Hello All!

My name is Mark, I live in Northern California (SJ/WC) I'm going in for the second and final visit on a 2018 LS500 with about 46K Miles. This thing has gobs of options and I wanted to see if anyone has any recommended extended warranty company they have a pretty good experience with. Also! If any one local in this area who can recommend a shop outside the dealership- would be a huge plus! We currently have a couple GS350s which have been easy to work on and it'd be my first shot at the LS. I'm a little hesitant because it's an 18; but man! It's so hard to argue with my previous experiences owningToyota products over the years. Any guidance is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

First, congrats. 2nd, I can't recommend a extended warranty company because most lexus dealerships do not deal with them or honor their contracts So unless you are okay with and a 3rd party working on your LS, I would recommend staying away from them. I purchased a 2018 F-Sport w/o warranty with 23k and now have 34k w/o a hitch. I asked around all the lexus dealers before purchasing whom they recommend and they are said they did not deal with 3rd party companies due to the hassle with getting paid.
With that said, I am trusting Toyota/Lexus reliability and after having 4 prior lexus models, my experience is saying trust the process. IMHO. Good Luck

 

2019 with 50k miles and so far so good. No extended warranty and OK with it. Love this car and keep them oil changed and all regular maintenance.
**** happens but if it does Im good. its why I bought a Toyota product is take my chances with reliability.

Key is do you like/love the car? Then you figure your finances to keep it. Me? I buy mine a few years old with low miles and pay cash. No payments to compound pain of repairs. I did not do this forever mind you, Im in early 60's and invested for decades so I have the liquidity to do what makes sense for me. Thus we all NOT in the same situation/demographic Thus the decision really is not about protection for the car, but do you need the financial protection the risk presents? We all in different situations to influence our warranty decisions. No right or wrong.

I did get a warranty with A BMW and they did not pay for a $3000 item and I was pissed. Headlamp was drawing moisture and needed replacement. I had a BMW extended warranty mind you. They said "We don't cover adhesives on parts". Can't fuse the lens to the housing without glue!!! I argued it was a defective part. They repeated their stance. second light did the same thing and I did a minor fix and sold them the car at a nice price. I did not love the car enough to put up with the running costs and issues. Car had 67k miles on it was always needed something. Had BMW's for years and really enjoyed my experiences until the end.
Im now on my second Lexus and very happy. Wife been an Audi lover for years and we been having good luck with her 2018 A4 all road with 75k miles on it. Im sure we'll go with a Lexus/Toyota when the time comes. We don't drive as much as we used to and prefer simplicity/reliablity over cutting edge dynamics. We are not as "enthusiastic" about our cars as we used to. But this current LS500 with its uber Japanese interior "Zen garden" design is really one that captivates me and im totally into its design. This is a big departure from the teutonic design of the German build or what LS designs of the past. LS was a lower priced S class that was reliable and great to drive. This LS does not attempt to mimic any German car. Not all love it and I can understand. Me? The interior door design really drew me in. Fascinating interpretation of class Japan art/design. So to me this car is a bargain of sorts.

 

I do have an extended warranty with Lexus and as nate579 stated Lexus does create a hard time when it comes to 3rd party warranties. In my experience your best bet is to see what you dealership offers and then price around by calling the company direct and seeing if they offer without the dealership or through a Toyota dealership. I have found it is usually cheaper that way. The major items that could go would be the air suspension of you have it and maybe transmission but that's rare.

 

There are 244 LS500s on cars.com. If you feel you need a warranty, then you should be able to find a good Lexus Certified LS500.
Whatever the case, my criteria would be a clean CARFAX, one owner car with service records.
Best to put the car under serious inspection. Paint and body work can be done by an independent shop or novice for cash and not appear on CARFAX.

 

Unless you are over 4 years old from your "in service date" and/or over 50K miles you can still purchase a Lexus warranty.

 

Thanks, the finance manager told me that I could only purchase the warranty with the vehicle, but I seriously doubted that was the case.

 

This depends on the warranty, if it is a Lexus warranty this can be sometimes true especially if it is CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) which can be the best deal as you can extend it up to 5 years I believe. As long as the original warranty hasn't expired yes you should be able to get a Lexus warranty anywhere after purchase.

 

unless it's a cpo car which comes w/ the warranty (you pay extra for) I agree w/ above to take your chances as you are buying the (arguably) best engineered car brand on the planet.
and likely, given it's the LS, it's been well cared for and garage kept. my 18' has only had one issue in it's life so far (noisy brakes).

i actually test drove a 18' GX550 last week at a nissan dealership. after, they tried to sell me their new pathfinder, a very nice looking suv w/ an immensely better tech package. the brand new pathfinder was less expensive than the 6 year old lexus! that says something about build quality (and vis a vie long term cost of ownership).

 

Love the new GX. Don't love the fuel economy though.

 

CA doesn't allow third party warranty sales after you have bought the car. You can only buy a third party warranty at the time of purchase. I would never buy a third party warranty, though. Instead, put the money you would spend on the warranty in a savings account and use it if needed.

However, you can extend the factory coverage if it's still active: "Lexus vehicles are eligible if less than 4 years old from date vehicle was first put into service and up to 50,000 total vehicle miles." You can shop around to see who will extend your factory warranty at the cheapest price - you can even do this through a Toyota dealer for a Lexus (out of state dealers included).

Also, if you buy through a Lexus dealer, you can also purchase a Lexus "Extra Care Platinum" warranty even if the car is out of the factory warranty: "Lexus vehicles are eligible within current model year plus 9 prior model years and up to 125,000 total vehicle miles. See your dealer for eligibility requirements on non-Lexus vehicles. Used Vehicle Plans available through your Lexus dealer only at the time of used vehicle purchase or lease."

 

Mark,

You have less than 50k so you can contact participating Lexus dealerships and purchase their own "bumper to bumper" warranty from them directly. I did this with my pre owned LS500 a couple of years ago, have used it twice and it paid for itself in the first few months. It's the same as a CPO warranty. Call Adam Jones of Lexus of Shreveport at this number (318) 714-1518 on Monday and message me back with the good news on Tuesday.

 

Bought a used 2022 Ls 500 2 weeks ago in Hawaii. Also purchased an extended 5 years /50k miles warranty through the dealer. Highly recommended

 

Is that a Toyota factory warranty?
What is the cost what you bought?
Thank you,

 

Kind of like buying life insurance, you can buy a warranty for pretty much anything if you are willing to pay for it.
I’d prefer a warranty from Lexus/Toyota. At least I would know who I was dealing with.