wakebord99

I purchased a 2009 LS460 SWB AWD with 135k miles from a Lexus dealer about 2 months ago. Since then various imperfections have been bothering me which i will list below. The question I pose to my CL family is... should I go with an aftermarket warranty for 3-4K that would cover me for about 2 years, or just do the repairs? I'm fairly handy if the work is reasonable but not sure about doing suspension work yet.

"Imperfections" in order of how much they bother me...

1. Front Lower Control Arms, the rear-most set ($540 for Lexus brand, no reputable aftermarket AWD brands)
2. Hesitation/Shudder at 30-50% throttle between 50-70mph (TSB L-SB-0013-12 AWD but Lexus wants $180 to diagnose and won't estimate price first)
3. Loud metal-on-metal knocking noise on cold start. This happens about 30% of the time and lasts till the engine is hot.
4. Shutter at low speed lock turns (TSB L-SB-0033-08 on this but $600+ for fluid)
5. Very soft "clanking" noise when driving at many speeds. This may be the lower control arms, but I think it may also be the upper control arms. Mechanic found no visible sighs of wear.
6. Very quiet fan hum when climate control is at low speeds

Chuckinnj

My answer is NO!...... Run away from a warranty on THIS car.
Warranty costs too much and it is 3'rd party. You can do a lot of repairs for this money at a Indy repair shop or do the repairs yourself if you are handy with the help of "The Club"...... Just ask or search this forum.


BTW! A third party warranty company is NOT your friend and may NOT cover most repairs on a car with this mileage and age....... EG: The total cost of repairs exceed the value of the car.
Before you buy a THIRD party warranty check out the company really well because most of the third party companies are not that "friendly" on a high mileage car like yours.

dlbuckls10

Your choice but my warranty paid for itself many times over. You've notice imperfections that I would call red flags

shinbob

It's an unpopular sentiment around here, but so has mine. How much do you want to spend for peace of mind and convenience? Everyone has a different setpoint for the cost/risk trade.

Though I only have experience with the CPO warranty. Aftermarket may be a different matter altogether.

teedub21

How about spend that $3k-$4k on a better car? I can't believe they'd offer a warranty on a car that age with those miles, but that is why warranties are profitable for the seller, not the buyer. If you're set on this car, stick the warranty money in the bank. I'd be surprised if you spent $4k in 2 years, unless you had all the work done at the dealer.

wakebord99

Do you mind sharing what company you selected?

For those who question about the ROI on the warranty being worth 3k... the work i listed above is worth over 7k at the dealer assuming it would be covered.

dlbuckls10

My 460 had about eight months left on the factory warranty and I purchased the extended 3/36 Fidelity Platinum Warranty that the dealership offered for $1400.

wakebord99

Thank you for the response. I'm contacting them in addition to the 3 most researched warranty companies via google's lists. I'll let you all know who i select and what the price is.

Endurance Auto Warranty
Delta Auto Protect
CARCHEX
AA Auto Protection

enoch861

At 135k miles, what are they covering? Typically coverage at 135k is very minimal and not comprehensive.

UDel

Those are not "imperfections", those are problems with the car.

The Lexus dealership sold you a car with a bunch of expensive issues that are only going to get worse. Did you get a smoking deal on the car or were they still stingy with the price/knocking any money off and acting like they were doing you a favor selling you the car at that price despite all the issues it has? I would complain to the dealership and ask them to repair the issues or at least some of them, those things don't just suddenly pop up in 2 months, the dealership knew they were issues and still never repaired them and sold you the car with issues, demand they work with you for all those expensive problems happening in less then 3 months of ownership. If they don't I would contact Lexus corporate, write some nasty reviews of the dealership/contact and file report on BBB.

I would skip the warranty that you will end up paying over $1000 and is likely not worth it, who knows what they will cover and find a way out of covering. Don't get it repaired or maintained at a Lexus dealership, especially that one, it will cost you too much, find a less expensive shop and try to buy parts online at a discount, try to do as much as you can on your own.

Doublebase

Loud metal on metal knocking sound until it heats up??? I'm not a "warranty guy" but that right there would be enough to convince me to buy one. I mean by the sounds of that you'll be looking at engine failure, or head replacement. And then you list the other things...sounds like you've got some serious issues.

​​​​​​​Again I do all my own work...no warranties ever, but from what you just said about the car? Yeah I'd get one.