I received a letter from Motor Vehicles Services (888-381-6879) stating that my Lexus RX 300 factory warranty is about to expire or is expired and that they can provide upto or additional 100,000 miles warranty (Full coverage/Powertrain). I haven’t called them, but wanted to find out if they are legit or this is scam. My Lexus is 2001 RX300 and have 97000 miles. You can see from my other message in this forum that my RX300 has transmission problem.
Anyone heard of them? Are they reliable? Any suggestions?
They are just another ‘extended warranty’ seller, an industry full of scammers and outright thieves. Are some legit? Maybe, but no reason to risk it. You have a very reliable vehicle anyway, just keep it maintained and the repair costs you’ll incur will in all likelyhood be far less than the cost of their coverage plus the surprise costs of what they DON’T cover.
I get such invitations all the time. They are simply marketing messages. The company may be legit or not but who cares? You will ignore them, of course.
If you take the money you’d give to the extended warranty and spend it on maintaining your vehicle the chance of a major, high price repair over the next 100k miles will be exceedingly small, especially with something like a Lexus.
To go so far as to name their company ANYTHING so easily misleading that you think it’s a government entity like the DMV or that it’s from your car manufacturer, tells you everything you need to know about that “company”.
I am not buying anything from them. Just out of curiosity I called them anyway. The guy says they have couple million customers. He also quoted the coverage will cost couple hundred bucks per month for 4-5 years. Yup, this is a definite scam. Thanks to all who replied.
…and the high cost aside, the most significant problems with these scamming extended warranty companies include:
“Technicalities” that preclude the full coverage that is promised. Many of the poor slobs who fall for this nonsense find out that the “covered” repair nets them nothing in reimbursement or perhaps a very small percentage of the actual cost.
Frequent closures of these companies. They go out of business under one name, and subsequently recreate themselves the next month under a different name. Meanwhile, the money spent by the unwitting folks who paid for warranties is unrecoverable.
A couple hundred dollars a month for four or five years??? That will get you a decent used car, or even a lease on a brand new small car. I wouldn’t even expect to pay a tenth of that for an extended warranty, but I also would never buy an extended warranty. They are usually not even worth the paper they are written on, and certainly would not cover your transmission problems, especially if they found out it had problems before you bought the warranty.
Save your extended warranty money and put it in a savings account where it will build interest while you are not using it. Spend money on scheduled maintenance to prevent breakdowns and incidental damage due to neglect. And above all, remember that few people benefit from an extended warranty. I know someone who bought a very expensive (over $3k) extended warranty on a Kia Sedona minivan (see? there’s already a problem there) that supposedly covered pretty much everything. The sunroof developed a leak and ruined the trip computer, headliner, and damaged the interior in some other places. After much prodding, the warranty fixed the sunroof, but told the owner that they would not cover anything else because water damage is not covered by the warranty! I drove the van once and noticed the steering wheel was off center. Further inspection revealed a loose inner tie rod end. Warranty says it covers suspension parts, so the owner takes it to the dealer that sold her the warranty. They agreed that the tie rod end was loose, but the warranty people said they would only cover it if the part broke completely. This makes no sense to me since tie rod ends are one of those things that can kill everybody inside the vehicle if it breaks. I guess they were hoping for that so they wouldn’t have to deal with her and her desire to get something for her three grand. The main purpose of an extended warranty is to line the pockets of the people who sell them.
How scammy are they? As recently as five years ago my father-in-law would get these “warnings” in the mail all the time. He hadn’t owned a car in about 50 years, and he’d been dead for about 30 years.
Computerized databases give a whole new meaning to “life everlasting.”
Ha ha ha, ho ho, rolling on floor laughing. I got a call from them last year saying the warranty on my 89 Buick Riviera with 530,000 miles was about to run out. I said thank heavens, I really need a warranty-click.
But it’s just these sort of means of communication that fool the unsuspecting into thinking this is some sort of official business.
I’m thinking particularly of senior citizens but many others fall prey because of the sneaky ALMOST government or corperate sounding names they give themselves.
— " ooo, but it says here I need to. " —
And it’s not just cars. Youall can think of dozens I’m sure from cell phones to credit cards.
So help your friends and family members avoid these pitfalls.
Young adults just starting out solo,
senior citizens,
newly single parents with too much else to do,
Piles of junk mail with one or two that look so official.
Even things that look like checks have been taken to the bank to cash them.
“um, I’m sorry, this is not really a check, it’s just $500.00 off when you buy their new car.”
recalls never expire
And the money you’d give them over that time would be $9,600 to $12,000, assuming $200/month for 4 or 5 years.
If anything, call up your state attorney general’s office and give them the info you’re giving us, they might start something against them if they get enough people to let them know about it.
“But it’s just these sort of means of communication that fool the unsuspecting into thinking this is some sort of official business.
I’m thinking particularly of senior citizens but many others fall prey because of the sneaky ALMOST government or corperate sounding names they give themselves.
— " ooo, but it says here I need to. " —”
You mean like “Division of Corporations”? Really though, not to be unsympathetic but people need to spend a little time learning about their government so they know there is no division of corporations and the MV doesn’t sell warrantees. Guess I’m a little sensitive in Minnesota but people constantly criticize the government but don’t know the difference between state, local, federal, etc. Don’t want to spend a dime on taxes and elect lunatics, but sure want the AG or someone to take care of their problems for them. Not much the AG can do though since it would be a legal name and they are very careful in their wording to say “may” or “might”. So its not really deceptive or fraudulent, just not a good deal.
I personally love the ones that have plastered all over the envelope: “Postmaster, please deliver to intended recipient” or similar. Really, not to the neighbor? I know instantly I can tear it up without opening when I see that one.