I am about to buy a used toyota avalon with 19,000 miles. The factory warranty is good for 36,000 miles or till 12/2010. Should I buy the extended warranty for $800? Any thoughts on repairs on these cars?
This Forum is extremely anti-extended warranty. Myself I have been paid a lot of money from extended warranty programs so I have a little different perspective.
What bothers me about the plan you mention is that it is to cheap. It must be a plan with many ways for the insurance company to deny benifits. Check very carefully what is covered. Look at items that fail due to wear and items that fail due to a part breaking. Look carefully at diagnostic time pay policies and look closely if and when a rental car will be provided. There are many ways to come up short with extended warrantys.
If I bought extended warranties for everything on this desk, I would be out $250. If you had a Chrysler Sebring you might want a warranty, but it would be better to not have a Sebring.
waste of money, this is an outstanding vehicle with excellent record.
Your car unexpected repairs while not cheap are not what a premium branded car has ($$$$$) most Euro makes. I would skip it and you likely also have a 5yr/60k powertrain typically.
$800 is pretty cheap. How long is the duration of this warranty? What are the items excluded from repair? Is this offered through Toyota or is it from some other company? Is there a deductable, if so how much per repair?
If you like the answers to these questions, for $800 it maybe worth it. The Avalon is a very solid car and you may never use it. But a bad sensor, failed alternator, are not hard to imagine with any car. It is a matter of costs, items covered vs not covered, duration, and who can perform the work? It is your call.
These warranties do not cover most of the stuff that is normal maintenance, new brake pads, blown coolant hoses, bad serpentine belts, spark plugs, fluid flush and replacements etc. It should cover ignition coils, starter, alternator, water pump, head gaskets, ABS modules, sensors, transmission failures, brake lines and master cyclinders, and “major” components of many of the car’s critical systems
Well any car can have major expensive repairs.
The profit to the salesman and company is usually over 50%. So for every $1,000 you spend the insurance company has less than $500 to pay for repairs or they will loose money, something insurance companies do not do. Some people will get nothing back and some will get a lot more than they pay. Most will get far less. In addition you need to keep in mind that the insurer has worded it to eliminate as many expensive things as they can.
Remember that the seller is out to make money and they get to write the rules and set the price. They are not going to sell them at a loss so one way or another they are going to have you pay more than they will pay out.
Would you gamble with a car dealer who gets to set all the rules and knows all the odds?
Your decision has to do with the value of the piece of mind it gives you. If that is worth the cost then buy it. Don't expect it to cover everything however, most are written to keep cost down and exempt what they know will cost them money.
Good Luck