MY13GS350

I know that this subject is very divided on the pros and cons of having prepaid maintenance and/or extended warranty on vehicle.

I personally feel that any insurance policy is banking on negativity (well in the case of the extended warranty, the prepaid maintenance is of course a service that you will consume)

Let me first say that I generally don't keep a car out of warranty however my wife will drive a car until it's left on the side of the road for dead, and she has already said that she wants this GS after I'm done with it. From my $$ experience with her last car, a Volvo, 11 years of service and repairs was FAR more than the prepaid offerings however I also know that there is a balance between time and mileage and the max seems to be 7 years 120k miles.

In any event, I did buy the prepaid maintenance on the GS and the extended warranty plan at the time of purchase. I just went in this weekend for the 30 day / 1000 mile checkup the dealer offered me and I was less than pleased with the experience. The dealer I purchased from is 85 miles from where I live. I have a dealer within 7 miles of my house, but with the prepaid maintenance I'm at the mercy of the 85 mile away dealer and after my experience I'm thinking about canceling it for 100% refund which I'm allowed within 60 days. I may do the same with the extended warranty since it requires a deductible if not used at the issuing dealer.

So the question i'm looking for opinions to is this, Do I cancel these items and repurchase them from the local dealer or do I cancel them and pay as I go for maintenance (I don't know how expensive routine maintenance on a Lexus is, I'm new) I know I can decide on the extended warranty at a later date taking the chance the price will go up. (unfortunately in FL I can't mail order the Lexus brand warranty due to the insurance regulations... unless someone that lives in this state can tell me how to get a cheaper price)

I'm looking for some ideas / help in making a decision that I have a time limit in making.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts / help

sydtoosic

i never bother with EWs. it's a BS service. my father has had some bad experiences with EWs. so have random people i've spoken to about their EWs. they all say it's a headache. i don't have the patience or the temper to tolerate BS. so IMO i chose not to. (that's just me) i won't go into details as of why or what people have told me about this service, it's to lengthy. my dealer looked at me and started to speak and then changed his mind, and said he almost forgot who was sitting in front of him. he was going to ask if i wanted an EW. it's a BS service trust me. then agin ,,,,, that's just me and my opinion.

jj14

My $0.02
Prepaid maintenance - unless the cost you pay upfront will be at least 'x' % cheaper than what it would cost you if you pay for each service at the time of service, absolutely not. ('x' varies by person to person - I look for at least 15-20% discount by prepaying upfront). The dealerships that I visited offered a round figure that they couldn't justify when I asked them for actual service cost (if I paid at time of service). Based on the service cost for 2011 GS, the prepaid maintenance for my 2013 GS was going to be about 15% MORE expensive (instead of 15-20% cheaper) - so in my case, absolutely not.
Why would they expect me to give them my money upfront (are they going to give me interest on the amount? Do I save any money by paying them upfront? no and no. So, I said No)
Note: Even if the cost worked out the same, why pay for it upfront? (some dealerships occasionally have specials on oil changes - or a competing dealership may offer better prices - why tie yourself down to one dealership if there is no "significant" price advantage?


Extended Warranty - This is highly debated - and everyone has their opinion - here's mine.
I tend to keep my cars for a long time (compared to others who swap their cars before the factory warranty runs out). So, I buy the Lexus backed (not aftermarket third party) platinum warranty. (not from the dealership where I buy the car from - those are more than double of what it should cost. There are other Toyota dealerships that will sell you the exact same Lexus backed warranty for less than half the price (check the other threads for more info)
Note: Again, no sense in paying for that warranty right now when your factory warranty is still active. Just remember to buy the extended warranty before your factory warranty runs out.
My previous ES had some expensive problems that were addressed by the extended warranty at the dealership. Without the warranty, I'd have spent much more than what the warranty cost me. At the same time, I'm sure there are enough people who have bough the extended warranty, and never had to make a claim on it. I look at it as the comprehensive insurance coverage. Thank heavens I've never had to make a claim on my car - but yes, I always have comprehensive insurance on my cars (collision coverage is all that is "required" by law)
Yeah, I like the peace of mind

varcity64

iTrader: (2)

prepaid maintenance is something i tend not to agree with. i get why people do it (avoid having to pay for the service later and potentially some savings), but what if you dont keep the car as long as you intended for whatever reason? then you are out the money for the services you never used. as for the extended warranty, i say wait until you are close to the factory warranty expiring to purchase it. there is no benfit of purchasing now imo, especially if you do not like the dealer 85 miles away. you may be better off with the local dealer.

assuming EW's means extended warranties, i would say it depends on the type of warranty you are referring to. if its an after market, 3rd party warranty, you are probably right. if you purchase the Lexus Platinum extended warranty, you couldnt be further from the truth. i purchased the Lexus Platinum extended warranty on my 3GS from out of state and my local Lexus dealer accepted it with no problem at all (i had over $3k worth of work done and no issues)

MY13GS350

Great comments from all. Thank you very much you have made my decision easy. I'm going to just cancel them both and later buy the extended warranty if I feel that I will be keeping the car long term (as I mentioned my wife wants it when I am ready to move on to the next car)

The more I think about it the more the prepaid maintenance just doesn't make sense, especially to a dealer 85 miles away. Even If I paid a little more for routine maintenance I save 3 hours and $$ in gas / wear and tear / aggravation etc.

Thanks again!

jj14

Great idea

(Just remember that you can only purchase the extended warranty before the factory warranty expires. Once the factory warranty is gone, you cannot purchase the Lexus backed extended warranty. When you are ready to purchase, shop around - for the new GS, you shouldn't have to pay more than $1.4k-$1.5k or so for 8 year Lexus platinum warranty with $0 deductible)

MY13GS350

Everywhere I have talked to the price is the same.... they pull the book out of their desk and quote 2950 for 6/120k ... "It's Florida, this is a regulated insurance policy"

I wish someone could tell me otherwise and maybe even give me a lead on a dealership that sells cheaper. I have contacted dealers outside of Florida and they say they can't sell the warranty to a person in Florida so it all kind of makes sense.

jj14

@MYGS350 - PM sent

zoombie99

Buy it outside of the state!

zoombie99

I am of the opinion, if you are keeping the car after the warranty expires, get the extended warranty. As stated before you can buy it any time (from any dealer) before the warranty expires.Remember, this is a new model year. I had my engine rebuilt on my 2006 3rd Gen GS300 under an extended warranty.

MY13GS350

I agree... I'm most likely keeping it. The issue is getting the EW at a better price than I can find so far. Some dealers I have contacted outside Florida can't sell it to me because the car is in Florida, some insurance regulation since EWs in FL are insurance products. (same with Nikon I might add, can't get a Nikon extended warranty here at all, they are not registered with the state)

I have been given some leads tho so I'm gonna make some calls and see if there is hope

alex206

I totally agree with zoombie99. I got my EW...not sure if its a good deal as they wanted $2800 for it but I got it down to $2000 w/ $100 deductible. Any thoughts?

MY13GS350

Thats right out of the book I think. I was quoted 2900 $50 deductible for 6/120k
Which term was your $2000 / $100?

ECL

I purchased my SC400 almost nineteen years ago. Maintenance costs have been minimal. An extended warranty would have been a waste of money, and it would have expired eleven years ago! I buy a Lexus because of its reliability. After the warranty expires find a good independent mechanic. My mechanic employs only Lexus certified technicians and charges half what the dealer does.

My new F-Sport should be here next week. The ship docked in LA today!

MY13GS350

Thanks for your input and experience. I tend to agree about the EW but I worry about unexpected things so I guess to me it's just peace of mind. I've had some pretty bad experiences after the warranty runs out and having a car that needs $$$$ of repair work is worthless for trade in so having the warranty insures me against ending up with a worthless car. (case in point, I had a Duramax that needed $4000 in repairs (bearings and front axle shafts/CV) before I could trade it in and I had a Volvo that needed an ABS module ($1000) and $1800 worth of hoses needing replaced soon. So we fixed the ABS ourselves (it was a bad solder joint) and traded the car in before it took any more money from us)

You are going to love your new F-Sport!! Congrats. I'd probably be down at the dock lol