Is Lexus extended warranty worth purchasing

[Nick W858]

It's a no for me - got offered it yesterday when the RX was in Lexus Hull for a 90k service (2011 model) - no faults whatsoever and these cars are meant to be very reliable. For me personally I would bank the money in a slush fund but each to their  own - if the thought of a big report bill worries you then go for it.

[craig430]

I changed from a LS 430 to a 2009 LS 600hL some 4 years ago. I have always had extended warranties for my previous LS models (LS 400, LS 430 and now LS 600 over the last 21 years) but have rarely claimed anything. My warranty is due for renewal in June, having cost £1000 per year for the last 2 years. Yesterday I received the forms to renew the warranty and was amazed to see that the premium has now gone up to £1500 per year, a 50% increase over last year. This is a step too far and I will be cancelling this cover when it runs out and will probably start using a local reliable independent garage for routine work from now on.

[PCM]

It has gone up a lot!

I paid 695 for two years, one year ago.

And have had real value from it!

But I guess it's horses for courses...

[Shahpor]

They have all gone up recently.

My IS one is now £895 compared to £795.  Not a huge increase, but there are hints that the 2 4 1 offer may be coming to an end and that price would be per year; should that be the case, I would sell my car before paying that much for the warranty.

[ColinBarber]

It really isn't a two for one offer. The two year 'deal' is now in its third year of existence, Lexus shouldn't be stooping to the never ending sales found in a furniture shop.

Warranty pricing is review yearly, the current pricing increased at the start of the year is valid until the end of Dec 2016.

[DanD]

During a routing service (80k miles), the dealer identified an oil leak around the head gasket. Some seal needed to be replaced.

This was covered by the extended warranty.

While replacing the head gasket seal, the technician noticed that the coolant reservoir had a small crack and was leaking.

This too was replaced under warranty.

Money saved: Approx £620.00

[PCM]

It's saved me a stack of cash too... 

[ColinBarber]

On 23 June 2016 at 2:43 PM, DanD said:

During a routing service (80k miles), the dealer identified an oil leak around the head gasket. Some seal needed to be replaced.

This was covered by the extended warranty.

While replacing the head gasket seal, the technician noticed that the coolant reservoir had a small crack and was leaking.

This too was replaced under warranty.

Money saved: Approx £620.00

How is it money saved if the warranty costs £995 on an RX and the claim was £620? Granted you get breakdown cover included but you are still down on the deal.

Depending on how bad those leaks were you may have decided not to even go ahead, or pay half the price at an independent.

[Shahpor]

Well, considering it was leaking and it was done at a dealer, you could argue that the warranty only cost him £375 so far, which is worth spending for peace of mind.

So glad I bought mine when I did.  2 months after I got it, my car needed a new flywheel and, as it turns out, engine mounts.  Along with a new clutch this cost me £650.  Without the warranty, I was looking in the region of £3000.  Granted, I could have had the work done somewhere else, but there are benefits to having work done at the dealer e.g. courtesy car.  Also, my dealer was brilliant when it came to fixing the issues, which were more complicated than first anticipated.

So, I had 22 months left after getting my moneys worth for the £795 for the cost of the warranty.

Another thing is sometimes it is nice to get some niggling faults taken care of which you otherwise wouldn't bother with.  My car is going in next week for a service, and I have asked them to look at a couple of niggles which I would otherwise have just put up with.

I don't think I would own a newer Lexus without a warranty since they are so expensive to repair.

[rayaans]

56 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

Well, considering it was leaking and it was done at a dealer, you could argue that the warranty only cost him £375 so far, which is worth spending for peace of mind.

So glad I bought mine when I did.  2 months after I got it, my car needed a new flywheel and, as it turns out, engine mounts.  Along with a new clutch this cost me £650.  Without the warranty, I was looking in the region of £3000.  Granted, I could have had the work done somewhere else, but there are benefits to having work done at the dealer e.g. courtesy car.  Also, my dealer was brilliant when it came to fixing the issues, which were more complicated than first anticipated.

So, I had 22 months left after getting my moneys worth for the £795 for the cost of the warranty.

Another thing is sometimes it is nice to get some niggling faults taken care of which you otherwise wouldn't bother with.  My car is going in next week for a service, and I have asked them to look at a couple of niggles which I would otherwise have just put up with.

I don't think I would own a newer Lexus without a warranty since they are so expensive to repair.

The newer Lexus vehicles are all also much more reliable than the IS220d though and TBH the IS220d is probably the only car Id take a warranty on in the Lexus lineup. Ive had 3 Lexus vehicles now, covered over 200k miles in them (altogether) without a single issue outside of the standard 3 year warranty period

[Shahpor]

So you had problems inside the warranty period?

[ColinBarber]

2 hours ago, Shahpor said:

So you had problems inside the warranty period?

I certainly have. My thoughts are most manufacturing issues will show up in the first three years - my IS is coming up for three years old and I'm not sure whether I'll take out an extended warranty.

[rayaans]

3 hours ago, Shahpor said:

So you had problems inside the warranty period?

On my 2005 RX300 the front bushes were changed under warranty. RX400H the warranty wasn't used. RX450H warranty wasn't used. And IS300H I'm going to use the warranty for 2 bubbling wheels on the same side (not a manufacturing issue, the car was bought second hand and they've been refurbished). It's under 3 years old so thy should cover it especially since I've had it for less than a year

[Shahpor]

So in 200k miles of driving, you have had nothing go wrong except some bushes and bubbling wheels?  That's impressive.

Although I expect that Colin's experience might be more typical than yours, I would be happy to be proved wrong since I am planning on getting another Lexus after this one.

[PCM]

Again ... if it has air suspension, I'd get one - otherwise ...?

[ColinBarber]

10 hours ago, Shahpor said:

So in 200k miles of driving, you have had nothing go wrong except some bushes and bubbling wheels?  That's impressive.

Although I expect that Colin's experience might be more typical than yours, I would be happy to be proved wrong since I am planning on getting another Lexus after this one.

I may be missing something but from memory I've had the following issues outside of servicing, tyres, pads, discs etc:

98 GS300 - 2 years - no issues.

99 IS200 - 3 years  - my wife's vehicle, no issues other than corroding alloys and two headlight bulbs.

01 GS430 - 3 years - purchased with 3 months left on factory warranty and initially needed new central locking motor, door lock mechanism and windscreen refitted due to wind noise. After the warranty expired I think I have an oxygen sensor go bad which I replaced myself and a normal sticking brake sliding pin which I fixed.

01 RX300 - 5 years - my wife's vehicle. A couple of oxygen sensors go bad which I replaced myself and a normal sticking brake sliding pins which I fixed. One sidelight bulb.

05 RX400h - 5 years - a couple of sticking brake sliding pins which I fixed. 12v Battery got weak after 4 years so I replaced before it failed. Rear light cluster started to leak as rubber seal become detached - glued back on myself. Corroding alloys.

13 IS300h - 2 years - new power steering link assembly due to notchy steering feel, new drivers seat base due to movement during braking, new automatic wiper sensor, multiple firmware upgrades on infotainment system - all performed under factory warranty.

[Shahpor]

Thanks for the info Colin, very interesting.  Also, impressive reliability from the 6 Lexus's you have had.  I can see why you keep coming back

Case in point though, for your IS, I am not sure of the price of course, but I am willing to bet that the power steering link, seat base and wiper sensor would have cost you more than the £795 the warranty would have cost you at the time?  This is obviously assuming you would have had the work done at the dealer, which from my experience is a nice bonus.

[rayaans]

14 hours ago, Shahpor said:

So in 200k miles of driving, you have had nothing go wrong except some bushes and bubbling wheels?  That's impressive.

Although I expect that Colin's experience might be more typical than yours, I would be happy to be proved wrong since I am planning on getting another Lexus after this one.

Yep thats right. Nothing apart from bushes and bubbling wheels. Having said that, Ive never bought a car in its first year of production, apart from the IS300h. I had the RX300 8 years, the 400h 4 years, 450h 4 years now and the IS for 1 year (but its nearly 3 years old)

Ive only had 1 firmware update done but did it myself from the Lexus tech website.

6 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

Thanks for the info Colin, very interesting.  Also, impressive reliability from the 6 Lexus's you have had.  I can see why you keep coming back

Case in point though, for your IS, I am not sure of the price of course, but I am willing to bet that the power steering link, seat base and wiper sensor would have cost you more than the £795 the warranty would have cost you at the time?  This is obviously assuming you would have had the work done at the dealer, which from my experience is a nice bonus.

I thought he said it was under factory 3 year warranty so it wouldnt have cost anything anyway?

[Shahpor]

sorry, perhaps I didn't make my post clear.

What I meant was if he didn't have the factory warranty, it would have cost more.  It was just an example of a potential scenario for someone who owns a car more than 3 years old.

[rayaans]

2 hours ago, Shahpor said:

sorry, perhaps I didn't make my post clear.

What I meant was if he didn't have the factory warranty, it would have cost more.  It was just an example of a potential scenario for someone who owns a car more than 3 years old.

Ah yes, well it would have cost more but I think it was a manufacturing defect rather than anything else.

The issues Colin has had are very rare

[ColinBarber]

3 hours ago, Shahpor said:

Thanks for the info Colin, very interesting.  Also, impressive reliability from the 6 Lexus's you have had.  I can see why you keep coming back

Case in point though, for your IS, I am not sure of the price of course, but I am willing to bet that the power steering link, seat base and wiper sensor would have cost you more than the £795 the warranty would have cost you at the time?  This is obviously assuming you would have had the work done at the dealer, which from my experience is a nice bonus.

It's reliability that I've just become accustomed to, I've also had six Toyota's with the same, if not better, reliability. I was quite disappointed in a MB I had for a while.

The power steering issue, which would probably cost the price of an extended warranty on it's own to fix, was a manufacturing parts defect that affected the first couple of months of production on the new IS300h - it was a day one fault rather than a failure.

The seat issue would probably have cost a lot too, as it was Lexus Guildford damaged the leather during the repair which they never fixed 

The wiper sensor was an attempt to improve the performance of the auto wipers, I'm not sure it actually made that much difference - that wouldn't have been something I'd replace if it wasn't covered by warranty.