Carmax warranty and LS430
10-08-16, 11:27 AM
#31
Lead Lap
Doug was certainly paid by Carmax. It's creative "guerrilla" marketing that is carefully disguised, but it is definitely a form of advertising. He did dozens of youtube videos and articles about Carmax (who would write about Carmax that much?) In addition to the many Range Rover stories, he also had series of articles & vids about selling his Hummer to Carmax and more about getting an appraisal for his Aston-Martin at Carmax and stories about trying to sell his Ferrari to Carmax. He's even discussed the value of Carmax stock.
Even though he sometimes pokes fun at Carmax, it is always mild criticism which usually serves to highlight a benefit that Carmax offers. Doug is definitely a paid spokesperson. A well-disguised spokesperson.
I'm just guessing here, but perhaps it is because your cars with extended factory warranties have not ever been out of warranty, so they've always had dealer maintenance, making the car a safer bet. A 10 -15 year-old LS, on the other hand, will have had many years out of warranty and is more of a risk because they don't know what was (or was not) done to the car.
Even though he sometimes pokes fun at Carmax, it is always mild criticism which usually serves to highlight a benefit that Carmax offers. Doug is definitely a paid spokesperson. A well-disguised spokesperson.
I'm just guessing here, but perhaps it is because your cars with extended factory warranties have not ever been out of warranty, so they've always had dealer maintenance, making the car a safer bet. A 10 -15 year-old LS, on the other hand, will have had many years out of warranty and is more of a risk because they don't know what was (or was not) done to the car.
10-08-16, 09:18 PM
#32
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10-09-16, 12:38 AM
#33
I've bought a couple cars from carmax. Never bought the extended warranty because when I read the exclusions they included almost everything I would be concerned with. What is cool about carmax is you have 30 days to find anything wrong that needs repair. I used it on 2 previous purchases but didn't need to on my 06 LS. I ran the service history on it prior so I had a better idea of where to pick up from. Don't waste your money on their warranty
10-09-16, 07:31 AM
#34
I agree with others that the warranty is a waste of money. I purchased my 04 UL at 99k mile and kept her until earlier this year and 168k. I was offered one via my credit union for about $3500 I believe. It would of been a total waste of money. The reality is UL owners can replace the whole air suspension for about $1200 and this is the only weak point for some. Many UL owners don't have to touch the air suspension until 200k miles. I did not have one issue with my UL that would have been covered.
10-09-16, 06:58 PM
#35
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You could have done the 1st and 3rd repair for less than $10.00. The 2nd repair could have been just the batter but if the alternator it could have been done for less than $400 at an indp't shop or $150 for parts only by doing yourself. I don't see the warranty worth it if preventative maintenance was performed throughout the life of the car.
10-10-16, 05:21 AM
#36
Lexus Fanatic
edit: well I think this is good news, it looks like the tilt and telescope are different motors....89232-50050 telescope
89232-50060 tilt
This implies to me, that the telescope not working, does not mean the tilt is going to fail imminently? For now, I mean?
As mentioned, I don't need the telescope feature anyway, I want the wheel as far forward as possible....
Last edited by Johnhav430; 10-10-16 at 06:22 AM.
10-10-16, 05:22 AM
#37
Moderator
This on a car with 49,000 miles. Knowing the car sat ALOT of the time in it's previous life, I figured a few things would pop up after we started driving it more often. I'm just glad the compressor failed when it did...
10-10-16, 05:58 AM
#38
Lexus Fanatic
I did have the AC compressor replaced in that first 30 days and they covered it 100%. I had maybe 5 days left to go and the AC just stopped working..
This on a car with 49,000 miles. Knowing the car sat ALOT of the time in it's previous life, I figured a few things would pop up after we started driving it more often. I'm just glad the compressor failed when it did...
This on a car with 49,000 miles. Knowing the car sat ALOT of the time in it's previous life, I figured a few things would pop up after we started driving it more often. I'm just glad the compressor failed when it did...
Maxima has had ice cold air for 18 1/2 yrs....
10-10-16, 09:37 AM
#39
I think you can make a decent case for FACTORY extended warranties, especially with respect to certain brands that aren't so reliable. It's the aftermarket ones that can be sketchy.
I'm assuming to buy a CarMax warranty, you have to buy your car through a CarMax dealership. I just know the cost savings of buying a similar car from a private party vs one from CarMax with an extended warranty is such a huge difference in price that you'd be far better off putting those funds aside for future repairs. I could easily see that being $5k-$7k dollars total.
I'm assuming to buy a CarMax warranty, you have to buy your car through a CarMax dealership. I just know the cost savings of buying a similar car from a private party vs one from CarMax with an extended warranty is such a huge difference in price that you'd be far better off putting those funds aside for future repairs. I could easily see that being $5k-$7k dollars total.
10-10-16, 10:07 AM
#40
Lexus Fanatic
I think you can make a decent case for FACTORY extended warranties, especially with respect to certain brands that aren't so reliable. It's the aftermarket ones that can be sketchy.
I'm assuming to buy a CarMax warranty, you have to buy your car through a CarMax dealership. I just know the cost savings of buying a similar car from a private party vs one from CarMax with an extended warranty is such a huge difference in price that you'd be far better off putting those funds aside for future repairs. I could easily see that being $5k-$7k dollars total.
I'm assuming to buy a CarMax warranty, you have to buy your car through a CarMax dealership. I just know the cost savings of buying a similar car from a private party vs one from CarMax with an extended warranty is such a huge difference in price that you'd be far better off putting those funds aside for future repairs. I could easily see that being $5k-$7k dollars total.
10-10-16, 11:26 AM
#41
My BMW was on the Consumer Reports most unreliable list, and also the avoid list, from 2007-2009. In 2010 they did an about face, and it made the recommended list. I say they're unscientific--they are the only one that slammed the new VW GTI when it came out. Anyway, I went for the extended warranty, and got nothing out of it, the car was reliable! What I think happens is that you always hear from folks whose cars broke (Oh thank goodness I had the warranty, it just paid for itself 2X over in the first week!) But you rarely have folks like myself step forward and admit I got burned and nothing out of it. With this being said, we did get it on my wife's GM SUV....
Regarding Consumer Reports, they basically take trailing survey reports from owners about the specific problems they've had and try to make a prediction on the reliability of the model going forward. It's not perfect, but there's really no other good way to say how a reliable a "new" car is going to be unless you look at the history. So a car that maybe had a lot of issues finally gets some tweaks from the manufacturer going forward might be why they "change" a rating. And whether they "recommend" a car or not depends on what they think of the way the car drives in addition to the predicted reliability.
Personally, I think Consumer Reports is largely right on their reliability surveys. Lexus is routinely at the top and many European brands far more issues. I know that's been my experience as well. I've had 3 Lexus in a row with all over 130k miles and they've had very few issues.
You'd be amazed how many people swear up and down that Consumer Reports gets bribed by Japanese car companies because they give low marks to other brands over the years.
10-10-16, 03:11 PM
#42
An LS from CarMax isn't necessarily going to be a good car. I considering trading in an 03 Base. Looked nice but had some problems. These included 1) motor mounts, 2) leaking valve cover gaskets, 3) broken driver's side mirror and 4) a hefty dent in the underside panel of the car. CM did a "careful and detailed" inspection of the car and didn't mention any of these. The offer was ridiculously low so I passed. Had I traded it in, someone would have inherited the problems. Would a warranty have covered these?
10-10-16, 04:55 PM
#43
personally, I'd rather buy a used car from a regular joe off craigslist or other listing service. Believe me, careful questioning and inspection of maintenance records will flush out any issues. Plus, private sellers are more likely to mis-price the car and you therefore pick up a good deal. I've bought several cars this way over the years, never been burned once. As opposed to buying from a dealer, where they rarely have actual maintenance records or they feed you the usual BS that's it was an executive car, and they rarely drop their price significantly anyway.
10-10-16, 06:00 PM
#44
personally, I'd rather buy a used car from a regular joe off craigslist or other listing service. Believe me, careful questioning and inspection of maintenance records will flush out any issues. Plus, private sellers are more likely to mis-price the car and you therefore pick up a good deal. I've bought several cars this way over the years, never been burned once. As opposed to buying from a dealer, where they rarely have actual maintenance records or they feed you the usual BS that's it was an executive car, and they rarely drop their price significantly anyway.
10-10-16, 06:24 PM
#45
yeah you're right its harder and harder to find clean cars. My last two lexus' I had to go 1000 miles away to get the right car at the right price. You're also dead right about the fantasy pricers....geez some people are clueless and they'll stick with a high price for months. Dealers tend to be high but they're usually not dumb about it