ZMonet

I guess the Metro-DC area is buying a lot of the country's SC430s. Add my wife to the list. We just purchased a 2002 with 35K miles. She is moving on from a 2006 G35 Coupe 6-speed and so far she absolutely loves the SC430, even if it is an '02. Anyway, I've been reading through a ton of messages and trying to educate myself as much as possible, both prior to buying and now that we have bought something. This bring me to my questions:

WARRANTY

Unfortunately I found out after I bought the car that the in-service date is just months past my being eligible to purchase an extended Lexus Warranty. I was really banking on that, but I need to move on now. The big question is whether it is even worth it to buy a warranty if it isn't the Lexus warranty. I currently have a warranty on my Land Rover Discovery and it isn't the most pleasant experience to deal with shops and use the warranty because they need to get prior permission.


My wife will likely put 18,000 miles/year on this car. I've been given a quote of $1765 for an exclusionary warranty, 48 months/100,000 miles, through *****************. The warranty is administered by Alpha Warranty. I could find nothing about the warranty company by doing a Google search, but they have a "Satisfactory" rating with the BBB -- one complaint in 3 years. There is a $100 deductible but I can forgo that if I pay an extra $150 -- that seems like a no-brainer if I did it. They follow Mitchel and All-Data for labor. EXCLUDED: Tires, battery, all glass, lenses, sealed beams, light bulbs, brake rotors and drums, shock absorbers, exhaust systems, catalytic converter, charcoal canisters, door handle assemblies, telephones, televisions, CD players, DVD players radar detectors, fusable links and fuses, circuit boards, head light assemblies, tail light assemblies, radios, shop supplies, hazardous waste charges, bolts, screws, nuts and washers . Any parts replacement or service which is considered normal maintenance (such as tune-ups, carburetor adjustments, oil changes, chasis lubrication, engine adjustments, fuel system cleaning, repairs related to fuel or oil contamination, spark plugs, front end alignments, wheel balancing, positive crankcase ventilation valves, filters, belts hoses, constant velocity and double offset joint seals and or boots, brake linings or pads, manual clutch assemblies, friction disc, throwout bearings, pressure plate and manual hydraulic linkages.) Imperfections in paint trim or other appearance items, squeaks, rattles, wind noises, water leaks, body, door and glass alignment, weather strips, trim molding, bright metal, chrome, upholstery, carpet, paint, outside ornamentation, bumpers, sheet metal, vinyl and convertible tops, tires, rims and door hinge assemblies.

My question to you SC430 veterans is whether anything here screams out at you on the "exclude list" that is a big ticket item(s) that basically make the warranty worthless. My next question is whether anyone has heard of Alpha Warranty.

TIRES

The car has the run-flat tires with about 8/10s life left on them. My wife is going to be using this as a daily driver, averaging about 280 miles/week. Do we need to get snow tires for this car, or will it handle ok with the stock run-flats? On really bad days my wife wouldn't go in or we'd go in together using my Land Rover.

Thanks for any help. I apologize for the long post but I wanted to give enough info and, maybe more importantly, leave some information for people who search for these types of posts going forward.

Habious

Welcome local! I'm in VA so, I get to experience similar weather to you.

The stock run-flats pretty much suck in the snow...any snow.

Most everyone here asks the same question..gets the same answer and, as soon as they can, gets rid of the Run-Flats. Mine came with a new set so, I couldn't justify buying new tires and throwing these new ones away. "Fortunately", the Run-Flats only lasted about 10K so, I went through one light winter with them...then they were gone; replaced by Michelin Pilot A/S's.

The top system is, from what I understand, VERY expensive to have repaired/replaced if it fails. I see that the warranty you've listed there specifically excludes this. There have been virtually no reports of major failures with the tops. But, you're taking a risk there.

Also, especially with the older models, there have been some issues with the ML stereo CD player (jams disks or gives an error code). Not a huge problem but, there have been a few reports of this. Also the ML amp and speakers are not the most robust. I see that "CD player" is listed as an excluded item.

Those are my thoughts.

I've had my 03' for almost 2 years now and had virtually no problems at all with them. The tire pressure sensors fail eventually (there's a battery in each sensor, in each wheel). I've had 3 of the 4 die on me...one at a time. For me, they were covered under warranty but, still a pain to make separate trips to the dealer each time one failed. Some folks choose to simply disable the system once one or more sensors go (there's a stick here about that). Personally, I like the piece-of-mind I get with the system. It's warned me of a low/flat tire on more than one occasion.

ZMonet

Thanks Habius. I appreciate the input. I think the "convertible tops" refers to damage to the top itself, but this brings up the point of ambiguity that a poor warranty company can always use. If the problem is the motors that run the convertible top, I guess they could say this is a problem with a convertible top. As the warranty holder, I would argue that the motor is a distinct and separate part...and I'd probably lose.

Anybody out there have an aftermarket warranty that is worthwhile?

mrblister

Welcome

search files on forum warranty. lots of information and names of other companys to call
Buddy

ZMonet

Thanks MrBlister. I did a search for warranty, but I didn't see a lot of names of aftermarket warranties. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? The one name I did see was Warranty Gold, but they are out of business. Obviously there is the Lexus warranty, but my in-service date is out of range for that. What I would prefer is a warranty where I can go to the Lexus dealer, drop off my car and items that are covered under the warranty are fixed without a big hassle between myself, Lexus and the warranty company.

Thanks anyone for any help.

mrblister

Your right I was unable to find a thread as well. I remember reading about several companys. I was with in my warranty period and I did purhcase plat plus from lexus 3 year 75,000 miles for 1590.00 My car is a 2005 with 5900 miles. { I may never get to 75,000 ] but at least I have 3 years more ] I will keep looking and post if I find anything

Buddy

EJC

I've leased my Scs. I was in an '02 and swapped that out a year ago for a lo wiles '03 certified.

I was tempted to buy the '02 (5 yrs old at the time w/ 35K on the odo) until my dealer commented "do you really want to own a car where a roof servo costs $1K.

With these high tech vehicles ,even though they don't break often, I've been using the philosophy warranty=lease term; 4yr warranty=4yr lease, 3yr certified warranty=3yr lease.

ZMonet

Does anyone have an aftermarket warranty on their SC430? I don't want to go into this blindly, but it doesn't seem like anyone uses anyone but Lexus for their warranty. I'd love to, but that isn't an option because of my in-service date.

paul_k

I'm sure you are aware that the SC was the most reliable car in the 05 JD Power survey. I've had mine for 2.5 years now and only had the headlamp levelling sensor failed.

There have been a few issues with oxygen sensors at high mileages and also Engine mounts. At the end of the day you would probably pay more for the warranty than what would go wrong. However if I had a Land Rover Discovery I would get a bullet proof warranty as they are notoriously bad.

Cheers


Paul

driftway

Got my 2002 sc430 2 days ago (best car I've ever driven, by the way), 33k miles (!) and can only do third party warranty. Warrantydirect.com guy told me roof motor/servo is included.
I'm debating now whether to do this. In general, I go for warranties to save on catastrophic stuff.
Hasn't anyone used Warrantydirect.com?

intdiamond

iTrader: (2)

Just want to post a caveat about 3rd party warranties;

When I owned an Acura Legend coupe about a million years ago, I bought a 3rd party warranty, through the dealership, for something like $1100.00. After a year and a half, I had a cracked block. When we tried to contact the warranty company, they were out of business. The Acura dealer basically told me I was S.O.L.

I'm not saying this is commonplace in the 3rd party warranty world, but it's something to consider. I think checking out the company's history and financial worthiness prior to purchasing is a good idea.

My 2c.

EJC

Check with you State insurance Dept., I believe they may be required to have a fund for existing warranties.