LexRexBlue

We kept our original RX300 for 12 years. We didn't have an extended warranty and had no regrets. Major items were covered by the dealer before 8 (? forget how many years the drivetrain is covered) and wouldn't have recouped the cost of an extended warranty. We sold our RX400h after 5 years but had no major issues and the battery is covered for many years.
Because Lexus and the dealer back their product I wouldn't buy an extended warranty. I do have coverage on the wheels and tires on my IS though!

MC5Wes

It depends upon your situation. Dont buy the warranty until you need it. If you might traded it in or sell it. There no sense paying the money.

Also if you buy the last year a car is made. Say a 2009 RX. They have fixed all the problems. But if your are buying a first year car like a 2010 RX. It might be worth it in the long run.

I paid 600 hundred dollars for 2 years of extended warranty on my 2007 RX350. Thats just one repair at the Lexus dealer.

And it has already paid for itself. My XM reciever went out about 45 days after my warranty expired. That was almost 500 dollars.

Then a month ago the air bag light started flashing. My passenger seat air bag went bad. That was almost 1000 dollars.

These are the only two repairs I have had to do to my car. And I still have 8 months left.

600 dollars for two years of peace of mind. That is .82 cents a day.

Its worth it.

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

not needed for Lexus but they never hurt.

Usually my encounters with warranties involve something going wrong AFTER the warranty is over

jimmymagic

When I purchased my RX 350 in May, the business manager mentioned it because he said he "had to" but he didn't push it. I passed.

ejm3

As you have noticed by now everyone has a different opinion on extended warranties.

Honestly the RX is probably one of the most reliable cars built so I hesitate to pay for an extended warranty. However because I have the navigation system I might think a litle differently. It controls basically everything and if it craps out you not only lose navigation but all your climate controls, radio functionality, etc. I'm willing to bet troubleshoot any gremlins that might show up in there will be expensive in terms of labor hours to fix.

Now BMW has an outstanding plan for the first 4 years / 50k miles and after that if I chose to keep the car I will definately get the warranty because repairs on BMW's (esp convertibles) are frequent and very expensive. Also it should be noted that BMW charges a fair amount more for extended warranties if you have the navigation system than if you don't.

The other question you should be asking is regarding maintenance plans. Not sure if Lexus has them but BMW does. Unlike an extended warranty where you are rolling the dice that something will or won't go wrong with your car you KNOW you will have maintenance costs. So getting the plan basically locks you in at a price so you don't have to clip coupons or scout your local dealers for the lowest price on service items.

I have a couple years to think about it but right now my gut feel is to roll the dice with my RX and spend the money on the warranty & maint. plan on my BMW.

Also I would hesitate to use an outside warranty comany. I have heard horror stories about people trying to get reimbursed for repairs. Also who knows if these companies will still be around in a few years when you might actually need them.

BertL

Agree with most of your thoughts here -- I'd likely never consider the "maintenance" prepay policy as I'm a low mileage driver, so it financially never works out for me, but to each their own. One consideration on "outside warranty company" use... Besides the point if they are around in a few years, anyone considering any extended warranty policy MUST read the fine print before signing on the dotted line -- e.g I ended up buying a 3rd party 10-year extended warranty for my 2009 BMW 335i Convertible because the BMW OEM policy surprisingly did not cover the convertible top itself... all the electronics, yes, the physical convertible top itself, no. I ran that up the flagpole with BMW NA while my car was being manufactured, as I couldn't believe what I thought I was reading and my dealer was of no help -- BMW NA ended up agreeing with me that the top and supporting motors would not be covered after the basic 4-year warranty expired -- the 3rd party version actually covered the top and more for about the same price. (Of interest is the Lexus OEM version covered my SC430 and it's top way back in 2002 -- even though I fortunately had no claims on the top in the 7 years I owned it.)

dctex99

Many of us would never even CONSIDER a BMW, so lets get back to Lexus warranty!!

ejm3

I'm sure BMW NA is positively devistated that you would not even consider buying a BMW, I think his point was to read the fine print of any warranty because not everything is always covered or their might be deductibles, etc.

BertL

Yes. Thank you!

dctex99

no, THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU

mike302

My previous car was a BMW X3 with no extended warranty. Unfortunately major mechanical problems started coming up---only after the warranty had expired!

The RX is my first Lexus and I purchased the 8yr extended warranty, the cost of which is a fraction of what I paid to have the BMW fixed. I hope you're right about Lexus's quality, and I never have to use the warranty!

ejm3

If you want that piece of mind and plan on keeping the car for a while it probably makes sense to just buy the warranty and sleep well at night. Just make sure it covers everything you think it does.

I come from a long line of Hondas, Acuras, Toyotas and Lexus' (Lexi?) and keep them for a while (100k-200k miles) and honestly I would have lost out on every one had I bought the extended warranties. Personal experience is why I'll probably bag the warranty on the this RX (and I do plan on keeping it).

But as they say in the investment world, past history is no guarantee of future performance.

TexasRxh

The wife and I are on our 3rd Lexus. Latest is a 2013 Rx450h and I did buy an extended warranty because it does have a lot of expensive stuff on it and they did make some changes in 2013. We did not buy the warranty on the wife's 2012 ES 350 because it's leased and the lease includes coverage for everything. My first Lexus was a 2008 Rx400h which I bought in 2009 with ~ 18k miles. I did buy an extended warranty because I had always used them in the past on the line of Chevy Suburbans I'd owned. I traded the 2008 when I bought the 2013 and orignially said NO to the warranty because my Rx400h had 70k miles and had NO issues. But the stuff on this new one is just so danged expensive I opted to go with the EW for one reason - peace of mind.

It's all about risk management: how likely is it that something will go wrong. If it does, what is the impact? What you're looking for are the items on your risk list that have both a high probability of occurrence AND an high impact when it occurs. Nothing on my list was actually high/high...but like I said, it was all about peace of mind. And if I trade the vehicle in 2 or 3 years I'll get a refund on most of the cost of the warranty.

ejm3

I agree with you on this point: This RX has a lot of bells & whistles built in and that means there's lots to go wrong that would be expensive to fix. The whole Nav system has me a bit worried because if that bites the dust I'm in big trouble and it will be expensive to fix.

Admittedly my previous cars had a lot less in them that could go wrong.

cloud11244

if you decide to get an extended warranty, you may want to check the prices given by Troy Dietrich (TDietrich@FD-Warranty.com, 413-772-0989). I (and others on this forum) found his prices to be much less expensive than the dealers's prices. In fact I purchased one with the dealer then cancelled it and bought one from Troy.