and as some one else I respect once said, "the BIG print giveth, and the small print taketh away".
My conclusion ---- run for the hills and enjoy the reliability that comes with the brand's reputation for quality and forget about any post-factory add-ons (e.g. window etching, Scotch guarding, carpet finishing, etc.). :thumbsup
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bengal22
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by bengal22 »

artibug wrote:Hi,
We just bought a new Toyota Sienna for our growing family. The sale manager applied tons of pressure to get us to purchase the extended warranty for the new car for the reason that there are so many electronics in the car that's basically waiting to break. We did pretty much get all the options including a backseat DVD player and the navigation system. He has lowered the price from $1750 to $1250 for 6 yrs or 65000 miles. The fact that he is pushing so hard on this sale makes me think that its a money losing deal for us. But just want to hear what's your thought on this. Thanks very much! I always value what everyone's comments on this forum! :happy
I would not buy a car from a "sales manager that applied tons of pressure..." That pretty well sums up my feelings. Walk away and buy a car from somewhere that respects the customer.
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bardenay
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by bardenay »

Reliability engineering and system engineering are part of the development of complex systems like cars and airplanes. As part of finding weak points in the system and to determine maintenance schedules, the manufacturer calculates how and when the vehicle will 'fail'. If most failures happen at 'X' miles/years, they will divide that number in half and offer that as the manufacture's warranty. They then offer you the option to buy an extended warranty to cover the other half*. (*Not exact numbers.) All of this is a way of saying that the odds are against you needing to use the warranty.

Personally I would rather use the money that goes into a warranty to pay for future preventative maintenance. Less sitting on the side of the road and warranty paper work.

-Bardenay
harrychan
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by harrychan »

No. First, you have factory warranty which should cover electronics as well. If they refuse or have a hard time, document your interaction and open a BBB case. I've successfully gotten Nissan to reimburse me for a blown engine after raising a BBB case. Even if these options fail, I doubt you will have trouble finding a shop you can repair or replace your entertainment with some aftermarket unit which may be better than the OEM one.

The only time I've purchased extended warranty was for my road bike. At $750, the warranty was only $20 and included 2 maintenance and any other issues with the bike. They replaced the handlebar as it wouldn't secure. Well worth it.
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
likegarden
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by likegarden »

We did not buy one. We bought a new Toyota Camry in 2013. Before that I had checked the reliability via Consumer Reports, and it was very good for the Camry. I remembered that well when the finance guy at the dealership tried to sell us an extended warranty, which only went until the end of year 8. I told him I would call him when I checked a little more and found that being a good deal. Afterwards I actually checked the maintenance record of our 2 Buicks and noticed that covered repairs only started when the cars reached above 8 years of age, so I never called him back. Though we bought undercoating for $1,000, what a waste, so we contributed to the financial wellbeing of that dealership already.
Ron Ronnerson
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Ron Ronnerson »

I'll get to the point: No.
jerryk68
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by jerryk68 »

They are not worth it. A lot of national retail stores got into the business so that should tell you something. Best Buy does it at the cash register. Usually the product has a year warranty anyway so you are really buying is the second or third year. Don't do it. Save the money. By the way, had two Toyota Corollo's and they both were great over 250k miles before I traded them in. Neither had an extended warranty.
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loves2read
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by loves2read »

It is possible to buy an extended warrenty from an online Toyota dealer at a MUCH reduced price than what the dealership you bought the car from will sell to you...
go online to the Toyota forum at any car web site and you can read numerous people giving the dealership they bought an extended warranty from at much less than where they bought their car...
these are valid, useable warranties that might cover problems that aren't covered under the normal warranty as well as run longer...some of them allow you to use service dept besides a Toyota dealership as long at they are certified...

to me--if you buy a car with a decent quality history and take care of it appropriately, you might not need an extended warranty unless you put a lot of miles on your car and/or plan on keeping it for the long term...
but if you can get it for 75% less than what the "retail" price it--that at the dealership--then it is worth having...
just make sure you know what you are getting over/above the normal warranty...
and remember that recall notices for problems w/mfg process or parts might be covered by the car mfg w/o cost to you
My SIL has Chevy Malibu--one of the "new" Malibus that came out 6 or so years ago...she had a problem with her brake system that she thought she would have to pay form since car was over 5 yrs but we did some research and a recall notice was issued more than year ago for this problem which covers her car...she was very relieved because she didn't take out extended warranty and she is in her 80s w/limited resouces for big expenses (like $800 repair bill)...
wander
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by wander »

My answer is NO. With experience I have had with all my cars, I do not need any kind of extended warranty.
CuppedUp
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by CuppedUp »

I purchased one for my truck. It's written by Toyota. Extends warranty to 8 yrs or 125k miles.

I had declined it when I purchased the vehicle.

Did some reading on edmunds Toyota forum. Found a couple of dealerships which did high volume/lower markup warranties. Got a quote from them and asked the dealership where I originally purchased vehicle to match price. They did and I bought the warranty from them.

According to the sales guy at the OOS dealer I called for the reference quote, TFS has a new rule that requires an in person signature. So unless I wanted to go to Kansas to buy the warranty he wouldn't be able to complete the deal.
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Sportswhiz00 »

The fact that the dealer is going to make a profit in the long term seems irrelevant to me. They're also going to make a profit on the car, should you not buy that either? Also, every insurance company sets the price at a profitable level too. I've never heard someone say they refuse to buy life insurance for that reason.

To take it to the extreme, let's say your car has only a .1% chance of ever needing a repair but if it does it will cost $10,000 to fix. If the dealer prices the warranty at $11, would you not purchase it simply because they are expected to make a $1 profit on every warranty ($11 - $10,000 *.1)?

That doesn't mean I'm suggesting to buy it. Just a counter to the rationale suggested in the posts. I tend to buy warranties on small items where the repair cost would be so high compared to the product cost that without the warranty i would never get the product fixed if i had a minor problem that was annoying but didn't affect my use of the product (eg fridge noises and dishwasher leaks). I'm going to buy a Sienna soon and probably won't get the warranty if for no reason other than i've spent only about $600 in non-wear and tear maintenance on my 12 year old toyota.
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theduke
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by theduke »

I purchased a new Toyota on April 1. When I went to pick up the vehicle, the internet salesman said he had to ask me the question about buying the extended warranty. I said no and the matter wasn't mentioned again. Very nice experience.
z91
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by z91 »

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ne2ca28
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by ne2ca28 »

I would drive the car for a while before deciding. You just spent a lot of money on a good product. You should have until factory warranty expiration to buy.

Just my experience. Check online to see if you could buy from a dealer that offers a lower price because they sell them in larger quantities. For Ford at least, you save $100 if you buy within 1yr, 12000 miles, but you can buy any time before factory warranty is up.


I bought a fully loaded F150 (before I realized spending so much money probably wasn't a good idea). Anyways, I also bought an extended warranty (7 years, 70k). I did not buy it from my dealer though. I found out that you can buy them online from any Ford dealer. One particular dealer offered over $500 less than my dealer. Turned out to be just over $1000 with $0 deductible and first day rental. I also like my Ford service center, even better if its free.

My truck has been great. Sun roof, however, went off track. Would have cost me well over the warranty price to fix it.
scottyja
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by scottyja »

ne2ca28 wrote:I would drive the car for a while before deciding. You just spent a lot of money on a good product. You should have until factory warranty expiration to buy.
+1 - There are a number of reasons why you might not even have the car before the base warranty expires. I would wait until you're approaching the 3-year/36,000 mile point and then determine if you want the warranty - then shop around and to get the best deal. I've heard it's frowned on by the car manufacturers, but some dealerships specialize in selling extended warranties online for hundreds less than you can find locally. I would wait as long as possible before purchasing.
SimonJester
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by SimonJester »

I just purchased a used truck where the extended warranty they were trying to push was 25% of the purchase price!!!
Umm no I don't think so! The sales manager pushed it then the FI guy pushed it as well.

A new one for me was some "mandatory" insurance they added onto the price of the truck for $699. Right I have my own insurance, when they balked at removing it I told them fine just lower the price of the truck by $699, amazing that this "mandatory" was then taken off.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
Pompey
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by Pompey »

Hello everyone, I've been reading all of your advice for awhile, thought I'd make my first post. I bought a Toyota Sienna for my wife last year. We went with a 2011 model with 23K miles. Paid $20K and saved about $10K over brand new.

In the past I have also never bought extended warranties for vehicles... but decided to do it in this case, here is my rational:
- Vehicle was 36 months old, so no factory warranty remaining. I paid $1,250 for the warranty... five additional years or 100,000 miles of coverage miles with no deductible. So, ultimately, I paid $21,250 for a vehicle with bumper-bumper Toyota factory warranty until 100K miles. Could have bought a new van for $30K and got the 36K miles of bumper to bumper.
- The Toyota warranty includes roadside assistance... which I like to have in place for my wife. Subtract the cost of AAA (or other) across 5 years. There's a few hundred off the warranty price. Now we're at $950.
- The warranty is fully transferable. I now have the option to sell vehicle at the age of 7 years and provide the new buyer a 12 month bumper-bumper, zero deductible Toyota factory warranty (on a 7 year old vehicle!). This will make selling this vehicle very easy on the open market and I will get more $ out of the buyer.
- I'm already having issues with the driver's side sliding rear door. Every few days the door starts to open and then quits. Has to be manually worked back into closed position and reopened. Odds are this will need service in the next 5 years. Cost of one new sliding door motor far exceeds the total cost of this warranty.

Ultimately, I can keep the vehicle for 4 years, sell for low-mid teens and have a vehicle with bumper-bumper warranty, roadside assistance and hassle-free resale. Depreciation cost will be about $2000 per year. Basically no maintenance other than oil & brakes (both of which I do myself) and new tires. No interest (I paid cash). Or, more likely, we keep it well beyond the 7 year age. We'll see how it works out...
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mojave
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Re: Should I buy extended warranty for our new Toyota Sienna

Post by mojave »

Sportswhiz00 wrote:....

To take it to the extreme, let's say your car has only a .1% chance of ever needing a repair but if it does it will cost $10,000 to fix. If the dealer prices the warranty at $11, would you not purchase it simply because they are expected to make a $1 profit on every warranty ($11 - $10,000 *.1)?

....
I can't think of a repair on any car, excluding hybrids/electric, that would cost $10,000 to fix. I also have never heard of an extended warranty on a vehicle being $11. I know you purposely picked an extreme example and understand your point, but your example is so extreme that it is far beyond the realm of possibility. Just pointing this out because many people know absolutely nothing about cars and have no confidence in the subject and might think this example is only a little outside of reality, when it is actually in outer space.
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