VIS250P

iTrader: (1)

My fiancee and I found 03 LS430 with 69k miles.. I got the car a great deal and Im thinking about buy the warranty... What is better to buy the aftermarket or lexus care?? What the aftermarket car warranty do u use? Thanks

caddyowner

Can you still buy a Lexus warranty for an 03? The only warranty I would consider buying would be a certified pre-owned warranty from luxury makes the provide x years and 100K bumper-to-bumper coverage from original in-service date. (Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln, MB, etc.) It seems that CPO warranties from mass-market brands provided much shorter periods of coverage for the price. 3rd party or manufacturer non-CPO used car warranties seem to be quite expensive for what you get - as most seem to have lots of exclusions. If you're going to buy a car too old for CPO, I think the best solution is to have a good professional pre-purchase inspection and keep a couple grand (about the price of most warranties) in the bank to defray the costs of unexpected major repairs.

Jabberwock

Agree - a good full coverage warranty on a 8-9 year old car may not be a good investment. The cost to insure (warranty) a high mile older car might be as much or more than most average repairs. Take the money and bank it instead - in case you do have major repairs. An inexpensive warranty likely has many exclusions and fine print requirements that render it near useless.

gkcmilner

I believe you can only buy the Lexus Care warranty at the time of purchase if your car is out of the manufacturers warranty (they might give you a little grace period). I am not so sure about the 3rd party warranty. If the price is about the same I would definitely go with the Lexus Care since it is backed by Lexus.
You can't buy a Lexus Certified Pre-owned warranty. The car has to be purchased as a CPO. It can not be added later.

warminwisc

How much was your LS, how much is the aftermarket warrantee and how long has the company been in business?

Be aware if they go out of business, and this is not uncommon, you have no recourse they have your money.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

i feel like the extended warranty is just a bet or gamble that something will break and it will cost more than you paid for the warranty in the first place. i think you would be wiser to just put the cost of the warranty in the bank and save for when and if something actually does break but thats just my opinion.

Jabberwock

An extended warranty is priced to cover all expected repairs for a large class of policy owners and to cover business costs and also make the issuer a profit. The component costs of an extended warranty are calculated internally like this: Average repair cost of warranty pool + set % profit for issuer + average overhead costs of issuer + average commission and cost of sales - interest/dividends on policies sold = Cost of warranty.

So when you buy an extended warranty you are paying up front for the likely average repair costs + issuer profit and business costs. You pay this premium to protect yourself from repair costs that are greater than average.

In general its not usually a good deal for anyone but the issuer unless you are one of the "lucky" few that have the engine or transmission blow up during the warranty period. If an extended car warranty was a good deal for most people, the issuer would not make a profit and would be out of business so by definition the odds and costs have to be preloaded to favor the issuer - that's just reasonable business practice.

Warranties make the most sense on unreliable cars (Jaguar, Mercedes, etc) that cost a lot to repair. Issuer still makes a profit but the downside protection is greater for the consumer in these cars.

gkcmilner

Jabberwock pretty much hits the nail on the head. Some states won't even allow it to be called a warranty because it is in fact insurance, not a warranty. Lexus calls theirs a service agreement. Just like any other insurance; you don't want to have to use it, but you'll sure be glad you have it if needed. Not much on these cars is cheap to fix.

I had a Mercedes that I purchased a service agreement with and I more than made up the cost of the service agrement over the ownership period. I currently own a VW Touareg that I also bought a service sgreement with a few years ago and it's looking like I will have wasted a couple grand. You just never know.

Also, I bought this LS 430 as CPO. I am getting ready to take it in for trunk struts, and rain sensing wipers and homelink not working properly. We'll see what the dealer charges Lexus for those items. Sometimes strange things happen to even the most reliable cars.

warminwisc

I think you have to look at the cost of the deal. Wife drives an 09 camry hybrid fully loaded. I can get a 8 year/100k 0 deductible platinum plan for 1040 bucks from Acton Toyota. It is transferable and while I do not usually buy any extended warrantees this seems like a fair chance of using it. When you start spending 2500 bucks and up on reliable cars like the LS it is not as easy a decision.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I second this. It's too big of a gamble. Put the money for the warranty in the bank and use it for repairs.

Jabberwock

One type of car you definietly always want to get an extended warranty on is any type of hybrid. They can be very reliable for a while, but as they age, things will go wrong and hybrids have very complex electrical, mechanical, and digital systems that cost serious $$$$ to repair.

caddyowner

Here's an interesting response I received in another thread when I posted this same opinion:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/6422101-post5.html

warminwisc

Our Camry Hybrid has been flawless for 22k just as my LS for 135k. The CVT tranny does a bunch of braking when you downshift while it stores the battery so you don't have to use the brakes as much( CVT Nissan feels much different than a Toyota, worse). You barely feel the engine come on and off. We get like 34 to 38 in the summer mostly city driving. I just bought it when the Toyota scandal was hot one year old with 13k they where going for 27-28 ish I payed 19K. I never really felt the premium price could be recouped in fuel savings very easily to buy new, but as gas has gone through the roof and the tsunamia effected production I can sell it for more than I payed. It is pretty cool to idle home from dinner on electric power just trying to milk it for all its worth on flat roads.

Back to the warrantee, I am sceptical when I hear aftermarket warrantees accepting say an 03 lexus with 69 k on it not knowing the condition of the car. I do not believe they have you take it to a mechanic and at that you could just pay some guy off to write a glowing report. I would just make sure thay have been in business for 10 years or more. Again how much is the warrantee in question VIS250P?

Jabberwock

Caddy - based on consumer surveys the hybrids particularly Toyota built have been very reliable when fairly new (less than 5 years old). I don't think there is much evidence in on long term maintenance costs.

Folks saying hybrids are not complex technology...well I can see the logic of their arguments in theory, but we'll see over time.

When the complex electrical and electromechanical stuff starts to breakdown it is never cheap to fix. My guess is that most of it is pull and replace rather than repair and that parts will cost huge $$$$.

I have read extensively about the technology used on the new Chevy Volt - its pretty amazing stuff, but it would be pretty hard for anyone with any engineering background to make a cogent argument that Hybrid technologies are a simplification of existing gas engine car technology. For purposes of discussion on maintenance and reliability, I am ignoring battery replacement costs - that's another subject.

Straight electric cars should be much lower maintenance because that technology is a real simplification, but I think that gas/electric hybrids (at least for a few technology generations) will be shown to cost much more to run and maintain in the long run than a fuel efficient gas powered model of the same car.

Of course I could be dead wrong - it happens often : )

warminwisc

JW- Some very valid points here regarding this technology. They do give a 8 year 100 k warrantee and with the 2 million cars on the road with HSD technology since 1997 it is almost becoming old technology many of the automakers are sharing and improving to minimize R and D costs. Cleaner air, better fuel economy and improved power.

In general the same could be said about all the new car technology coming out every year hybrid, gas electric though. The costs to produce and repair can be exorbident i.e.variable valve timing, 8 speed and CVT trannies cylinders which shut down at hyway speeds and what else. If you buy new technology laden cars you almost have to figure in the cost of a extended warrantee with all the bells and whistles.