[John E Davies]

There have been a number of posts about warranties, and the Toyota Platinum 'bumper to bumper" is often mentioned. Read the fine print on the contract before signing - Troy will gladly email you a copy. The Toyota warranty is a pretty darn good deal, but IMHO it in NO way matches some of the very costly "bumper to bumper" warranties offered by some premium car manufacturers. I really hesitate to call the Toyota plan "full coverage" or "B to B" because there are a lot of exclusions.

One example: a part has to fail to be warrantied. "Fail" means "broken". So if you have a component like a window motor that is obviously going (noisy or sluggish), but not yet gone, you may not be successful in getting it repaired free.

Another example: the Toyota warranty specifies that the insurer (the insurance company, not Toyota, and not the dealer) has final word on what to do for a repair to your car: replace with factory new, aftermarket new, or USED. I expect that the vast majority of the time the replacement part will be OEM out of a pretty, sealed box, but that isn't guaranteed in writing. I admit that this point bothers me most!

For many, maybe most, people this isn't an issue. With a six year old car and a blown tranny, most folks just want to get the vehicle running again without burning out the bank account. NO way would Toyota put a brand new tranny in that car - you'll get a "Reman" or, worst case, a used one from the junkyard (excuse me - "Recycler"). If it were a Volvo, you would get a zero mile crate tranny. But the Volvo warranty would cost you four to five times as much and I'll bet they don't offer a $0 deductible..

Read and learn! The Toyota warranty is still a great deal IMHO. When I bring home a RAV4 I won't have an extended warranty though. I want only new Toyota parts in my Toyota.

Comments anyone? Can anyone who has used this warranty in the past give some details of what I call the "Real World Pain-in the @ss Factor"? ie: How easy is it to live with?

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[inlets]

Good observations John. I always hated "THE FINE PRINT" it's obviously written for their benifit. And if it ain't broke, we just help it along to make sure it is broke. Probably 's been known to happen... :shock:

 

[vigil]

John,

For your comments about the insurerer and it's choice of parts, is that in reference to repairs due to an accident?

In that case, I know from my girlfriend who's been an auto adjuster for a large insurance company in the North East for over 8 years, that that is common practice.

Generally, an insurance company is going to repair the vehicle in the cheapest way possible and that is with rebuilt parts, or aftermarket (read: cheaper) replacement parts instead of the more costly OEM parts or even NOS parts.

The older a vehicle gets, or the more of them that are around, the more likely that those types of parts are available and I guarantee you any insurance company will only use those parts for the repairs.

This also affects our comprehensive policy costs. For example, an ubiquitous vehicle like an Explorer is going to cost alot less in that portion of your insurance than a rarer new car. This is due to part availability and part cost. Simply put, the more expensive your car will be to fix, the more your insurance will be and vice versa.

-Mike aka vigil

 

[CampingColorado]

We looked at getting an extended warranty on our Camry before its B to B ran out.

So, what we did was add up all the repair costs our Subaru (with around 150k miles on it at the time) cost us before 100k miles (the extent of the warranty we were considering) figuring the reliability was going to be pretty comparable, or the Toyota would be slightly better. Once we did that, we found a striking price difference, and that it was much cheaper for us to do repairs as we go rather than purchase an extended warranty, even when we totalled the cost of repairs up to 150k miles (well above the extended warranty). That doesn't factor in the interest on the money we would have earned by leaving it in the bank. However, I do most all of the repairs myself, so my costs are typically significantly lower than most people's. Also, keep in mind that no warranty will cover wear and tear items like belts, clutches, brake pads, etc.

Our Camry now has 71k miles on it and I haven't been sorry yet, though it did have some repairs necessary under its standard new-car warranty. It will also need new struts sometime soon (next year or so?), but that would probably be a "wear and tear" item anyway.

 

[John E Davies]

John,

For your comments about the insurerer and it's choice of parts, is that in reference to repairs due to an accident?

In that case, I know from my girlfriend who's been an auto adjuster for a large insurance company in the North East for over 8 years, that that is common practice.

No, no, not in the least. We are talking extended repair warranty, not accidental damage insurance. Both policies are backed by an insurance company, but they work in very different ways. The former covers mechanical problems after the factory warrany has expired. The latter covers damage due to an accident only.

A $4000 bumper to bumper repair policy for a Volvo (the one I am most familiar with) is exactly that. If a part is "out of tolerance" by Volvo's definition (not the insurance company's) it gets replaced with a factory new part. This includes a tranny that blows to shards 100 miles short of the end of the warranty period - you will get a brand new zero mile tranny direct from Volvo. It also includes a sluggish window motor or an excessively squeeky suspension control arm that is technically not "failed", by the Toyota policy's definition.

The Toyota policy is much closer to a regular comprehensive (accidental damage) policy, in that it gives the insurance company (not the dealer) leeway in deciding how to handle the repair. It specifically states that they can use their choice of new, aftermarket or used parts. The dealer and customer can obviously provide inputs, but the insurance company is under no legal obligation to agree to any of their requests.

In reality, the dealer and the insurance company are going to try hard to keep customers happy, but no way are they going to give you a brand new tranny costing $10,000 for an aging car worth half that amount.

My point is that the new car owner needs to understand completely what he is buying, and why some warranties cost $4000 and some are less than $800. It's all about risk management and risk tolerance: are you laid back or a worrier?

My feeling is that an $800 policy is fine, and probably unnecessary, for a reliable vehicle like a Toyota. I would be very unhappy with a European car and that same policy - I think it would eat you alive in costs in a few years.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[vigil]

Ah - OK - I smell what you're steppin' in now.

 

[The G Man]

We looked at getting an extended warranty on our Camry before its B to B ran out.

So, what we did was add up all the repair costs our Subaru (with around 150k miles on it at the time) cost us before 100k miles (the extent of the warranty we were considering) figuring the reliability was going to be pretty comparable, or the Toyota would be slightly better. Once we did that, we found a striking price difference, and that it was much cheaper for us to do repairs as we go rather than purchase an extended warranty, even when we totalled the cost of repairs up to 150k miles (well above the extended warranty). That doesn't factor in the interest on the money we would have earned by leaving it in the bank. However, I do most all of the repairs myself, so my costs are typically significantly lower than most people's. Also, keep in mind that no warranty will cover wear and tear items like belts, clutches, brake pads, etc.

Our Camry now has 71k miles on it and I haven't been sorry yet, though it did have some repairs necessary under its standard new-car warranty. It will also need new struts sometime soon (next year or so?), but that would probably be a "wear and tear" item anyway.

An extented warranty is an insurance policy, some people will benefit from it and some won't. I had a 96 jeep Grand Cherokee with a 7 year extented warranty. It cost $850 at the time. By the time the 7 years was up, I had about 3 thousand dollars in claims. The fuel pump fail, the dash board gauges fail and the 4WD fail to engage. Meanwhile, my brother in law who bought the same car during the same year had zero problem except for the normal wear and tear items.