Toyota Extended Warranty Info

The below info has been gathered by Michelle Vadeboncoeur from the many questions posed about this on several YahooGroups Prius lists. Hopefully this doc will cut down on the volume of questions on the subject.

"molly_92126" on the toyota-prius Yahoo!Group said in message 67888:

> I've got a 2004 Prius on order but am questioning whether I should get an 
> extended warranty or not with this car.  From what I've been reading, and 
> gathering bits of info, Toyota will essentially cover all basic maintenance 
> for this car for the 1st 3 years and their regular manufacturer's warranty 
> is 8 years.  So...what does an extended warranty really cover that the 
> regular warranty doesn't?  
> 
> Any Prius owners care to comment?

The free (complementary) maintenances in the US were only offered for 2001-2003 Prius (first 5 regularly scheduled maintenances at the 6 month/7500 mile intervals, out to the 30 months / 37,500 miles service - see John1701a's list or Toyota's Vehicle Service Maintenance for what is done at those services.)

The free maintenance program from Toyota was not carried over to the new 2004 Prius, but the free 3 years / 36,000 miles of Toyota Roadside Assistance (and tire/wheel Road Hazard warranty) was carried over from the "classic" Prius to the new 2004 Prius. Some individual dealerships may offer you free services at their place, though, as a customer loyalty feature at purchase.

As taken from the 2004 Toyota Prius Owner's Warranty Information booklet (PN 00505-T2004-PRIUS) page 6, "Warranty Coverages at a Glance" there is a bar graph identifying the various warranties (from my 7/03 printing):

For the 2005 model year, the following states are covered under the California Emissions warranty: CA, CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT.

Also see http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/prius/faq.html, Question 17:

17. What is the warranty for Prius?

Toyota has extreme faith in our hybrid technology, so Prius will come standard with the following coverages:

Owner's Warranty Information

Although you can buy a warranty from most anywhere, be careful about the solvency and the ability to make claims with the place. For example, Warranty Gold left a number of owners without warranty coverage - read up on:

http://www.warrantynews.com/news.asp

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/10/12/Business/Warranty__no_guarantee.shtml

http://charleston.net/stories/090503/bus_05autos.shtml

I bought the extended warranty for piece of mind, but I don't expect to have to collect on it. There are a few TSBs out, that should you be out of the 3/36k bumper-to-bumper warranty and the problem occurs it can get a little expensive (but probably still not the cost of the warranty.). It's really a personal decision on your part if you think that it's worth it.

Toyota Financial Services only offers the Platinum Plan for the Prius, it does not offer the Gold or Powertrain warranties, so all info listed is for the Platinum Plan.

You can buy the Toyota Extra Care (Platinum Plan) from any dealer across the US, and it will be valid for work at any Toyota dealership in the US and Canada, not just where you bought the car from, or plan to have it serviced at (Side note - if buying your car in the SE Region, make sure that you are getting a true Toyota Extra Care (Platinum Plan), backed by Toyota, as every one that has been researched so far in the SE Region has not been backed by Toyota directly. So it might be best to use the dealers below to be sure you are getting the one backed directly by Toyota, so that you know that it will be usable at any US/Canadian Toyota dealership). If you are the original owner and purchased the car new, you can purchase the extended warranty any time before 3 years or 36,000 miles (from the in-service date), so you have time to decide. This info is just for United States residents, Hawaii included.

If you are buying your Prius used from the owner (not a dealer), check to see if the previous owner had an extended warranty. See below for further details.

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP):
http://www.toyotafinancial.com/pyv/extended_service_coverage/n_pricing_prius.html

Coverage (years/total miles)	$50 deductible	$0 deductible
3 / 50,000	$975	$1,025
4 / 65,000	$1,025	$1,075
5 / 60,000	$1,050	$1,100
6 / 75,000	$1,150	$1,200
6 / 100,000	$1,425	$1,475
7 / 75,000	$1,250	$1,300
7 / 100,000	$1,600	$1,650

The following are the best prices I've seen discussed on the Prius Yahoo groups with dealer information, although some people have seen less elsewhere. Other plans are also available from these folks, so don't hesitate to ask for a price quote. Some dealers may also do Lexus plans, if you have another car.

PriusChat: Small cut of purchase goes to support PriusChat.

$990

http://www.priuschat.com/forums/toyota-service-contracts-extended-warranty-discounted-vt3130.html

Toyota of Greenfield, MA:

$990

$690

$670

http://www.toyotaofgreenfield.com/

Crown Toyota, KS:

$985

$875

$590

http://www.crownautomotive.com/

Dan Porter Motors, ND:

$980

http://www.dpmotors.com/toyota/

here

Stone's Town & Country Motors, ID:

$985

$650

http://www.stonescars.com/locations.php?teMode=view&key=3

Schaumburg Toyota, IL:

$1,035

$785

http://schaumburg-toyota.com/index.asp

here

You might be able to roll the extended warranty into your new car financing. In some regions, Toyota Financial Services was offering 0% financing for one year on extended warranties

A copy of my extended warranty is here

More info on the Toyota site here

The Toyota Extra Care Platinum Plan (extended warranty) runs from the in-service date of the vehicle (usually around the time that the vehicle arrives at the dealership or you take delivery). For example, if your in-service date (when you bought it probably, or a few days before) is on Dec. 1, 2003:

New Car bumper-to-bumper warranty is 3 years, 36,000 miles, which covers you until Dec. 1, 2006 or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first.
The 7 year/100,000 mile Toyota Extra Care Platinum Plan, would cover you until Dec. 1, 2010 or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

So, if you buy the 7/100,000 extended warranty, it really only covers you for an additional 4 years/64,000miles.

The only differences that I've seen between the bumper-to-bumper new car warranty, and the Toyota Extra Care Platinum plan, for the initial 3 years/36,000 miles that they run concurrently, are:

Transportation assistance: if your vehicle has warranteeable repairs that'll take more than a day to complete or get parts in, the new car warranty just says that the dealership has to provide transportation assistance (doesn't say what kind, so it could just be a courtesy van, or a loaner, or they could pay for a rental...). The Toyota Extra Care provides a set dollar amount ($50/day) with a limit on how many days (5 per repair visit).
Dislocation benefit: should your car need repairs for more than one day, while you're more than 150 miles from your home, the Toyota Extra Care provides $100/day for food/lodging, up to 5 days over the lifetime of the Toyota Extra Care agreement. I haven't seen this offered in the basic bumper to bumper new car warranty.

Cancelling/Transferring a policy

From conversations here and here.

Transfers

In all cases of buying or selling a used Prius, all remaining factory warranties (and possible remaining complementary services on 2001-2003 classic Prius) transfer to the new owner. Otherwise:

If you are buying a used Prius:
- From a private seller:
  - If there is a Toyota Extra Care extended warranty, it can be transferred to the new owner by the seller assuming that the warranty has not been transferred previously. There is a section on the warranty agreement that spells out what paperwork you have to send where (it's not that difficult to fill in), and the administrative fee (~$50) to do the transfer (within 90 days of sale).
  - If there is no Toyota Extra Care extended warranty, see the buying from a dealer section.
- From a dealer:
  - Conflicting info about whether you can still buy the Platinum New Car warranty if the used car is under the 3 years/36,000mile factory warranty...
If you are selling your Prius:
- In a private sale:
  - If there is a Toyota Extra Care extended warranty, it can be transferred to the new owner by the seller assuming that the warranty has not been transferred previously. There is a section on the warranty agreement that spells out what paperwork you have to send where (it's not that difficult to fill in), and the administrative fee (~$50) to do the transfer (within 90 days of sale).
  - If you do not wish to include the extended warranty in the sale, see the information for selling to a dealer.
- In a trade/sale to a dealer:
  - The Toyota Extra Care warranties cannot be transferred to a dealer. You can either forfeit it, or you can cancel the policy for a pro-rata refund. Instructions to cancel the policy is listed at the end of your Vehicle Service Agreement.

Cancellations

Cancelling your Toyota Extra Care Platinum plan (extended warranty vehicle service agreement):

Should you decide that you want your money back on your warranty (decided it was not a good deal, or you are selling your car to a dealer), you have the right to cancel your warranty for a refund.

Within the first 30 days following the Agreement Application date, if no benefits have been paid, you will be refunded the Agreement Purchase Price, minus a $25 processing/cancellation fee. (For those who bought a warranty for far over MSRP, then find this document and get a really good deal on a replacement warranty, the $25 processing fee may be worth it, if your dealer will not refund you entirely.)

In all other cancellation cases (less than 30 days but there has been a claim, or over 30 days with no claim), you will be given a pro-rata refund based on the elapsed time or mileage (whichever means less $) from the in-service date/mileage of your vehicle (NOT the date/mileage you purchased the agreement), minus a $25 processing/cancellation fee. So, for an example (numbers made up):

You buy a 6/100,000 policy for a 1-year, 11-month old Prius for $1000.

In 30 days, you wish to cancel the policy. You have had no claims on it, since you are still under the factory warranty. You are still within the grace period, so you are refunded $975 ($1000 - $25 processing fee).

In comparison, at 31 days, you wish to cancel the policy. You have had no claims on it, since you are still under the factory warranty. The car is now 2 years old, with only 4 years remaining on the 6 year policy. 4/6 = 66% of the policy is remaining. 66% of the original purchase price of $1000 is $660. Subtract the $25 processing fee, and you get back $635. (Assuming that time had the smaller refund compared to mileage, computed simarily.)

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