Extended Toyota Factory Warranty

Toyota Rav4 EV Forum

Help Support Toyota Rav4 EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

reeler

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 24, 2012
Messages
160
Location
Denver
I never buy one at the dealer that I buy the car. There are a couple dealers that specialize in selling these cheaply to anyone on the Internet. In the past, they have priced for about half what the dealer I buy the car from says is their "cost." The warranty is from Toyota and redeemable at any dealership.

Here are a couple popular choices. Does anyone have pricing or experience with these or others?

http://putnam.toyota.ewarrantyonline.com/

http://warranty.actontoyota.com/

Neither has the RAV4 EV on their web page quoting system (only the ICE version), but I called Acton and got a quote for $1,155 for 8yr/100K miles, Platinum warranty. It might be worth it for that price.
 
That's about $740 less than I would of paid for a lesser "Gold" Toyota extended warranty from my RAV4 EV selling dealer, and told was being offered to me at a substantial discount at the time. That was baloney of course, because as you know, dealers have a very high markup on extended warranties no matter what they would have you believe.

Frankly, I believe the already covered RAV4 EV components under the standard factory warranty, of most long term concern (e.g. Tesla battery), do not benefit by a so-called "extended" warranty. However, if any other non-Tesla related major components fail before the end of the existing warranty, what you were quoted will probably pay for itself.

Does it cover ANY of the Tesla related components? Does it have a deductible at that price?

If you get "Platinum" coverage from Toyota, that provides the maximum coverage possible, but I'll bet it still does not include any of the Tesla components, which likely will be the most expensive to replace. It might still be worth it for the peace of mind you get for the rest of the vehicle. If you won't be using your RAV4 EV on trips, and your annual mileage will reflect that, then you should look in to a quote for the longest term and the least overall mileage, e.g. 8 years (or longer) and 75k miles (or less).
 
Dsinned said:
Does it cover ANY of the Tesla related components? Does it have a deductible at that price?

Zero deductable. It doesn't cover cosmetic or wear items. It doesn't exclude the Tesla components from what I can tell except the battery. These warrantys are specified for an ICE drivetrain so don't specifically exclude much that is relevant to the RAV4 EV.

With such a small production run of these cars, I bet they don't get all the kinks out. I might get the warranty anyway.

Here is their link to what is covered or not: http://warranty.actontoyota.com/compare-plans/
 
reeler said:
... I called Acton and got a quote for $1,155 for 8yr/100K miles, Platinum warranty. It might be worth it for that price.

Sure, it will be worth that when you are either 1000 miles or 1 month short of the expiration of the current warranty. It's just not smart to buy it before then, and the factory and extended warranties run concurrent. If you cancel (sell or trade, or get your car totaled or stolen), then you are out that money.
 
I don't know if it's true, but I heard the price for an extended warranty goes up the later in time you wait to buy it. In some cases it might also be true that after 18 months, and/or some number of miles on the car from original in-service date, it is ineligible for an extended warranty altogether from that automaker (3rd party warranties notwithstanding). Also, when said to be "concurrent", how can it be consider an extended warranty if it does not "extend" past the expiration date of the oriignal factory's bumper to bumper warranty?

For the first three years, essentially everything on the car is covered under Toyota's basic new car warranty, unless you exceed the specified mileage. I believe the "drivetrain" is still covered for 5 years or 60k miles whichever comes first, (altough the traction motor battery is actually covered for 8 years or 100,000 miles), but the rest of the car is only covered for 3 years or 36k miles whichever comes first.

As such, would there ever be a case of an extended warranty that extends the basic new car warranty for less than 48 months or some additional mileage greater than 36k miles? Typically, I think the minimum extended warranties (and also the cheapest) start at 4 years or 50k miles, while the drivetrain components and traction motor battery, still remain covered under the original warranty up to 5 years / 60k miles and 8 years / 100k miles respectively. For this particular car, it is understood that the traction motor battery will never be covered beyond the original Toyota warranty period, and even if it was, the extended coverage will exclude "normal" degradation in that coverage. However, the repair cost for a complete battery failure would easily exceed the cost of that would-be warranty many time over, but sadly there is no existing coverage for that unusual if unlikely event either - even under any available extended warranty - beyond the first 8 years/100k miles.

However, I suspect, 3rd party warranties underwritten by some "high risk" insurance companies, are going to jump into this market and offer some kind of long term battery warranties (for a large fee of course) because none of the big automakers, as of yet, unfortunately, are interested in this potential business opportunity. And who knows, in 8 or 10 years time, a complete R&R on a traction motor battery may be half (or less) what it would cost today, and statistically only necessary on <1 or 2% of all the EVs still on the road in the next decade. :mrgreen:
 
Dsinned said:
I don't know if it's true, but I heard the price for an extended warranty goes up the later in time you wait to buy it. In some cases it might also be true that after 18 months, and/or some number of miles on the car from original in-service date, it is ineligible for an extended warranty altogether from that automaker (3rd party warranties notwithstanding). Also, when said to be "concurrent", how can it be consider an extended warranty if it does not "extend" past the expiration date of the oriignal factory's bumper to bumper warranty?

That sounds like something the dealer would tell somebody to "buy now", 'cause you never know. It's a simple question to ask, and I'm going to a "Toyota dinner" at my dealer (Mossy) in San Diego in about an hour.

I suspect the real reason for the dinner is to sell me an expended warranty and repairs / service.

Concurrent is just that, until it is no longer true!!!
 
TonyWilliams said:
Sure, it will be worth that when you are either 1000 miles or 1 month short of the expiration of the current warranty. It's just not smart to buy it before then, and the factory and extended warranties run concurrent. If you cancel (sell or trade, or get your car totaled or stolen), then you are out that money.

In their FAQ, they give reasons to buy now as the warranty will cover "rental, towing and travel protection." You can sell them back the warranty at any time, but they prorate from the date of purchase and not the expiration of the current warranty.

Dsinned said:
However, I suspect, 3rd party warranties underwritten by some "high risk" insurance companies, are going to jump into this market and offer some kind of long term battery warranties (for a large fee of course) because none of the big automakers, as of yet, unfortunately, are interested in this potential business opportunity. And who knows, in 8 or 10 years time, a complete R&R on a traction motor battery may be half (or less) what it would cost today, and statistically only necessary on <1 or 2% of all the EVs still on the road in the next decade. :mrgreen:

If you look at the Gen1 Prius that are now coming out of their 8 year warranty, some are having to replace their batteries. Drivers are finding that typically only a few cells go bad that can be replaced. I suspect that an aftermarket will be in place to refurbish older battery packs by replacing the shorted cells and ones with little charge capability. Junk yards will fill with these old battery packs and will be repurposed. Judging from wrecked Leafs, totaled cars are selling for around $8K with a good battery. That will be the solution just like being able to buy a rebuilt engine or alternator today. Additionally, the commodity cells in the Tesla drivetrains will be even cheaper at that time.
 
reeler said:
TonyWilliams said:
Sure, it will be worth that when you are either 1000 miles or 1 month short of the expiration of the current warranty. It's just not smart to buy it before then, and the factory and extended warranties run concurrent. If you cancel (sell or trade, or get your car totaled or stolen), then you are out that money.

In their FAQ, they give reasons to buy now as the warranty will cover "rental, towing and travel protection." You can sell them back the warranty at any time, but they prorate from the date of purchase and not the expiration of the current warranty.

That's exactly what I'm saying, and I don't see value in buying a concurrent extended warranty today, and then getting a prorated amount back if the car is sold, stolen, totaled, traded, etc. I see no value in that.

Clearly, the sales people get paid a commision for you to buy right now, and typically only the seasoned car salesmen get to be the finance salesman. The car already comes with towing, the SOS service (works awesome; I used it when my cell phone was out of range) and I have "travel protection" (whatever that really is) on my various credit cards and auto insurance.

I'll try and remember to price it out before 3yr/36k miles. Otherwise, no thanks.
 
I generally stay away from extended warranties like the plague. And I generally maintain and repair all the family vehicles myself as I have wholesale and 3rd party accounts to source parts.

That said, I did opt to buy a warranty for the RAV4 however. The cost of some major components (besides the batt) are prohibitively expensive. That along with the fact that there are limited sources and very small production numbers…

I agree with the reasons not the prematurely buy the warranty.

But the advantage in buying the extended warranty now is that you can roll it into the loan. On a 5yr 0% loan, it was an easy choice. And we expect to put some serious mileage on the RAV.

Don’t forget that you can haggle on the price of the warranty, the duration of the warranty, as well as the mileage coverage of the warranty. I believe the max is 7 yrs and 125k miles.
 
TeCKis300 said:
Don’t forget that you can haggle on the price of the warranty, the duration of the warranty, as well as the mileage coverage of the warranty. I believe the max is 7 yrs and 125k miles.

Yes, you can haggle during the vehicle purchase, or buying it just before the expiration of the current warranty. The singular thing that will happen to EVERY electric vehicle is degradation of the battery, and that is specifically not covered in any Toyota (or Tesla) warranty.
 
I just purchased a white Rav4 tonight. I usually don't buy warranties either but was wondering if anyone else got one and how much you got your warranty for. I was offered a 6year/125K Platinum warranty for $2155. I didn't know you could haggle on the price/terms. That being said, I have until tomorrow morning when I take delivery of the car to haggle or just not get an extended warranty.

Since the finance guy knew nothing about EVs, he didn't specifically have any details on what Rav4 EV parts/service I might actually want this extended warranty for. He circled a bunch of things in a brochure that the warranty covered which probably don't even apply to the Rav4EV.

Anyone with an original Rav4EV (pre 2002) have some experience with what maintenance issues one might expect with a EV and what their experience getting it serviced were? I know its a whole different car than the current Rav4EV, but i'm sure some of it applies.

Also, anyone with a LEAF or VOLT as well get extended warranties? Would you recommend it?
 
I wonder if one guy from Priuschat can get good prices on a Rav4 EV extended warranty?

See http://priuschat.com/threads/discounted-toyota-prius-extended-warranty-service-contracts.2845/. At this point, I would be advise *NOT* visiting the Warranty Shack site because of an alert from Norton 360 (antivirus) and it blocking me. See http://priuschat.com/threads/discounted-toyota-prius-extended-warranty-service-contracts.2845/page-79#post-1751599.

That guy still seems to be responding and has instructions at http://priuschat.com/threads/discounted-toyota-prius-extended-warranty-service-contracts.2845/page-79#post-1702366.
 
cwerdna, are these legit Toyotacare Platinum warranties or is coverage handled by a third party? If we can get a legit toyotacare plan for the rav4ev, then this is an awesome find. Thank you for the heads up. The dealer won't be getting my money for a super marked up warranty.
 
FreshAndClean said:
cwerdna, are these legit Toyotacare Platinum warranties or is coverage handled by a third party? If we can get a legit toyotacare plan for the rav4ev, then this is an awesome find. Thank you for the heads up. The dealer won't be getting my money for a super marked up warranty.
Unfortunately, I really don't know. I have no extended warranty on my Prius and my dad has none on his Toyota. I do personally know Danny (the founder of Priuschat) and as you can see, it was a (and looks like it still is a) sponsored deal since 2004 (before I ever was even interested in buying a Prius). All I can suggest is reading thru the (crazy long) thread or contacting the guy behind it and/or some of the folks who say the bought one from him.

If it was no longer sponsored, I'm sure Danny would pull it down. If it were a scam w/lots of complaints, I'd imagine he'd pull it down.

Sorry, I can't say one way or the other. :/
 
FreshAndClean. CONGRATS!

A few months ago there was somebody on here at a dealership back East offering genuine Toyota extended warranties for cheap! If I were you, I would do a search to find that guy's contact info and give him a call next week.

Btw, the dealer's price on any extended warranties are generally HUGELY marked up no matter what they may tell you.

I paid $1895 for mine, found out it did not cover the battery, and promptly cancelled it.

I think the guy back East could of sold me exactly the same thing (with a future warranty claim still acceptable at any Toyota dealership) for something around $700. I will try to find the info and post again if I can find it.

LET THE BUYER BEWARE!!!
 
Thanks Dsinned! With all the other options out there for warranties, it seems like a huge ripoff to get it through the dealer. The dealer doesn't even understand what parts might need servicing/replacement. The dealer wanted to setup my first oil change last night. Just shows you how clueless these guys are about this car.
 
Here's the place I was referring to in my previous post regarding a Toyota dealership on the East Coast selling factory warranties at big discounts.

http://warranty.actontoyota.com/

Hope this helps! :mrgreen:
 
My standard "don't buy the extended warranty" blurb:

1. These are nothing but profit makers for the dealer. You can generally shop the warranty after you buy the car (meaning years after, when your current warranty is about to expire) from other dealers and on the internet.

2. They run concurrent with the existing warranty, meaning that if you REALLY want an extended warranty, buy it just before the current one runs out.

3. If you cancelled a purchased extended warranty, they will prorate for how many days of "coverage" offered, even though the car was fully warrantied by the concurrent factory warranty and a claim could not be brought against this expensive "extra" warranty.

4. There isn't much, if anything, that an extended warranty will actually cover that is worthwhile on an EV. Most of them specifically exclude electronics (and batteries, mufflers and brakes). In other words, things that will wear out won't be covered and things that will break likely won't be covered.

5. The simple answer to the dealer (finance dude/dudette) is, "the car already has a warranty, and when that runs out, I will consider an extension then." They will of course argue how you can't roll it into the loan / lease then, and the answer is, "Ok".
 
TonyWilliams said:
Dsinned said:
http://warranty.actontoyota.com/

No option for Rav4 EV, not surprisingly (since it's out of state where the EV is not sold).

You have to call them for the Rav4 EV pricing. FYI, It was $1150 for 8 years / 100K miles, but they have a ton of other levels of coverage.
 
Back
Top