Lexus Smart Cover

[Martin J]

Apologies for cross-posting this enquiry from the Insurance forum, but I'm guessing that most fellow NX owners have taken delivery fairly recently. My question is whether you were offered the Lexus Smart Cover for minor bodywork damage on your NX, and if so whether you have taken it out. It's not cheap at £499 and there are some significant exclusions (eg bonnet, which in my experience gets the most stone chip damage). Further details here:

http://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty-and-insurance/#/LexusMotorInsurance

[DJP]

I bought it for my IS and it's worked really well for me. I damaged the front lip, not sure how, either on a sleeping policeman or a raised kerb when parking. One e mail with photo to the claims dept, approved within 24 hours, almost immediate contact from the repairer who came to my office and repaired, superb result.

Then two weeks ago I hit a piece of metal debris on the motorway. Same service from the claims team, and it was repaired last week. The repairer also spotted a dent at the bottom of the passenger door which he hadn't had approval to repair. Another quick photo, that's been approved and the chap is back tomorrow to repair.

I also bought the alloy wheel cover and that's been excellent too. The underwriter will be making a loss on me!

[rayaans]

Apologies for cross-posting this enquiry from the Insurance forum, but I'm guessing that most fellow NX owners have taken delivery fairly recently. My question is whether you were offered the Lexus Smart Cover for minor bodywork damage on your NX, and if so whether you have taken it out. It's not cheap at £499 and there are some significant exclusions (eg bonnet, which in my experience gets the most stone chip damage). Further details here:

http://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty-and-insurance/#/LexusMotorInsurance

It honestly depends on where you drive. If you do a lot of motorway driving it may be worth it but even then, a full respray of a bumper would only cost about £200.

Also there is a £10 excess to pay each time which is the same price as genuine Lexus Touch up paint if you're worries about stone chips

I'd say it's not worth it. I have had my RX450H over 3 years from new. I have 4 stone chips on the front bumper and that's it lol

Due to the high bumper and the huge girl I wouldn't worry too much about stone chips. They're inevitable

[ColinBarber]

It may be worth seeing what policies are available elsewhere. Tyre cover and alloy cover can typically be found cheaper than from your dealer so I would expect the same to be true for a smart repair policy.

[DJP]

I'm sure there will be cheaper out there. Rightly or wrongly I felt buying from Lexus would give me extra peace of mind and better chance of recourse if it all went horrible wrong.

The proof of any insurance policy is what happens at the point of making a claim, and having made 3 on each of them (alloy wheel repair and body repair) they score 10/10.

I guess it does also depend to a certain extent what type of motoring you do as to whether it's worth the money. I do mostly town/city driving with lots of short journeys and kerbside parking. The slightest brush against the kerb is fatal for the alloys. So for me, the alloy cover is a no brainier. The scuff/dent/scratch cover perhaps slightly less likely to be needed, although in my case I was unlucky to impact motorway debris.

Stone chips haven't been an issue for me, but I wouldn't expect them to be.

Sent from my iPad using Lexus OC

[Martin J]

Thanks all for your comments. Ultimately I guess it's a matter of risk assessment. I'm inclining to the view that £500 is not vfm given my lowish annual mileage, and the fact that the only serious debris damage I've ever suffered was on the bonnet, which is excluded. However, had the car been priced say £200 higher, and the smart cover included free, I might have been quite pleased....

[Sybaris]

I guess it depends on how often you end up using it.  Chips Away once came out and buffed my entire car for £60, which included about 5 scratches.  For roughly the same cost i could call them out 8 times.  The one thing that put me off taking the cover was that it doesn't cover deep or long scratches.  I think you have to work out what you want first.

 

As mentioned above there are some competitive services for about £150 that do exactly the same... infact they are underwritten by the same people.

 

[C Mclean]

I was offered the SMART Inurance, GAP insurance, wheel repair and tyre repair by the dealership, all for the princely sum of £1,246. Thanks, but no thanks. I reckon even with bad luck on my side I'll be many quids in when the policies run out...

[Verbout]

It's a choice, it's a risk, I'll take the risk thank you.

[JohnScoot]

I took out Lexus Smart Cover thinking it was managed by Lexus themselves and therefore hassle free. Not the case! Try making a claim through the 3rd party provider and you'll find all sorts of restrictions - have to claim within 72 hours, send photo's, fill out complex forms, wait for approval etc. etc. - not worth the hassle.

[Shahpor]

Has the Smart Cover changed recently?

I know this is an old thread, and the website now says something different to what has being said here.

For starters, it says you have 30 days from the date of the incident to claim.

Second, it says that the bonnet and roof are covered for stone chips while the rest of the car is insured for scuffs, dents, scratches and chips.

It also states a £500 claim limit with a total limit of £3000 for the cover period (although not sure if this has changed or not).

So, with this in mind, is it worth getting now?  Also, is it still £500 (per year I assume)?

Thanks.

[martyn...]

I was quoted £399 for the SMART cover on my NX300 by the dealer, it is Lexus approved, the fee is for 36 months cover.

 

[CharlieR.UK]

I paid £499 for three years paint and wheel damage cover from Lexus back in April when I bought my GS. I did this based on the fact I park every day in a public car park and my last few cars were bashed constantly by other careless owners, and I do have a nasty habit of whacking kerbs!!. So far Murphy's law has applied and neither have happened so I cant comment on how any claim goes. With an expensive motor I think it is worth it for peace of mind though.