Advice about purchasing a warranty

Hello everyone -

I'm thinking about purchasing at 2018 SR5 Limited with 44K miles and was wondering how you all feel about buying the extended warranty? The offer was about $3K for 75K additional miles and includes repair of electronics. My last 4Runner was a 2003 that I drove for 248K miles and it's been the most reliable car I've ever owned so I'm leaning against purchasing the warranty.
Any thoughts, experience or advice is welcomed, thank you!

 

I never buy extended warranty but thats just me.

 

I always buy them. They generally save something, and one big repair can be huge.
I prefer to buy from a Toyota dealership a platinum full coverage plan, with no deductible if you repair at dealership. You should be able to negotiate it down quite a bit.

 

There's a lot of factors that come into play when making that decision. How quickly will you go through 75,000 miles? How much can go wrong with a 4runner that is so young? How well has it been maintained up to this point, what was it used for, service history, etc. Personally, I would not opt to pay $3,000 for an extended warranty. It feels like your tossing it away. I think the best bang for your buck is to create an account with your banking institution, deposit x amount of dollars per month, and only utilize that for vehicles repairs. That's what I do ..at the end of the day you use what you need and lose nothing in the end. Whereas that $3,000 is gone when you hit that mileage, and while I could be wrong, I just can't imagine $3,000 worth of repairs (electronics included) in that short of time. Besides, in comparison to warranties (extended or otherwise), for the same $3,000 a friend of mine got lifetime bumper to bumper for his Jeep. The only catch is that its not transferrable, but in the end it is worth it to him as he plans to keep it until the wheels fall off. In fact, its covering him A LOT right now as he might have to get an entire engine replacement due to an oil issue that even the engineers they flew in are having trouble diagnosing.

You're likely going to get varying answers, but its your $3,000. To some $3,000 is a weekend in Vegas or on the lake and don't think twice about it, to others it can make or break depending on timing.

 

I paid 1600 for a 10 year 120k warranty. If you get one 3k is way too much.

 

Depends on if it is Toyota warranty or 3rd party! If 3rd party, just say no. Toyota, too expensive for what you get. Talk them down.

 

That sounds terrible.

 

I don't mess with extended warranties. The fine print is just too absurd.

I went in because my Tacoma's head unit shit the bed. I had an extended warranty, the fine print read "all electronic components except head unit and related components..."

I've never bought another warranty since.

 

I don’t keep my vehicles that long, but I always purchase an extended warranty because it makes private resale easier. I always get a top price for any Toyota 4x4 I’ve owned, and it pays for itself. I get the coverage and the next owner pays for it.

 

First off there is no SR5 Limited, it’s either an SR5 (base model) or a Limited (top of the line model).

While prepaying $3000 for repairs on a vehicle that is extremely unlikely to need them over the course of 120,000 miles is a terrible investment in general, what model are you actually buying? If it is in fact an actual Limited it has the XREAS suspension, there’s a decent chance a dampener will leak prior to 120,000 miles and the system is not serviceable, it’s very expensive replace only. You may come close to getting your moneys worth that way, but even then that’s just a foolish way to spend in. When you time comes you can spend $500 on some Dobinson or Bilstein shocks and replace the system with batter stuff for significantly less than $3000. It’s hydraulic and purely mechanical, there’s not a single sensor or electrical coomponemt anywhere. Simple lay remove the shocks, and the hydraulic lines and comments along the frame rails and throw it all away then install regular non hydraulicly linked shocks. You can probably even find someone local with low mile great condition takes off from an SR5 or TRD Off-Road for anywhere from a 6 pack of decent beer to $50.

 

BMW = Warranty
Ford = Warranty
Jeep = don’t buy the vehicle
4RUnner = spend money on mods instead

 

Change BMW from warranty to lease and aim right there with you lol

 

True true.

 

LOL that's good. And IMO about hits the nail on the head regarding the relative reliability of these vehicles.

But extended warranties are seldom recommended by people who understand the economics of them. I'm not saying they're always a bad idea, or never benefit anyone, and for some people it's worth paying for the extra peace of mind (even if the value is really just IN their mind ;-) ). In Oldtoyotaguy's case, he finds that he gets his money back on resale because so many used car buyers find these warranties valuable (to which I'd say, cause they ain't that educated about them). In any case it's an issue of odds. In most cases you don't get your money's worth. And in a lot of cases you just get pissed off because you paid all that money only to suffer from the gotchas in the fine print.

Personally, I'd never buy from a third party. If I thought the peace of mind was worth it I'd try to negotiate a discount on a factory (not dealer) extended warranty. On this front, the extended warranties that come with CPO deals can be really good, though of course you are paying for them through the higher price of the CPO vehicle.

But really, the best advice in this whole thread was from Abanero when he suggested putting that 3k in the bank and/or saving a little money every month for repairs down the road. Insurance is a great thing in general. But sometimes, the smartest move is to be "self insured."

 

I agree completely, Singleminded. But when I sell a vehicle privately you’d be amazed how that extended warranty gives confidence to the deal. Actually I’ve never had to use it myself, except for the free oil changes, and tire rotations which are no big deal, but it’s a big assurance to a new buyer that it’s there. Human psychology I guess.

 

The few guys that have had to use their warranties say don't buy em'.

Everyone else that's bought an extended warranty and hasn't used them with andectodal evidence to support their purchase say buy em'.

Society is funny.

 

True enough, sometimes just having it is enough and peace of mind.

 

When I bought my 4R, the dealership attempted to sell me the Toyota extended warranty for $1100. I turned it down. $3000 sounds like a lot IMO.

 

They offer different packages but you’re right TRDPro916. I never pay more than 2000 Canadian for what I get and it’s fine. I probably wouldn’t go for an extended warranty at that price point because it’s too much markup to recover at the time of resale in 4-5 years.

 

I rarely buy warranties on vehicles, but I do have a few rules. I buy a warranty on a vehicle my wife depends on if i'm going to be away. I also buy if I purchase a first year run of something, and finally, I buy if it's a new to me brand and I'm unsure. During 2010, I was living a few hours away on a contract job and I bought her a Chevy Equinox. 70,000 miles in the power liftgate died, another 10,000 miles later the timing chain issue which those year models are notorious for reared up.

Completely justified the warranty. I dumped the car quickly afterwards. It was the first Chevy I've ever bought.

I just bought the wife a 2020 Subaru Outback Onyx XT, so it's got a CVT and a Turbo. $1800 american is a lot of cash for me, who (other than the Equinox) never buys warranties. However, I felt like since we'd actually not drive the 100k miles in the 6 years, I'm spreading the cost over repairs out over time and financed them into the vehicle. I somehow don't believe I'll make it 100k miles on a CVT with a Turbo, so in this case I'm rolling the warranty dice with the factory. If they prove me wrong and make a dependable, CVT, Turbo, first year run of a vehicle, then they earned that $1800 !

Either way, my costs are fixed, even if I paid a premium.

I do not, however, buy warranties on ANYTHING at Best Buy. Avoid that nonsense.

 

IMO you're wise to worry about that CVT. Subaru has def had issues with them, some versions in particular. At the moment I don't recall which ones have been the worst but my recollection is they're still using the problematic version in a couple models inc the Ascent. Not sure about the Outback. Regardless, this type of tranny doesn't have a great reputation generally. Hopefully you'll be lucky with it. There's a lot to like about Subarus overall.

Edited to add: I've had a LOT of Subarus, and in fact learned to drive manual on my parents' early 80s Subaru when I first got my license.

My wife and I briefly had a manual trans late 90s Legacy wagon that had 150K on an engine that still purred and didn't even consume oil.

An 08 Impreza that I really liked except for the painful seats and the poor MPG from the antiquated 4 spd tranny.

An 09 CVT Outback that I liked for its utility but that had the body rigidity of a wet noodle (fixed in subsequent generations) plus a CVT drone that most makers have since figured out how to banish.

A manual trans 13 BRZ (one of my fav cars of all time, though it had a nagging issues with water getting into the rear taillights).

And a manual trans 15 Forester that was great once they replaced the engine block as part of a class action settlement over oil consumption. This thing burned like a quart every 800-1000 miles, then nothing at all once Subaru replaced the short block. And no other issues while we had it. Good car.

A manual trans 19 WRX that I traded in for the Limited. That was a real love/hate relationship.

I think the stats show Subarus to be solidly average when it comes to reliability, but I think their AWD system is superb and prefer their handling over most cars in the price range. They also tend to have a lot of utility in addition to the AWD, with good ground clearance and lots of interior room relative to their exterior dimensions.

 

This newer version of the CVT is called a "high torque CVT" and I'm hoping is more of a heavy duty version. It's rated to tow 3500 lbs. I will only put a hitch on it to carry bikes, however. I have the 4runner for towing, and it's vastly superior.

Did you see the Gen 2 BRZ is going to use the engine in my Outback, the 2.4H Turbo? That might be a hoot, considering it makes 260 hp / 280 tq

 

Totally! I'm not a huge fan of turbos (no pun intended LOL) but that seems like a good motor that would fix the main complaint about the BRZ. Subaru should use a hopped up version of this engine in the WRX too. The current WRX engine has the worst implementation of a turbo I've ever experienced. Horrible. Miserable thing to drive, and only because of that shitty engine.

In either car, I'd settle for less power if I could get the sweet revy turbine smoothness of the normally aspirated 3.0 six that was the core BMW engine for many years. That's my fav motor of all time, and I've owned a BMW M235i! But for high power in small engines, turbos like on your 2.4 are certainly the way to go. BMW's 2.0 turbo is really good, as is the one in just about every VW and Audi. I really liked the one in my GTI. So they can be done well.

Good news on your CVT. I actually like a good CVT. They def have some advantages. The one in my kid's KIA seems excellent.

 

NICE

 

LOL, I made myself laugh too

But I can't emphasize enough just how pissed I am about the WRX. It's a freaking brilliant car ruined by the shittiest "performance" engine on the market. The rest of the car is so pure, so analog, with such an elegant mechanical AWD system, such fantastic cornering, and all in a sporty size that can still fit five passengers and has a decent sized trunk. And it's less than 30K!. IF ONLY IT HAD AN ENGINE THAT DIDN'T SUCK SHIT!

Makes me want to cry.

 

On a different note, a co worker has a Golf R (not the GTI, the R).

That thing is fastttttttt