babaganoos

There's several threads here over the years about the Extended warranty but are older. We just bought a 2013 RX350 yesterday. We traded in our 2009 RX350 because it had 95K miles, was going to need tires soon, and other things to be done soone with that many miles.... but most important, the rubber boot over the rack & pinion was leaking / damaged / torn? and would cost $1,600 to fix at the dealer

By the way, they said that is a common problem? Anyone have a comment on that?

But we sold it and learned of the platinum extended warranty and spoke to a couple people recommended in earlier threads for a great price on the warranty.

But some questions:

1) Are people buying the warranty with the new car or near the end of the manufacturer's warranty? Do you gain anything to have it in effect now? If you cancel the warranty after, say 3 years on a 6 year warranty, you get 1/2 back. And didn't get to use the extended warranty since the car is under the manufacturer's warranty. Yeah, you'd get towing if you need it.

2) I tried reading the booklet about what's covered and don't see the rubber boot of the rack and pinion as covered / not covered. Anyone know?

3) seems like a great deal (at least the 6 year / 100K for $1275). Does it really cover things other than wear? Here in northeast, I'm jaded - do they'll blame you if you didn't use us for maintenance and the transmission or something BIG that is on the covered list fails but they disallow it?

4) are you keeping the car longer because of the warranty? We sold only because of a big repair. Yeah, still needed tires and 100K type work, but that's wear / maintenance. Along the same lines how do you decide 6, 7 or 8 year?

THANKS!!!

ISFWes

First things first. How many miles does the new car have?

Next is to contact Jerry. And see what he has available. I bought a 2 year Platinum for 600 dollars.

Jerry Johnson
Midwest Toyota
Midwest Superstore
1100 East 30th
Hutchinson, KS 67502
Phone 800-530-5789
jerryj@midwestsuperstore.com

RX330inFL

babaganoos, if you are still under the Lexus Basic Warranty coverage you can get an extended warranty. And yes, it would be covered.

http://www.lexusfinancial.com/consum...um_VSA-05A.pdf

babaganoos

THe car is 1 day old and has 30 miles on it : )

Yes, I spoke to Jerry - great guy. But does it make sense to get it now rather than wait and is it really as good as it sounds? Are you keeping the car longer because of the extended warranty?

Who_Me

My 2007 RX was diagnosed with the leaking rack & pinion, just after the 50K warranty period. I never saw any evidence of a leak on my garage floor. Their explanation was that it probably only leaks during sharp turns. My thought was that there would still be a residual to drip on the garage floor. The dealer also wanted about $1600+ to repair the "problem." I drove the car another 40K miles before I traded it and never had a problem. I checked the fluid regularl;y but never saw any evidence of a leak.

I believe the Power Steering Rack & Pinion leak is the "flavor of the day," for making money for the dealerships ("stealerships"). It is something that scares customers and is something that most can't diagnose or verify themselves. Some people will quickly have the "repair" done.

BertL

OP, congrats on your RX. You're going to get opinions at both extremes on extended warranty -- some people swear by them, others see them as a waste of money -- some have more than paid for themselves, others see them as an expensive form of insurance on a luxury vehicle that in their opinion shouldn't break in the first place. You'll find other threads on this subject as it comes up every few months it seems and we sort of rehash it in threads like this -- so you may want to do a search for further insight.

My net to your latest two questions:

• (Q) Wait until just before your factory warranty is up or Buy now? (A) It comes down to cost of money, if you think the cost of the extended warranty will go up over time, and simply convenience.
  In my case, I want the extended warranty and plan to keep my RX over 4 years, so I know I'll eventually pay for it. I also assume, rightly or wrongly, the cost will go up over the next 4 years, so buying today, locks in the price. While that difference in price may be made up in interest if I invested the same money somewhere and bought the warranty later at a higher price, for me, paying now and getting it out of the way is a good thing as it's one less thing for me to remember, track and/or worry with. I budget the cost of my extended warranty as part of my original purchase price when I go looking for a new vehicle, so for me, I know I'll have no unplanned expenses for 7-8 years. I wait and pay cash for my rides, but for those that finance, one advantage of buying at time of purchase is the extended warranty can be built into the same monthly payments. As you know, you can easily get a refund for the time not used on the Lexus extended warranty, and in every case except one where I kept my car a few months longer than the coverage, I've gotten a few dollars back at time of sale/trade-in that way. Previous threads I've responded to have detail on costs vs paybacks, etc I've seen -- net is, all but one of my extended warranties have paid for themselves (or were fully refunded, so my cost was "the cost of money" during that time).
• (Q) Do I keep the vehicle longer? (A) Yes.
  In my case, because I can budget costs for what will likely be the whole time I own my vehicle. Unlike others that post, moan, groan, and gripe should their vehicle break after warranty and they have to pay for expensive parts and/or labor, I don't worry with that at all -- with my Lexus Ext Warranty, I'm essentially covered and treated the same way as the first 4 years with the factory warranty, for up to 8 years -- be that little things like Infotainment flash updates, struts that sometimes fail over time to hold your rear hatch up, or something major that may unexpectedly occur -- and if something does happen, I have the same service experience I always enjoy from Lexus.

...and if Jerry didn't provide it, or you have not found it, go HERE for more info on the Lexus Ext Warranty (Service Agreement), including your ability to determine what parts are covered and not by each plan. Personally, I only consider the Platinum version -- I don't get why someone would spend just a little less for the lower coverage if you've decided an extended warranty is right for you to begin with. How many years you go with comes down to your personal decision and to a large degree that whole "cost of money" discussion -- me, well, I go with the lowest mileage and maximum time given my situation and am very happy with what I've done. Your mileage and others may vary.

Good luck with your decision.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

There is no added benefit that I can think of to buy the extended warranty before the manufacturer warranty runs out. You are not getting any additional coverage. Can wait until the 11th month of the 4th year or the 49,995th mile to decide if you want to keep the car longer and have the added piece of mine of additional warranty.

Bert makes a great point about the potential rise in cost though.

Most people buy the warranty at purchase because dealers tell them they can't purchase at any other time and of course their prices are ridiculously higher than what Jerry is offering.

RX330inFL

Sorry, I probably was not clear. Was just saying that as long as you are under the Basic 48 month / 50K mile Warranty you can get the extended. So, no need to worry about it at the moment. If you decide to hold on to your RX after three years it would be something to consider. Until then, keep your money in your pocket. You never know when and for what you might need it.

babaganoos

thank you guys for all the details!!

I like to know things are done - my luck i'll remember at a day after it's too late that I wanted to buy the warranty. But at the same time... if it gets wrecked at 3 years, I get 1/2 my money back and didn't use it yet : )

And my luck if I wait, I'll call jerry after waiting and he'll say 'sorry, lexus got too much flack from other dealers and now I can only sell the warranty if you bought the car from me / live within x miles / some other reason that closes the loophole : ) Call me paranoid, but that doesn't mean people aren't out to get me!!!!!

And again, with the paranoia, yeah, there's lots of things covered and few things not covered. Can anyone mention some big item they can think of or experienced failing that wasn't covered? Or wasn't covered because they blame how you maintained the car? You did the 50K maintenance at 51K. Sorry, that $5,000 part would have been covered under platinum, but you didn't maintain as we require.

BertL

OP, people can shoot holes in this and it's not a legal interpretation, but IMHO and only because you ask, and I'm trying to help-- as a very simple thought I use myself -- if you have the Platinum coverage, effectively every major thing is covered -- no different than the basic warranty. Differences exist in things like hybrid battery (for the RXh) and emissions that carry independent warranty that generally exceeds the basic warranty. Normal service items (battery under the hood, wipers, oil, etc) are excluded in all cases.

Your paranoia is probably because of a bad experience or having read what happens many times with 3rd party warranties where most have all sort of exclusions, fine print, requirements for pre-authorization for work to be done and who can do that work, and of course one has to worry if the company will be in existence for the duration of your contract. You have none of that with a true Lexus Service Agreement -- in fact, when you purchase it, you'll note on your next service paperwork that not only does the system automatically note when your factory warranty expires, but it also shows the type and expiration of your extended warranty. You have no paperwork to worry with -- service is absolutely the same as normal factory warranty.
I've never had a claim issue in basic or extended warranty... but I also maintain my vehicle and keep records as such on Lexus.com. Because of lower mileage, I tend to push basic maintenance out further time-wise, but always with the recommendation of my Service Advisor who treats me right. If e.g. you are a person that does not intend to do any maintenance to your vehicle and then blow your engine, or you physically abuse it, or put the wrong oil in, or the wrong filter that ends up damaging something, I would expect Lexus to call you on it with their extended warranty, no different than they should under normal factory warranty. I've found them to be more than reasonable, and I've never had a problem across 4 dealerships and 3 states where I've had warranty work of some sort done.

kitlz

I had extended warranties on my previous RXs and kept them just a year or two beyond the basic warranty (five and six years). They were purchased when new, and also paid for themselves with one repair. Lexus is pretty liberal with what they'll cover IMO. I've never had problems getting anything taken care of, maybe even a few things that wouldn't have been. Then again, I haven't had too many things go wrong, just one or two expensive repairs. Having the extended warranty didn't influence my decision to keep the RX longer. It was more of a safety net while I waited for the next gen to come out.

My RXs are dealer maintained so there's no question about proper care. You can enter any service performed elsewhere in the Lexus owners' website yourself and keep the receipts as proof. The extended warranty refund is prorated so don't expect to see too much money if you sell before it's up. It's unfortunately the chance you take. But as BertL pointed out, it will cost more later on.

I'm not trying to influence you one way or the other. It's your money after all. Good luck with your decision.

babaganoos

Again, thank you to all. I love hearing the thinking of more rational people : )

Concerning the rack & pinion leak on our 2009, check out the comments on this thread:

http://mythreecents.com/showReview.cgi?id=96671

Scary!! Interesting how consistent the repair price is from people writing in (around the country?)