shmelvin1

This popped up when I Googled Easy care warranty....

Easy Care — Scam

Review updated: Dec 18, 2018Easy Care IS NOT a manufacturer extended warranty on your vehicle. No matter what the car dealership tells you please note that Easy Care service contracts are just that - a third party vehicle service contract. It is designed to mimic, look like, read like and mirror a manufacturer extended vehicle warranty but it is not an extended vehicle warranty from your vehicle manufacturer. The dealership markup on these contracts is extremely high and in some cases over 100%. Shop around at different dealerships even if you have already purchased your car. Do your homework before purchasing one of these contracts. The prices and benefits vary widely.

The most important thing to note about Easy Care vehicle service contracts is that the minute you sign the contract, the clock starts ticking. Again, no matter what the salesperson at the dealership verbally told you, if you purchase an Easy Care service contract the day you purchase a new vehicle, the clock is already ticking even though the salespeople imply and even flat out tell you that the Easy Care service contract will pick up when your manufacturer warranty runs out. And, if and when the salespeople at the dealership try to tell you that you can get your money back if you don't use the Easy Care contract - BEWARE! There is a generous and hefty fee schedule applied to "unused" service contracts and this is what ought to be illegal as it certainly feels very unethical. The service contract terms and conditions is written in legalese on the backside of each page of your Easy Care service contract. No matter what kind of hurry the dealership salesperson is in, request to take a copy home with you to read it over in entirety before you sign it and agree to pay money for it. Call Easy Care and ask for explanations and ask them to email their explanations to you (in writing) so that you completely understand. They mostly likely will not email you anything in writing but they will sure offer to have a "supervisor" contact you. Don't hold your breathe. The dealership will not like this of course and try to tell you that you cannot finance the cost of the service contract in with your car purchase if you take a copy home to read it - they want you to sign everything very quickly before you walk out the door and realize what you have just signed your name to on paper. Most of the time you won't have any clue about this because you will have already been pushed through the buying and signing process at record speed (an inversely disproportionate equation to the amount of time it takes for the dealership to honor service promises). No matter, tell them you will rip up all contracts right then and there unless you are granted time to leisurely and thoroughly read the service contract. The wording is tricky and located in several different places on the contract but do note that when the agreement states that the service contract begins with the date of signature (instead of when the manufacturer's warranty runs out), also note that if you decide to cancel the service contract any time after you sign the contract and before your manufacturer's warranty runs out, you will be assessed a hefty set of fees based on days since you signed the contract and mileage driven on your car. This hefty fee assessment has nothing to do with actually using the benefits in the service contract. You will NOT get back what you paid for this contract in most cases. Even if you sell your car at 10K miles and decide to "cash in" the Easy Care service contract, you will be assessed a hefty fee based on 10K miles and the number of days since you signed the contract - this could be hundreds of dollars. Easy Care staff have a script already laid out for them to tell customers who get caught in this "refund" trap. And, it is a trap. NO MATTER what the salespeople at the dealership tell you, if they won't put their words in writing and sign it, don't believe one word of it. There are only a few manufacturer's out there that actually have a manufacturer extended warranty. And please note, this is NOT the same as an "extended" service contract such as Easy Care. Car dealers will lead you to believe that it is a manufacturer extended warranty - IT IS NOT A manufacturer's extended warranty. Car Dealers will tell you that Easy Care is one of the better service contract companies but that is not saying much when you compare the company they keep in this overpriced, subjectively benefitted, fear based selling market.

coolsaber

Buying a warranty for a Lexus isnt really a clear decision, I`m in the camp of you dont buy a Lexus for self driving, rather just reliability. However as evidence by other posters its a gamble. Maybe you end up needing it, maybe you dont.

What I can suggest is if your insist on a warranty minimum it needs be backed by Lexus. Since its a 2017, I assume your both under your factory and powertrain. Have you given any Lexus dealerships a line to see what theyre prices are on Lexus backed warranties. I know we had a forum sponsor for a while, but I dont know if they still do em.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

The evidence is usually extremely overpriced quotes. If you are the type of person who just wants to drop the car off at a dealership then it make seem like a smart move. If you are more involved and can do a little legwork then clearly it's not. Of course there will always exceptions but these companies would not be in business if they were in the consumers favor.

Romanova

Save your money. If you're concerned about needing warranty coverage, skip this GX and get a CPO one directly from Lexus. The most expensive repair that you could have would be the timing cover and that is highly unlikely. Save your money.

hadokenuh

Agree with the above. One of the reasons I buy Lexus (especially the GX) is because I wanted low repair/maintenance cost. So I'd rather save that $2000 for unexpected repairs. But if you really want to have that peace of mind, I'd only buy it from Lexus. Too much reading the fine prints from 3rd-party warranties

I don't know how the FI guys at Lexus dealerships sell their extended warranty contracts. It's like they contradict whatever the salesman says about Lexus reliability LOL.

coolsaber

Most folks are out of it at this point and the FI folks sometimes come from the top of the sales pack. Good combo to move additional dealer profit.

hrishpan

I am in the market for 2020 GX and am considering extended warranty.
- What are the current best prices, especially for 8y/125k and 10y/125k?
- Should I buy it at the time of buying the car or wait and shop around?
- In these threads, I have read about a couple dealers in MA/Kansas who give competitive rates - are they still doing that for outside states (I am in NJ)?

CFAI

I don't know if it is the same for CPO VSA vs New VSA, but I didn't need to buy at time of my CPO purchase - you have anytime whilst your existing factory warranty is still active. I got a much better deal buying it separate from the car purchase (it turned out to be from the same dealer, but it was several months after, and I had gotten quotes from other dealerships in the same state). Up to you if mitigating downside risk is worth the upfront cost of the warranty - you will get lots of opinions around it, mostly against, and of course the risk neutral regret will be less than the cost. I was on fence, but it was a good deal, and it covers deep into year 11 of the truck.

AJT123

You reallllly don't need an extended warranty on a GX. They're literally one of the most reliable vehicles in existence. Toyota BOF goodness.

Oh, and any "car dealership" extended warranty that's not a factory warranty is a total scam. Change your oil one mile over 3000 and the whole thing is voided. They're total ripoffs, avoid them.

CFAI

I think that is right, esp for a new car. Of course, if he/she gets cold feet toward the end of the manufactures warranty, they can always shop for an extension VSA. I guess also, if one is buying the GX to take advantage of the Section 179 Deduction, maybe the warranty could be included as part of that deduction, but check with your accountant

AJT123

What the heck is that? Lol. Can you use it for an LX? That's our next vehicle.

Buying an extended Lexus warranty on a brand new GX is a colossal waste of money. Trust us, OP.

CFAI

See https://www.fool.com/the-blueprint/s...179-deduction/ Special rules for heavy SUV's for Bonus depreciation. I am not sure if VSA warranty can be included in purchase price. Yes, I would think LX as well, but again, check with your accountant - she/he will know. Hard to say what is a waste of money - for me, buying a new GX would feel like a waste of money, since it is so reliable and the product has hardly changed over the past decade but I also totally get for others it is inconceivable for them to buy a used car. Nothing wrong with that. (To be honest, an extended warranty on a new GX - if for some reason I was forced to buy new - would not be worth it to me either- but we all have different risk preferences).

AJT123

Same, I'm not a new car buyer or leaser anyway but yeah. Just buy a '15 or so GX with 50k miles and save forty thousand dollars, that's how I see it. We planned to get a GX but I can't pass up a used LX for not that much more when the time comes.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

I was close to getting a used LX but decided on the GX. The LX is a nice vehicle but their cost of ownership is a good amount higher and overall reliability is not as good. They definitely loose their value faster too. Beautiful truck but I decided the GX was better suited for what I wanted to do.
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CFAI

I try to blend price and risk by buying the oldest CPO - around 6 years old up to 60k miles. That way the 2 years of CPO warranty offsets risk of a mistreated clunker with a hidden problem, and the older model year helps with getting a lower price. Plus toward the end of the year, the CPO is perishable to the dealer (since it becomes invalid in the new year, so there can be leverage in negotiations). But I am not unsympathetic to the extended warranty, I bought a CPO 3 year VSA extension (so 5 years of CPO total) for the '13 GX I bought last September bc I felt that unlimited miles with coverage for years 9, 10, and 11 were worth the price of the VSA (which was less than $1k per extra year). I think averaging over the multiverse, the cost of repairs of course will be less than what I paid, but prob not too much less, plus there will be a nontrivial, if definite minority, number of universes where the cost is much more than what I paid. Plus, I know nothing about fixing cars - so this way either myself or my wife can just drop the truck off at the dealership and it is their problem to deal with for 5 years.