Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

I just did my first Track Day in my 08 IS350 and it was fun as hell. Hoping to go on a regular basis now (5-6 times a year). I know the track is hard on your car but if something breaks due to track use will the warrenty still cover it? Car is still stock minus F-Sport sway bars. Might look into coil overs at some point if I feel the need. Factory warrently ends in Dec and I am thinking about buying an extended warrenty as I plan on keeping the car for a while. Good idea?

Defender46

iTrader: (2)

Extended warranty is a good idea, and who would know any problem came from track use??

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Yes, the extended warranty (in my opinion) is a good idea.

As far as track days, I cant give a great answer, and I'm looking forward to hearing others' thoughts. This is what you'll find in your warranty booklet:

WHAT IS NOT COVERED

This warranty does not cover damage
or failures resulting directly or indirectly
from any of the following:
• Fire, accidents or theft
• Abuse or negligence
• Misuse — for example, racing
or overloading
• Improper repairs
• Alteration or tampering, including
installation of non-Genuine
Lexus Accessories
• Lack of or improper maintenance,
including use of fluids
other than those specified in
the Owner’s Manual
• Installation of non-Genuine
Lexus Parts
• Airborne chemicals, tree sap,
road debris (including stone
chips), rail dust, salt, hail, floods,
wind storms, lightning and other
environmental conditions
• Water contamination

Also:

You should also be aware that Lexus
may deny you warranty coverage if
your vehicle or a part has failed due
to abuse, neglect, improper maintenance
or unapproved modifications.

Obviously this is vague and ambiguous, and it's specifically intended to be. That's because it affords Lexus more leeway in determining whether to approve or deny a warranty claim. They say "abuse" and "misuse" instead of being specific about what constitutes it (like participating in track days, for example) to leave room for leeway. And when there's leeway, Lexus has the final word.

It's up to Lexus to approve or deny a claim. This is spelled out explicitly in the warranty booklet. If you don't agree with them, you can dispute it, but it goes to an arbitration process and it's all likely to cost far more than the disputed repair's cost.

So no, Lexus can't deny a warranty claim merely because you participated in a track day or race. But if there's evidence of abuse or misuse of the vehicle and this misuse directly contributed to the failure of the part in question, the you can bet the claim will be denied. Proving this abuse/misuse of course will be difficult, but I imagine Lexus techs have some tried and true methods by now to assess.

The key though is that no matter what you do with your car, Lexus can legitimately deny a warranty claim because of abuse/misuse ONLY IF that abuse/misuse directly or indirectly contributed to the failure in question. If you participate in autocross and a suspension component unexpectedly fails, there's a good possibility the autocross contributed to or caused that failure. However, if you do track days all the time and your navigation screen fails, there's little to no way Lexus could claim your abuse/misuse led to a screen failure.

mikes rx

iTrader: (14)

My opinion: you gotta pay to play, especially given the part of your post that I quoted.

Like the person above said, if your nav screen goes bad it would be hard for them to blame it on your track day.
But breaking/bending a suspension component or something should be part of your expenses for doing a track day.

Not trying to be harsh, I'm just saying that you're asking lexus to cover you for things that they don't advise/recommend/condone/test/etc.

Also, the extended warranty will likely not cover you any better than the factory bumper to bumper warranty (in terms of inclusions/exclusions, etc)

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

To be more specific, the Platinum VSA warranty, which is what he'd be looking at, covers most parts of the car but is inclusionary (it lists exactly what parts are covered) as opposed to exclusionary (which lists only the parts NOT covered), which is what the factory warranty is. Inclusionary warranties are inherently more limited than exclusionary warranties so yes, the extended warranty in fact will not be as comprehensive as the factory warranty. You can go to Lexus.com and see exactly what parts are covered by the VSA warranty if you're curious about specific parts.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Get the warranty, and just don't tell Lexus what you were doing when the car/component broke.

Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for all the comments. My buddy that got me into this always calls it "driving" on the track for insurance purposes. I guess if it is just a track day and not a formal race than his insurance could cover it if he crashes his car. Not sure if this applies to the lexus warrenty as well. Thought that was funny. Anyways

I completely agree that I have to pay to play for most things. If I break a suspension part I would more than likely buy aftermarket parts which will hold up better. My main concern is big ticket items like engine, trans, differenial, ect. Pushing the car to its edge puts a lot of stress on the drivetrain. If those go I would hope the warrenty would cover it and why I am considering an extended warrenty. Plus all the little things that go bad anyways and nickle and dime you to death. Plan on keeping this car for at least another 4-5 years.