Hello, I bought a used 2009 Prius yesterday. Silver, 89k miles, looks to be in great condition. I was "offered" an extended warranty for about $2,500, spread out over 48 months. This warranty would have a $100 deductible and cover basically anything wrong with the car that is not normal maintenance items, like spark plugs, tires, oil changes, and the batteries. Normally I would say no, but with all of the electronics on a Prius I can image 1 or 2 problems in the next 4 years would cover the cost of the warranty. As a group of people that have been driving this sort of car for a lot of years, would you pony up the extra money to keep your car going in case of problems? Thank you for your time. Hamuga
Put 25oo dollars in the bank, pay your "covered expenses" out of the 2500, I'd be willing to bet you'll have money left in that account the end of 48 months. Oh and by the way, the insurance company is betting that way also.
How many miles do you drive a year? What state do you live in? CARB states have 10 year 150,000 mile warranty automatic from Toyota. California is a cARB state? Is the Traction Battery the big battery and inverter covered in the extended warranty? In general warranties are a waste of money. Prius can go easy 150,000 miles on routine maintenance. After that it depends on how you treated your car, the environment, etc. If you took that $2,500 and put it in the bank you will be better off. Warranty companies have plenty of legalize and you find many things are omitted when you try to use them. I suggest you avoid extended warranties. The cost also seems expensive, Prius chat sells extended warranty for about a Grand. Put the money in the bank. That extra $100 a month put in a IRA and invest in you future. Get a Good index fund.
Check the service record. You got a 100K service coming up. Quick advice do a drain an fill on the transaxle fluid soon. Cost less than $100 at the dealer. Worth it.
Why anyone falls for the scam of extended warranty I don't know... It's a total rip off. These cars are too reliable for that...
Thanks everyone for the advice. I live in MN, and I take rather nice care of my cars. Or at least I think so. My family puts about 1,000 or so miles on a car a month, most of it are highway miles. In the past we have always borrowed my father's truck for better gas milage on our long trips. Now we have a car that can do that with ease. The batteries are not covered. Like I said, I normally would not even think twice about taking it. However I just put $3k into my Subaru WRX that would have been covered by something like this. (Maybe) I am not saying I don't trust a Toyota (I would not have bought it if I didn't) but I have never driven a Toyota before. Thank you all so much for the advice!
You are not driving that many miles per year. If you take care of the car, do all the required maintenance on Time you should be OK. Is their a Chance of a Catastrophic mechanical failure. Yes. Probable no. Consumer Reports voted Prius most reliable car Save your money. If you feel the warranty is needed shop. That price is way over priced. Discounted Toyota Prius Extended Warranty /Service Contracts | PriusChat
Thank you. I knew it was a good idea to bounce the idea around here. Thanks for the link, I will check it out, but it sounds like the chance and probabilities are on my side.
