roger13134

Hello! Recently put a deposit for new ES 350, will be closing on Monday. Two main questions

1) Dealer never talked about VIN ETCHING which they are charging for $249 on the purchase order. To my knowledge the car is ALREADY vin etched. As a consumer (of CT) am I correct that I have the right to refuse VIN etching and therefore will not be charged $249 (even though its already done)? Follow-up question: Will they scratch off the vin number or leave it be?

2) Can I buy the extended warranty from Lexus from any Lexus dealer at anytime during the 4 years/50,000 miles warranty of a brand new car? (I don't want to get pressured into buying an extended warranty Monday at a bad price)Also, Anyone want to comment on their experience with getting an extended warranty (price, type, and if its been useful so far?)

Dave Mac

Yes, you can and should refuse to pay for the VIN etching (even if it is pre-printed on the contract as if that matters) and no they won't scratch it off. When you go to sign for the purchase there will be many other such charges which may or may not already be on the purchase contract - refuse all of them.

And you can shop around and buy the extended warranty at a later date if you think that it is something you need. It probably isn't necessary.

Enjoy the new car.

Dave Mac

bc6152

This is good advice. The etched VIN is simply another way for the dealer to add charges to the sale. Years ago it was "special wax", undercoating, Scotchguard on the carpets, and other useless things. I actually had a dealer add a $250.00 charge to clean the car after 6 months. It was voided... Refuse to pay for all and anything added on by an additional label next to the sticker. I would advise you to think long and hard about purchasing the extended warranty. It is an item that dealers sell at enormous profit as it is rarely used. However, that is for you to decide. GOOD LUCK with your new car and welcome to CL.

roger13134

Thank you both for your response! I will insist that the VIN charge be taken off. I think the sales associate broke the law by not even making us aware of the charge before signing for the deposit... I just hope they don't give a hard time during the final closing (we deposited money but still haven't paid the full amount)

bc6152

I wouldn't worry too much. They want to make the sale and will probably try to lower the VIN etching price to get you to pay for it since it's already on there. BTW, I asked a mechanic long ago what the dealer paid for the etching and it was somewhere around $25.00. They want you to pay 10 times that for something you didn't order - or want... Pays to be vigilant and you asked the right questions.

Maikerusan

Of course you have the right not to pay for the etching. My last 3 cars had Vin etching and I never paid a penny for them. Dealer pointed out of course we don't register it for tracking ...and I said who cares. In the extremely unlikely event of car theft (never happened to me in 40 years of driving), my car insurance can pay for it. I pay thousands a year for car insurance.

Frankly I doubt the dealer even pays for the service until they register it.

Wandl

I used to work at a dealer; the cost for dealers was around $40-$50, if that.

lesz

A few decades ago, dealers made most of their profits from the sale of vehicles, themselves. If you knew what you were paying relative to the vehicle's invoice, you could tell if you got a good deal. Beyond the selling price of the car, dealers would try to add a few hundred dollars to their profits by selling you rust proofing, interior fabric protection, etc. at a high markup.

As customers could more easily access information about the invoice pricing of vehicles, dealers began to develop opportunities to make their profits from a variety of other sources, including financing, lease terms, dealer add-on options, very high mark-up extended warranties, etc. Today, it makes little difference to the dealer from which source it makes its profits. Dealers like customers who pay attention primarily to the discount from MSRP, and they are happy to give a great discount from MSRP while making their profits from other aspects of the deal.

Among the biggest profit opportunities for dealers are the extended warranties, which can have mark-ups of several hundred percent. While there is a chance that, if you buy an extended warranty, you might have a repair claim that exceeds the cost of that extended warranty, the chance of that happening is extremely small. If you skip buying extended warranties on your next 5 car purchases and accept the possibility that you may have to pay for a few repairs out of your pocket, you are almost guaranteed to be thousands of dollars ahead of where you would have been had you bought the extended warranties on all 5 of those car purchases.

Definitely ask for the cost of the etching to be removed. It is almost a guarantee that the dealer will readily agree to do so. Another item that also often shows up on the final paper work these days is nitrogen tire fills. Again, if you refuse to pay, the dealer will agree to remove the charge immediately.

PhillyPhan

I've read through several threads regarding extended warranties and how most people are against them. If you shop around you can avoid paying that high priced mark up warranty from the dealer you're buying from. I've already started shopping around different Lexus dealers and in my opinion have good pricing on a 7yr/100k ($1445) and a 8yr/125k ($2335) from a dealer out of state for the Lexus Platinum warranty. You don't have to buy from the dealer you purchase your vehicle from. I bought the 7yr/100k warranty on my 2007 Toyota Tundra ($1200 at that time), mostly because it was the new model and I wanted to be prepared for anything that might happen. It definitely paid for itself. Replaced both window motors in the front, replaced auto folding mirrors (according to Toyota $2k for that alone) and several other repairs. Bought the same warranty for my wifes 2011 Mazda CX-9 that paid for itself right after the manufacturers warranty expired and the Nav went out. Just last week the transfer case cracked and that was covered ($1700 repair). Also bought a 8yr/120K on my new 2014 Ram 2500, mostly because anything made by Dodge scares me but just wanted to be covered. All of these dealers tried to get me to buy the warranties from them at their high marked up prices, but I was able to get them from other dealerships most of the time for half off.

Dave Mac

There used to be a Lexus salesman, maybe in Kansas, that would sell the Lexus platinum warranty over the phone at a reasonable price but I think Lexus forced him to stop doing so.

Dave Mac

Maikerusan

Living in Canada I have never heard of a dealership here selling extended warranties for a unit they did not sell themselves. Maybe it happens, but I have never heard about it.

Maybe I am luckier than most but I have never had any of the issues people here talk about and that's in 40 years of owning vehicles. If I had listened to the siren song of salesmen flogging warranties and bought them all, I have to figure I would have wasted a substantial amount of money.

I even disagree with the sleazy way they market these things....in general a Lexus extended warranty is not, and never was a 7 year warranty. It happens to be a 3 year warranty good for after the first 4 years of the manufacturer warranty. How much you want to bet there would a lot fewer buyers if they flogged them as "3 year" warranties instead of 7, because that is really what you are getting.

bc6152

Ha! Although I never bought one and wouldn't anyway, I thought they started when the factory warranty ended. But I thought you could buy one just before your factory warranty ended thus actually getting a 7 year extended warranty. What a joke. They should include a jar of vaseline with it...

Mike728

They market it as an extended warranty. Meaning, it extends the warranty to whatever length you purchase. I'm not sure who would take it as meaning anything else. I'm not defending "sleazy" dealers, but selling an extended warranty does not necessarily put them in that category.

PhillyPhan

I agree. I know what I'm buying when I pay for an extended warranty. I'm doing it to be completely covered for the next 7-8 years from 100k to 125k miles and not have to worry about anything that may come up. I don't finance the warranty I pay for it with cash. How many times does stuff break right after the original warranty ends? For me a lot. Just a recent example. Mazda had extended their warrantys on the transfer case for the CX-9s due to issues with them up to 90k miles. Well two weeks ago my wifes cracked on her at 91k miles, not kidding. Would've cost us $1700 to replace, but we had the extended warranty that covered us. I looked it up yesterday and we paid $1700 for that extended warranty, so that paid for itself right there. That's not counting the numerous other things that were replaced under warranty either for her car. We definitely got our money back in this cars case.