USAA offers Extended Vehicle Protection plans offering a Comprehensive Protection Plan for between 12-36 months or 12,000 to 36,000 miles. They range from $597 to $1,215 and here are the details. Does anyone think this is a good deal or worthwhile? I currently have about 60,000 miles on my 2010 Prius. Interested in what the hive thinks...
Waste of money IMO. Put that money to work for you in a interest bearing account reserved for future repairs IF they are needed. Chances are you will spend less in the long run if you pay for any needed repairs rather than buying a extended warranty. Most of the time the seller of the warranty is the one who profits from it. If you keep up with the maintenance of your Prius, and do the things that are recommended here on Prius Chat the chance of you having a major malfunction and or repair is less than what it would be if you simply drove the car and relied upon a warranty. There is a section on this forum that is reserved for maintenance on your Prius. Also look into the warranty. If you do purchase such a thing, be sure you understand what is and what is not covered under said warranty. Best of luck to you. Ron (dorunron)
Bank the money and use it for repairs. You should only buy insurance for for those risks that you can't afford. Like auto accidents and liability claims.
Something to keep in mind with extended warranties is that companies offer them to make a profit, not to be nice and save everyone money. In order for them to make a profit, they have to have more money coming in than they pay out. So the average customer loses money on the deal. In my opinion, it would be much better to take the money you would have spent on the warranty and set it aside for car maintenance. Then if something happens, you have a big chunk (hopefully) of the money already sitting around. If nothing happens, then you have a big chunk of money to use for whatever. However, for some people, the peace of mind is worth the price. Just be sure you confirm what is covered and what isn't, especially with a hybrid. Edit: Ya, what they said.
Problem with 3rd party extended warranty is that you have to FIGHT with them just to get something covered and sometimes they will pick up the tab and most of the time they'll pay partial or none if the deem not applicable. So yeah warranty, is like an auto insurance, its easy for them to take your money then its to get money from them. And besides you should be fine at 60K miles in a Prius it still has many more trouble free miles to go, that is if you keep up with your maintenance, ie oil changes ect ect,
Does your dealer look homeless? Does he need more of your money? If so, think of it as a charitable but non tax deductible donation.
I was surprised to find the extended warrantee offered to me was 8 year, 100k. I got to looking in my owners manual for warrantee info and found the batteries are 8 year 100k (I was told by the dealer 7 year 100k). I'm going from memory here but I believe the HSD system is warranted for either 60k or 80k and the emissions systems for 80k (this varies from state to state). If something major hasn't failed by 60k the chances of them failing are pretty much nil. Warrantee companies are betting one way and you buying it says you are betting another. I bought one for a used car back in the 70's and it paid off due to the a/c compressor going south. Other than that, I have never had an off the wall, major failure in any car I have ever owned and I'm in my 50's. Extended warrantees are money makers for them and a waste for the consumer.
I'm gonna disagree with everybody here and say I think it's a GREAT deal! I mean, getting somebody to pay you $600-$1200 for coverage that overlaps pretty significantly with the powertrain warranty (at least for the expensive items) on a car that's relatively new and not likely to break down anyway? Totally worth it! Oh, wait, you want to know if it's a good deal for YOU? No, probably not. The only reason why you should get something like this is if a major breakdown would bankrupt you, leaving you without a car. Of course, if you have that little money to begin with, you don't really have money to be throwing away on this coverage anyway. They're going to make a profit on those policies, and they'll do it by not paying for repairs, paying the lowest bidder to do a shoddy job, and by charging you more than the average repair cost.
