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It's a good idea for having insurance on big ticket items like healthcare, auto, home etc.. With big ticket items, it's hard to have a cash reserve big enough to cover a major issue. But remember that the insurance companies are making money. This means the average person and collectively the policies are paying MORE than what the costs of the payouts. So when it comes down to lower priced items under 2000 dollars, if you can float the cash in repair costs it doesn't make sense to get insurance. In the long run it's cheaper to set aside emergency funds for things like this and pay to repair yourself. i don't even get phone insurance. I've cracked a screen like 1 time in the last 10 years. I could of paid 2 or 3 more times to repair out of pocket and still came out ahead vs paying insurance.
I didn't realize the extended warranty sold by the dealer on a new car could be with someone other than Lexus. I checked the paperwork when I got home and had it cancelled and refunded.
The wanna be zombies who walk around and drive around all day with their phone in front their face. They worship the things. Funny they call them smart phones. I guess the phone actually is smart and the smart phone makes for stupid people. Thus the answer to your question!
Purchased a new 2023 IS500 at a Lexus dealer in PA in April. Wheels are the stockers with matte black paint. We purchased the dealer-offered wheel/tire protection insurance, offered through RoadVantage.
Couple of weeks ago I kissed the right rear wheel on a curb - nothing serious, but about 8" of mild to moderate rash. Called RoadVantage, and they said I had to do the insurance claim through my local Lexus dealer (Annapolis, MD). SInce we had made an appointment for later that week to pick up and get our second key programmed, I talked to the dealer about having the wheel repaired/painted per the insurance.
Dealer told me that they don't honor ANY third-party insurance, only the wheel/tire protection packaged offered through Lexus itself. We were PISSED because the selling dealer in PA never told us about this Lexus package, only telling us at the time of sale about the RoadVantage package.
Our dealer has an experienced on-site wheel repair contractor on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and our key appointment was on Thursday, so we just paid Lexus for the repair, which was $155. They did a great job.
We are able to submit a claim to RoadVantage for the wheel work, which they have said they are happy to honor. We'll see. I'll report back with final resolution.
The funny thing is that in talking to RoadVantage, they indicated that the Infiniti dealer RIGHT NEXT DOOR to Lexus of Annapolis, which is owned by the SAME COMPANY (Sheehy), honors the RoadVantage wheel/tire warranty, but the Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis does not. Go figure.
Buyer beware -- DO NOT buy aftermarket wheel/tire protection insurance if at all possible, as there is no guarantee (as we were led to believe at time of sale) that any given Lexus dealer will honor it. We are pushing Lexus dealer in PA to either refund the insurance cost, or convert to a Lexus policy which will be honored everywhere.
@gerryvz I am very sorry to see your wheel damage. It hurts me almost as much as it hurt you. I am glad it got fixed and they did a great job, can we see the finished product?
The real question here goes back to the original question. If the fix for this nasty scrape is only $155 at the dealership and they did a great job, is it worth it to buy the insurance at all?
My apologies on this - I should have added the "after" photos for the repair. I was very clear with the dealer that I was concerned about the repair matching the correct matte finish of the wheel. They assured me that the repair contractor is very skilled at reproducing that finish, and they were not wrong. I can't tell by looking or feeling, where the actual scrape was.
In terms of buying insurance -- as said I will report this out. The RoadVantage policy is supposed to cover both wheel replacement (or repair), and tire replacement if needed. So I would think that after a few repairs and/or tire replacements, it would pay for itself. That said, I will report back on how much of a PITA that it was to deal with RoadVantage. So far it has been pretty easy -- they just want to have the "before" and "after" photos along with the invoice for the cost of the repair.
The dealer "tire replacement" is expensive, but if you want a tire replacement insurance at a reasonable rate you can take your new car to Tire Discounter (if you have one nearby) and they will provide a 4 tire insurance + rotate/balance for around 50-60% of the cost of 1 tire. I've done that before and it has payed off for me.
Depending where u live. I’m in Montreal and we have some of the worst roads. Bought car in April and changed a tire already with only 5000km. Missed a huge hole last night that I’m sure would have damaged the rim last night. For me it’s a no brainer
The dealer "tire replacement" is expensive, but if you want a tire replacement insurance at a reasonable rate you can take your new car to Tire Discounter (if you have one nearby) and they will provide a 4 tire insurance + rotate/balance for around 50-60% of the cost of 1 tire. I've done that before and it has payed off for me.
if they allow for emergency repair outside of their shop, then it's a good deal. Sometimes the insurance is simply worth the peace of mind to drive your car without fear of a 500 dollar tire replacement each time you drive.
My apologies on this - I should have added the "after" photos for the repair. I was very clear with the dealer that I was concerned about the repair matching the correct matte finish of the wheel. They assured me that the repair contractor is very skilled at reproducing that finish, and they were not wrong. I can't tell by looking or feeling, where the actual scrape was.
In terms of buying insurance -- as said I will report this out. The RoadVantage policy is supposed to cover both wheel replacement (or repair), and tire replacement if needed. So I would think that after a few repairs and/or tire replacements, it would pay for itself. That said, I will report back on how much of a PITA that it was to deal with RoadVantage. So far it has been pretty easy -- they just want to have the "before" and "after" photos along with the invoice for the cost of the repair.
Photos of the "after" repair attached.
When I asked the Lexus dealer from whom I bought the car from, they originally tried to sell me some third party package until I asked about the Lexus Wheel and Tire Protection program, they quoted me about 5k for the gold package. I ultimately decided not to buy it as the cost just didn't seem worth.
Also apparently, I asked my local Lexus dealer for a quote and they said I can only buy the Lexus plan from the dealer who sold me the vehicle. Anyone hear the same thing?
My apologies on this - I should have added the "after" photos for the repair. I was very clear with the dealer that I was concerned about the repair matching the correct matte finish of the wheel. They assured me that the repair contractor is very skilled at reproducing that finish, and they were not wrong. I can't tell by looking or feeling, where the actual scrape was.
In terms of buying insurance -- as said I will report this out. The RoadVantage policy is supposed to cover both wheel replacement (or repair), and tire replacement if needed. So I would think that after a few repairs and/or tire replacements, it would pay for itself. That said, I will report back on how much of a PITA that it was to deal with RoadVantage. So far it has been pretty easy -- they just want to have the "before" and "after" photos along with the invoice for the cost of the repair.
Photos of the "after" repair attached.
I didn't see your response with how easy/difficult it was to deal with Roadvantage, but since I've had experience with them, I thought I'd share.
I purchased a very lightly used (1,500 miles) 2022 ES350 in December 2022. The owner had passed away and I purchased it from the family along with the Roadvantage plan that covers tires, windshield, and dentless repair.
The previous owner must have never met a curb she didn't like as every wheel had some rash, despite the low mileage. I returned to my home, in another city from where the car was purchased, paid a small fee to transfer the Roadvantage policy and then called my local Lexus dealer to see if they would manage the repair for me. The person on the phone said they didn't do that. I called Roadvantage and they suggested that I find another dealer or take it to a place of my choosing, have the wheels repaired, submit b4 and after photos, then submit the receipt for reimbursement. I was skepitcal at that point.
On a lark, I decided to wait until my first service visit (the 6 month one that I scheduled at 9 months) to show my service advisor my roadvantage contract with a request to handle the repair. Surprisingly she said yes, just bring it back to leave it all day the following week. I did just that and I must tell you the repair job (on all 4 wheels) looked PERFECT to my eye. The dealer gave me a $0 dollar receipt for the work. I asked and the avdisor showed me a nearly $450 invoice attached to the back of their paperwork which would be presented to Roadvantage for reimbursement to the dealer (and the subcontractor they used on site). I was surprised and extremely happy with the work done and the ease of dealing both with the local dealership and Roadvantage. One's experience may be different than mine, but I wanted to contribute my experience to the discussion.
Full disclosure, pics above are from OP, but my "after" wheel condition was equally impressive.
Since the wheel repair, I did note a chip in the windshield and had it repaired, submitted pics and paperwork to Roadvantage for a speedy reimbursement (dealer only replaces windshield... not chip repairs). Not high cost or a big deal, but have found them to be easy to deal with and very responsive.
TLDR/Dealer did great work to cure curb rash on all 4 of my wheels, at no service cost to me, after presenting them with my transferred roadvantage policy on my used purchase of a 2022 ES 350. I would likely purchase Roadvantage on a new car, based on my experience.
TLDR/Dealer did great work to cure curb rash on all 4 of my wheels, at no service cost to me, after presenting them with my transferred roadvantage policy on my used purchase of a 2022 ES 350. I would likely purchase Roadvantage on a new car, based on my experience.
You are lucky that your dealer evidently works with third-party insurance companies (including RoadVantage). My dealer said "no way". Glad to hear you had a good experience with them. They seemed pretty good on the phone the two times I spoke with representatives there.
I submitted the before and after photos, and invoice from Lexus for the repair, to RoadVantage yesterday. Have not heard back from them at this point.
Frankly, for the $155 curb rash repair it's barely worth my time and effort to submit this to them.
There is no way in hell I would pay $5K to Lexus for a wheel and tire insurance package. That's ridiculous. We would never come close to making claims that would warrant that much outlay while we have the car. With our previous 2017 IS350, which we had for six years, we only had one or two wheels repaired, ever.
08-03-23, 02:21 PM
