Researching extended warranty options for our 2014 ES 3500 hybrid, which we plan to have for a long time. Already 52,000 miles. Anyone have experience w extended warranty companies, what's covered and what is not, costs, etc? Thanks!

 

I went through the company below. had to call them once but Lexus ended up fixing the car at no charge anyway. I did not realize I could go through Lexus and get a warranty which I bet most on here recommend. These cars are so reliable an extended warranty may be debatable but I like the peace of mind. Also if I sell the car (privately) the warranty transfers which can't hurt resale. Expect a couple grand for a decent warranty. I bought my Lexus at an Infinity dealer otherwise I would of went CPO and or Lexus all the way. Hopefully I don't have to test it. 100.00 deductible but covers pretty much everything except what any warranty would not like tires, brakes etc... Not sure if this helps but anyway, the Lexus dealer has no issue with them and said they rate just fine...

http://www.fidelitywarrantyservices....cle-protection

 

If you decide to buy an extended warranty, you should be aware of the fact that they are especially high profit items, and the markup on an extended warranty can be several hundred percent.

Years ago, I was brokering car sales, and I had the opportunity to sell my customers extended warranties. In good conscience, I had to recommend to those customers that they not buy the extended warranties. If they insisted that they wanted to buy one, I sold it to them for a fraction of the advertised price, and I still made a profit on the sale.

If you buy an extended warranty, the chances of you ever collecting more on a warranty claim than what you paid for the warranty are very small. It could happen, but it is unlikely, and that is especially true with a very reliable vehicle like the ES. If, over the course of your owning, say, your next 5 or 6 cars, you were to buy an extended warranty with each, it might be the case that, with one of those cars, you ended up collecting claims that exceeded the cost of the extended warranty, but you would still likely be thousands ahead over the course of ownership of those 5 or 6 cars if you did not buy extended warranties for them.

What, to me, makes more sense than buying an extended warranty, is to set up an account where you can set aside the money that you otherwise might have spent on an extended warranty to use for any unexpected repairs. If, as is likely, you don't have any unexpected repairs, you can use that money to buy your next car a little sooner than you might otherwise have done or to buy a little nicer car the next time.

Most here will say that, if you do want to buy an extended warranty, you would be better off with one from Lexus and not one from a 3rd party. However, I believe that you can only buy the Lexus warranties if your factory bumper-to-bumper warranty has not yet expired. In your case, you are a couple of thousand miles past that point. I don't know if Lexus would make an exception and sell you an extended warranty at 52,000 miles, but, if you decide to buy an extended warranty, it would be worth checking to see if Lexus might still sell you one. Also, know that, whether it is a Lexus or 3rd party warranty, the prices are highly negotiable. Again, the markups on extended warranties can be several hundred percent. So, the sellers have lots of room to discount them and still make a very good profit.

 

It may or may not take much to rack up a 2K bill at a Lexus dealer IF I ever had a problem. I hope I don't find out. I have never purchased an extended warranty before but in this case, I went ahead as I said, for peace of mind. lesz is right.starting price was > 3K. I had my Corolla 5 years and never did anything but brakes. Had I bought a warranty, it would of been a waste. It may well be on this car too (although I have been in the shop once already) but it's just that "I'm covered" positive factor that goes hand in hand (for me anyway) with the ownership of the car. Hopefully my next Lexus has one of them warranties still in effect ! Personal choice I guess...

 

Thank you all - vey helpful information.

 

I've got 130,000 miles on my '13 ES 300H. I bought my car new. I also bought a platinum extended warranty and the only thing I got repaired under it was a broken cruise control stalk...that was it. If I buy another Lexus, I wouldn't buy an extended warranty.
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I have a little over 34,000 miles on my 2013 ES300h and I believe we got them at the same time, in fact I think they were on the same ship coming to the US. That is a lot of miles, good to know how reliable they are. Thanks for the post!

 

You are spot on regarding extended warranties. They are not needed -- definately not for a Lexus.
The three words, "peace of mind" seems to sell everything .... and many people fall into the "just in case" trap because of it.

The other week, someone else posted the Lexus CPO warranty terms/conditions: which revealed that the Hybrid battery was not covered under the CPO program. Makes the extended warranty even less appealing.... if appealing at all.

 

Peace of mind = Money in my wallet, not someone else's....and I figure best way to ensure that is not buy an extended warranty. When I think of all the cars I have purchased, and there have been many over 40 years, not a single one of them would have beneffited from an extended warranty. Not one, and that includes some "iffy" models on the reliability front. Vast majority of issues came up either under the manufacturer's warranty period or very late in the car's life, long after an extended warranty would have been of any benefit to me.

 

[QUOTE=azipod;9796248]You are spot on regarding extended warranties. They are not needed -- definately not for a Lexus.
The three words, "peace of mind" seems to sell everything .... and many people fall into the "just in case" trap because of it.

I disagree- I was not "trapped" and I didn't need "sold". I chose the warranty plan. Lexus ranks #1 in reliability etc etc but it's a car- things can break. Lexus dealers are not cheap. If I have an issue, I doubt I can just run over to Toytota and get it fixed for 1/2 off. Oil change sure. Mine has been in the shop already (within three months of purchase) for an oil leak. Minor, but stuff happens. I hope I don't need it and perhaps I'll get better re-sale should I move up but I don't miss the $ I paid for the warranty. The OP sounds like they are just trying to make a choice as well based on planned long term ownership of the car. I would not buy one on any other product but I cannot be 100% sure of my cars history- car fax or not. However I am fairly certain of my exposure/risk in the future. To me, it's a good thing. Others= personal choice.

 

Until reading your post, I had not thought about my own car experience in that way. Over a period of about 50 years, I've owned about 40 different vehicles, and I've also never had a single car that needed a non-warranty repair whose cost would have exceeded the cost of an extended warranty. On the other hand, had a bought an extended warranty for each of those cars, I would have spent more on those extended warranties than what would be the cost of a new 2017 ES with the UL package and all other available options. By selling one extended warranty, a salesperson has the potential to generate more profit for the dealership than he/she would be generating by selling multiple vehicles for which the sale did not include an extended warranty or other high markup dealer add-ons.



I've been driving Lexus vehicles exclusively for about 15 years, and, during that time, I've had all non-warranty work done at the Toyota dealer. I haven't had need for much to be done other than normal maintenance, but the service managers at the Toyota dealership tell me that they can do any repair work on the ES that might be needed.

The only potentially expensive repair that I might have needed on a Lexus vehicle occurred when there was a leak in the refrigerant line of the AC in my GX. The Lexus dealer told me that the entire line needed to be repaired, and they quoted me $1800 to do the repair. The Toyota dealer quoted me $800 to do the same repair, but they also said that the entire line did not need to be replaced. Instead, they just replaced the fitting where the leak was, and the total bill was about $150, which included the repair and re-charging the system with refrigerant.

I don't dismiss the possibility that a repair could be needed to a vehicle that would exceed the cost of an extended warranty, but the chances are so small that, for me, I can't come to the conclusion that it would be a good choice to buy one. The minimal likelihood of the need for a covered repair whose cost would exceed the cost of an extended warranty is the very reason why extended warranties are such an obscenely profitable item for Lexus, for the dealers who sell them, and for those who offer 3rd party warranties.

 

[QUOTE=roninlexus;9796379]Your money, your car. But do please let us know if and when you run into a repair that exceeds the cost of what you paid for the extended warranty.

 

"I've had all non-warranty work done at the Toyota dealer. I haven't had need for much to be done other than normal maintenance, but the service managers at the Toyota dealership tell me that they can do any repair work on the ES that might be needed."

Good to know- thank you....

 

I am traditionally a non extended warranty guy for anything. Very rarely does it ever pay off. (Except for my LED TV and looks like I won't be using the warranty although my brother did and got a new TV out of the deal.).

What concerns me about my '16 ES is all the new technology. Parking sensors, BSM, GPS, FCW, ACC, etc. just to name a few things. Any thoughts on how expensive these items are to repair/replace versus the cost of the premium extend warranty? The mechanicals I'm more than willing to bet on Lexus reliability and not get the warranty for that.

 

I can be sympathetic to concerns about electronics failures because, not only are they expensive to repair, but they have become among the most frequent auto repairs that are needed. In some of the reliability studies, like those done by J.D. Power, the frequencies of problems per 100 cars have, even though, overall, cars have become more reliable, actually gone up in recent years, and the reason for that increase is, for the most part, from problems with electronic components on cars.

But the good news about electronics problems is that, if they are going to happen, they are most likely to happen sooner and not later. Thus, I suspect that, more often than not, if there are going to be problems with electronics, they are likely to happen well within the period of the factory warranty.

On a related note, the more complicated electronics in today's cars are a major factor causing increases in auto insurance rates. The amount of electronics in a car bumper, a windshield, a steering wheel, etc. can turn what would have been a few hundred dollar collision repair not long ago into one that costs thousands of dollars today.