Wandl

Maybe to bring up Roadfrog's automotive past, but I would certainly advocate an extended warranty on another vehicle. I mean we're talking about a 2014 LS460 here, which historically has had little faults and currently gives owners very little trouble.

If we were talking about a 2014 X5...or a 2014 XF, or 2014 XC90....hell, even a 2014 Durango, I would almost flip this discussion around and financially/emotionally suggest picking up an extended warranty.

Wife and I very very very briefly looked at the new 2016 XC90; there were a few loaners that were being sold as CPO with a 7yr/100k exclusionary warranty. After reading some forum feedback and user experiences, we focused on a Lx570 for her because of electronic gremlins in the first-model-year vehicle. I would hesitate to get many vehicles today without an extended warranty; I got a Lexus because I really don't need to worry about things like that.

All in all, to the OP with the 2014 LS460, history shows you may be better off putting that $$ in the bank for a rainy day than an extended warranty.

Kuhan

Yes 100%!!!

Junglequac

Extended warranties make sense for many German cars and pre Tata Range Rovers and I would not spend extra to get one on a 460.
Aside from factory backed extended coverage, CarMax is the only place I know of that offers a 3rd party warranty that is universally accepted at all dealers. I think you pay $50 (might be $100 now), but that co-pay allows you to take the car to the dealership as opposed to Carmax's mechanics.

aw001

Agreed. Will place money in " when sh^& hit the fan" account. Btw, dealership is 500-800 more than toby's Sheesh!

bigsherv

Hi Guys,I think I have found a used LS460 F Sport I might pursue purchasing. It is a 2014 with 22K miles. So it has some of the 4Y/50K mile warranty left on it. I have read many people’s opinions about buying an extended warranty and I have experienced both sides of it.

• With my Nissan Maxima I paid $1400 which extended my coverage to 107K and 5 years from the day I got it. It was a third party warranty through my credit union and I ended up having it cover $7K in repairs.
• With our Acura TL we paid about $2500 for the 7 year, 100K warranty and I only got about 1500 worth of repairs from it.
• With our 5 series which was a hand me down… man. I have paid so much in repairs it is unreal. While it drives fantastic, the upkeep is never ending. They don’t even creep up on you. It is just bam.. here is a message and your car won’t run today.

With the F Sport the known issue is the air suspension that people have mentioned in many places. It isn’t really an if it is a when will it fail. I had one go out on my Navigator and converted it to a traditional suspension. It was fine but it never had that Lincoln feel again. My goal is to honestly have this car for 8-10 years. I do that with all of my cars. I pay them off then use them for a couple of years beyond that. I want to have the first 4-5 years of my ownership to be as free from surprising repairs as possible. For me the extended warranty seems to make sense. Even if you go to a private mechanic the repairs for the air suspension are more than the price of the policy. What do you all think?

roadfrog

When people quote, "I saved xxxx dollars because I had a warranty", they are always quoting what the dealership charged to the warranty company. Fact is, MANY of the common repairs needed on our LS's are a fraction of the cost when done by an indy, DIY, using aftermarket, etc. A good example is the Control Arms and water pump. Replacing a control arm at an indy could cost you 200-300 bucks, vs thousands at the dealer. I replaced my water pump for 50 bucks as a DIY and Lexus would have charged me 460 for the pump plus 500 in labour. And on it goes. Air suspension admittedly, is another POTENTIAL issue. But even then, aftermarket can be had or even converting to conventional suspension is an option.

At the end of the day it's your comfort level that will dictate whether you should or shouldn't. Personally, an extended warranty would not have payed off on my 130k mile '08, nor would it have in any other car I've purchased, except my BMW 7 series (which wasn't even offered, because the warranty companies excluded BMW etc). Also, every consumer publication, advice column, etc, advocates against warranty purchases. Consumer reports did a study that found that something like 70% of warranties were never used and a fraction of those that were used, only recouped a fraction of the warranty purchase price. So basically less than 10% of warranty purchases will pay you back. Ever wonder why dealers spend more time trying to sell you a warranty than they do selling you the car? It's a money maker for them.

Kennyr44

I just bought a loaded up 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I bought a Mopar factory unlimited miles and unlimited years complete car mechanical and electrical warranty with $100 deductible per initial visit. It even covers air suspension which I declined. Three problems on your visit in one $100 deductible for all three. If a single repair will cost more than the NADA retail value of the car they cut you a check for that value and the policy ends, you keep the car with the repairs still needed. Repair at any Jeep dealer in the country its right in the system when they put in your serial number. It cost me $2660. I never buy any extended warranty but this I could not pass up on. I would never feel I needed to buy an extended warranty on a Toyota product but a deal like I just described would turn me.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

They're betting you'll sell the car long before the "unlimited miles, unlimited years" warranty has used $2660! It is, after all, a piece of cr_p (sorry).

SW17LS

The X Factor here is the air suspension, and the OP's desire to maintain factory air suspension. This is not a repair that can be dramatically cheaper, the air struts are $1k each, that's just what they are. Independent or not, it's going to cost $$. I would buy the warranty OP. Would I buy a warranty for my non air suspension LS460? Probably not.

Well, a midrange Jeep Grand Cherokee

The Mopar warranty even if it's not "forever" basically means it's warranties for as long as you own it, which if you think about it is still pretty darn good.

Lots of Grand Cherokees still on the road with a lot of miles on them. It's a very nice vehicle. Longevity? It's not as guaranteed as a Lexus but I would roll the dice on one vs a Lexus RX or GX any day. Add the $2,660 for this warranty for piece of mind and it's still way cheaper for a way nicer vehicle.

The Mopar warranty also gets you a loaner car which is huge.

roadfrog

Well.......sort of....there's lots of them on Ebay - NEW for 600 each free shipping - some out of Japan and some in the US.

SW17LS

$600 each is still $2,400 for all 4 just for the parts...and theres a very high likelihood of them all 4 failing, and perhaps even multiple times during the term of the warranty.

In this instance I think its a lot easier to have the warranty and just drop it off at Lexus and let them handle it while you drive out in a loaner, even if the cost is break even.