Warranty - to Extend or Not?

[Timberline]

I've read some of the other threads about which warranty and how much to pay. But this question is more qualitative. With the typical rock-solid reliability of Toyota's, is it even worthwhile to extend the warranty?

I bought an extended warranty for my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee and it paid for itself many times over. I bought a 1st Gen Tundra recently and took it to the dealer to have the first timing belt/water pump replacement. The service writer, who knew I was new to Toyota's said "see you in 90k miles" following with the comment that as long as I keep up the PM that unless something unusual occurs, that's likely the next time he'd need to see my truck.

Now we're planning to replace the JGC with a 4th Gen T4R. Initially I'd thought about an extended warranty but now find myself asking "what's the point?". Peace of mind that IF something happens that I have no expense - maybe, but the $1k or so that the extended warranty would cost would take a big chunk out of most major repairs. If the likelyhood of such an event is fairly low as seems to be the case with these vehicles, this money could better be used elsewhere. It seems to me to be a reasonable risk to take by not extending the warranty.

So for those who have an extended warranty - how many have paid for themselves?

Thanks guys! :cheers:

 

[ALLEGRO]

To be honest with you, I have bought extended warrantees on my US cars, but I do NOT plan on getting one for the 4Runner.

I purchased the T4R because of its reliability and lack of statistical repair. So far, I have changed all the cases to synthetic and run Mobil 1 in the crank-case. After 45K, it is still as tight and "a single piece" as it ever was. I got 250K out of my '98 Jimmy, I bet I get nearly twice that from the 4R.

JMHO

Good Luck

 

[Nuke]

I've owned 6 Toyotas; 3 of them 4R's. Had I bought an extended warranty for any of the 6, I'd have wasted my money.

 

[snhrph]

Consumer Reports (not that anyone reads them :nerd say: "We have long advised that extended warranties are a poor deal for almost every product. Now we have the first data showing that this advice applies to most new cars as well." Here is the link: http://www.consumerreports.org/

Edmunds.com has a very nice write up about the extended warranties

http://www.edmunds.com

If you were buying another Grand Cherokee, you'd be foolish not to buy a service contract (aka extended warranty). It is actually an insurance policy that you buy against your vehicle breaking down in the future, and with JGC you would get your money worth many times over. But with the reliability of Toyota, you probably do not need that.

Having said that, there are members on this forum that have the warranties and actually used them.

FWIW, I chose not to buy the extended warranties for both my trucks.

 

[charlier180]

I wondered the same thing as the original poster is through the first 35 months I owned my 4Runner.
At that point I got a real good price on a Toyota Platinum Extended Warranty.
Earlier this year I had the Park/Neutral POS Switch Assembly replaced. (I was getting a CEL.)
I happened to see the work order and saw the part was almost $300 but did not see the labor charge.

Currently the CD player in my 4Runner plays for a time then the display shows an "Error" and stops playing.
This repair/replacement will most likely put me well past what I paid for the warranty.
I have to wonder if anything else will need to be repaired in the 23 months remaining on the extended warranty.

I think another question for the original poster to ask is what repairs have 4Runner owners had to make in the first 7 years/100k miles and what did they cost.
Then compare those repairs to the list of repairs that are covered by the extended warranty.
That might given a different insight into the worth of these warranties.