Lexus Extended Warranty - Worth it?

[Casa1862]

Any IS300h owners which have cars out of warranty (more than 3 years old) had major issues?

 

I’m going to keep my car for another 10 years, I’ve had it since new and so far no warranty issues at all, I was going to purchase the warranty today but it’s just so expensive, not sure I can justify the extra. I’m doing 15k miles,  if I get the warranty I need to use expensive Lexus servicing every 10k, if I don’t bother I’ll just get the car serviced at a local independent who I trust once a year or 15 k miles, I’m comfortable running the car more than the recommended 10k/12k service intervals.

 

Using very rough figures below, would most agree in my case it’s not worth buying, I’ve saving which I can use if I need repairs, the short service intervals and high Main dealer service cost is what’s putting me off.  

 

 

Warranty cost £450.00 per year:

 

Over 10 years 150k miles                              £4500.00

 

Lexus service cost every 10k – 15 services required:

 

7 x main services at average £600.00        £4200.00

8 x Minor service at £275.00                       £2200.00

                                                                Total £10900.00

 

 

Independent service 15k – 10 services required:

 

5 x Main service £300.00                               £1500.00

5 x Minor service £100                                   £500.00

10 x AA/RAC cover £75.00                             £750.00                                                

                                                                Total   £2750.00

 

I’d be paying almost £9k more if I kept up the extended warranty, would I have £8k of repairs in 10 years? The difference in value between a FLSH and just FSH at 10 years old will nothing.

 

Seriously thinking not bothering with it, particularly as the Lexus should be a reliable car.  

[Casa1862]

Actually, I've just noticed Lexus have reduced the price for the IS, £495.00 for two years , that makes it a little more competitive, but still doesn't get around the higher service costs.

 

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty/#

 

 

[IS300Hdriver]

1 hour ago, Casa1862 said:

Actually, I've just noticed Lexus have reduced the price for the IS, £495.00 for two years , that makes it a little more competitive, but still doesn't get around the higher service costs.

 

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty/#

Well spotted, I've just sent them an email as i'm currently paying DD instalments for my extended warranty to commence in December at £895 for 2 years, I'm fearing this is a website error as the other prices look right, unless they've deemed the warranty repair claims since it's release to be far lower than expected or the uptake of the extended warranty to be poor due to price. Seems daft to take out a warranty for a Lexus but others will say when something does go wrong the cost can be eyewatering on these, so piece of mind really. Probably wouldn't bother extending the warranty yet again at 5 years old.

Also remember the extended warranty covers you for comprehensive European Breakdown Assistance, worth £120 a year.

I have a broken demister element on the rear windscreen, will have it assessed for a warranty repair when it goes in for a service next week, if they try to wriggle out of it due to being glass I won't be best pleased as there is no impact damage, the only exclusion in the T&C's. Will be interesting to see what happens and will greatly influence my decision to keep the warranty or get a refund.

[rayaans]

Probably wouldn't bother. Seems to be bulletproof

You could go for Lexus Essential care servicing after the 5th birthday which would reduce overall costs

[Guest]

You don't have to have it serviced at Lexus, just use genuine parts.

[Casa1862]

2 minutes ago, Comedian said:

You don't have to have it serviced at Lexus, just use genuine parts.

you don't for the manufacturer warranty  but extended warranty can have it's own terms, Main Dealer servicing for Lexus and most others really. 

[Guest]

I've never taken one out so that will teach me for assuming. I will have the same dilemma come March time and make sure to look at that aspect, thank you.

 

[Casa1862]

25 minutes ago, IS300Hdriver said:

Well spotted, I've just sent them an email as i'm currently paying DD instalments for my extended warranty to commence in December at £895 for 2 years, I'm fearing this is a website error as the other prices look right, unless they've deemed the warranty repair claims since it's release to be far lower than expected or the uptake of the extended warranty to be poor due to price. Seems daft to take out a warranty for a Lexus but others will say when something does go wrong the cost can be eyewatering on these, so piece of mind really. Probably wouldn't bother extending the warranty yet again at 5 years old.

Also remember the extended warranty covers you for comprehensive European Breakdown Assistance, worth £120 a year.

I have a broken demister element on the rear windscreen, will have it assessed for a warranty repair when it goes in for a service next week, if they try to wriggle out of it due to being glass I won't be best pleased as there is no impact damage, the only exclusion in the T&C's. Will be interesting to see what happens and will greatly influence my decision to keep the warranty or get a refund.

You can get a refund as it's not started yet. Seems quite a lot cheaper than before (£400.00). Worth checking to make sure it's not an error, but couldn't understand why the NX was cheaper than the IS. 

AA cover is good, but I couldn't normally buy that hence why I allowed £75.00 for normal roadside recovery.

[Casa1862]

11 minutes ago, rayaans said:

Probably wouldn't bother. Seems to be bulletproof

You could go for Lexus Essential care servicing after the 5th birthday which would reduce overall costs

Is Essential much cheaper? I'd assume it would still be ok for extended warranty.

[Malc]

...  and at and over 100k miles I fear that any claim under the Lexus extended warranty might fail simply due to " wear and tear " ...................  but maybe not  

Malc

[IS300Hdriver]

59 minutes ago, Casa1862 said:

Is Essential much cheaper? I'd assume it would still be ok for extended warranty.

Think it's about 1/3 cheaper but no stamp in the book apparently, you get a little card with something on. The main concern for me would be the Hybrid Battery, with Lexus servicing you get a 1 year warranty extension up to 10 years old, so hopefully the cheaper essential service would include this too.

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/

Quote

An annual Hybrid Health check is free of charge as part of any Lexus Service.

I've got a 3 year service plan with a London Lexus dealership, but not my closest or most convenient, for about 20% discount. Have a shop around.

UPDATE: Looks like Lexus have just updated their warranty price to £895 for the IS on the new site, my fault.

[Farqui]

You can have the Hybrid system checked and warranty for another 12 months without servicing at a Lexus dealer, up to vehicle age of 10 years (130k miles?).  

Lexus offer the check/warranty for approx £70.

[rayaans]

1 hour ago, IS300Hdriver said:

Think it's about 1/3 cheaper but no stamp in the book apparently, you get a little card with something on. The main concern for me would be the Hybrid battery, with Lexus servicing you get a 1 year warranty extension up to 10 years old, so hopefully the cheaper essential service would include this too.

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/

I've got a 3 year service plan with a London Lexus dealership, but not my closest or most convenient, for about 20% discount. Have a shop around.

UPDATE: Looks like Lexus have just updated their warranty price to £895 for the IS on the new site, my fault.

Depends on the dealer - some are rubbish and give you a certificate. Others will stamp the book and just write Essential care near the stamp. 

Dealerships shouldn't be giving discounts anymore - Lexus UK policy - they're doing random spot checks posing as customers and caught a few out recently. 

The Essential care servicing included hybrid health check according to the spec - TBH it looks no different to the normal service.

[Casa1862]

Yep, looks like it was a mistake, but still can't understand why the NX is £100 cheaper. Makes who think who checks these websites

Has anyone had any major warranty claims, particularly cars over 3 years?

Anyone purchased a warranty for a used car, one without perfect Lexus service history?

[Shahpor]

My car was 7 years old and had one non Lexus service in the book when I took out my first warranty.

In the last 2 and a half years I have had a flywheel, seat frame and 3 brake calipers changed under the warranty.  They did refuse to cover engine mounts, but I thought that was fair enough.

As for servicing, I can only speak for Lexus Reading, but they will stamp your book if you have essential services done there.  Apparently, there is another option called a Value service for which they won't stamp the book.

Some good points have been raised on here already regarding sundry expenses that you haven't accounted for.  For example, the AA cover and Hybrid health check would account for roughly £1900 over 10 years.

One other question is the issue of how often to service the car.  Your calculations stipulate independent services every 15k instead of 10k.  As this is 50% over the recommended interval, I am not sure it is a good idea, especially considering how long you plan to keep the car.

So, if you up the independent services to the same level as the dealer ones, it would work out to approximately £2800.  Add to that £1200 of AA cover and you get £4000.  Include the hybrid health check and we are up to £4700.

Now, if you subtract a couple of thousand for main dealer servicing costs because of essential pricing, then the two figures end up being much closer together.

Of course, no one can say for sure if you will need any warranty work done to your car in the next decade, but it wouldn't take many problems to recoup the cost of the warranty back.  I certainly have got my moneys worth out of the couple I have purchased.

[stevet]

Lexus Stockport stamp the service book for the essentials. I took out a 3 year essentials service package for £19 a month.


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[Casa1862]

I think the service interval are a bit a little unfair anyway, I leased my car from Lexus for two year and they stated that the intervals were 12500 miles, I have that in writing. For private customers it's 10k, as I'm still the owner of the car but now own it privately i assume it drops to 10k, although the dealer may still have it down a 12.5k. You are allowed to go 1k over or 1 month, so thats' 13.5k, I'll only be 1500 miles out so not too far out from what's allowed.

I probably wouldn't bother with the hybrid check if I going out of warranty route, all or nothing!! £70 seems a lot for hybrid test/insurance when I been told that's the most reliable part of the car. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had hybrid issues on this model. I'm happy with normal AA cover and thats about £60 per year.

 

Lexus seems to add a additions as well, like trying to sell wheel alignment on every visit, i'd trust our local guy for the MOT and service, he's been good so far and our other cars have been fine. I was going back to thinking warranty might be worth it at £495, but £895 is a little too much

[wharfhouse]

Extended warranty is often about what can you afford at any point in time - so could you afford a few thousand pounds for a repair bill tomorrow as that is what something relatively "minor" could cost on cars like a Lexus. Paying for the extended warranty is paying for peace of mind that those bills will be covered more than whether you eventually save money or not. I ran a BMW 528i to over 200,000+ miles from new over 10 years and always had it dealer serviced until the end but with no extended warranty. A few repairs were needed which were also done by the dealer - nothing too serious but each bill was a large one. However over that period I did probably save over buying the extended warranty but it was a close thing. Also had a Honda Accord that went to 160,000 over 10 years - again no extended warranty and serviced and repaired at an independent after the first three years. Had similar reliability to the BMW (some things had to replaced though that I wouldn't have expected to break) but as they were repaired at an independent garage the cost of repairs was probably lower than the extended warranty would have cost though may have cost more had I had the repairs done at a main dealer. In both cases though I was crossing my fingers when something went wrong that it wouldn't be a bank breaker! I bought my first Lexus IS 300h 12 months ago from a Lexus dealer - it was two years old with 40,000 miles when I purchased it I and will put around 12,000 a year on it. My plan is to keep it for at least three years and although they do seem to have a very good reliability reputation I decided that in this case it was worth buying the extended warranty for an extra couple of years to run through to it being 5 years old, especially given the hybrid elements, for total peace of mind. The extended warranty does need it servicing at Lexus dealers, which I had planned to do anyway, and so I have also bought a service plan to see me through the same time frame. It's an on-going payment but small(ish) amounts and I know everything is now taken care of for a couple more years, including full Euro breakdown cover which is quite a bit to do independently for full Euro cover, and will review again when it is 5 years old.

[Ben1001]

I bought my IS at 3 years old - got a years warranty plus I paid for an extra 2 years. Looks like the website has been corrected.

id like to know what the difference is between normal and essential services - I.e. does it include spark plugs at 60k?

[rayaans]

3 hours ago, Shahpor said:

My car was 7 years old and had one non Lexus service in the book when I took out my first warranty.

In the last 2 and a half years I have had a flywheel, seat frame and 3 brake calipers changed under the warranty.  They did refuse to cover engine mounts, but I thought that was fair enough.

As for servicing, I can only speak for Lexus Reading, but they will stamp your book if you have essential services done there.  Apparently, there is another option called a Value service for which they won't stamp the book.

Some good points have been raised on here already regarding sundry expenses that you haven't accounted for.  For example, the AA cover and Hybrid health check would account for roughly £1900 over 10 years.

One other question is the issue of how often to service the car.  Your calculations stipulate independent services every 15k instead of 10k.  As this is 50% over the recommended interval, I am not sure it is a good idea, especially considering how long you plan to keep the car.

So, if you up the independent services to the same level as the dealer ones, it would work out to approximately £2800.  Add to that £1200 of AA cover and you get £4000.  Include the hybrid health check and we are up to £4700.

Now, if you subtract a couple of thousand for main dealer servicing costs because of essential pricing, then the two figures end up being much closer together.

Of course, no one can say for sure if you will need any warranty work done to your car in the next decade, but it wouldn't take many problems to recoup the cost of the warranty back.  I certainly have got my moneys worth out of the couple I have purchased.

Isn't yours a 220d 2nd gen though? The 300H doesn't have a flywheel and it doesn't suffer from sticking calipers.

I had my RX300 for 8 years without a single issue, an RX450H for 5 years with no issues, currently have an IS300h which is 4 years old and a 1.5 year old RX450H.  No issues on any of them so Id probably say the warranty isn't worth it unless you know you have a "high risk" Lexus

[Shahpor]

Yep, it was just a generic example.

Sometimes I forget there are separate sections on this forum

The rest of the post should still be relevant though.  Although, that is some impressive reliability you have had there.  How many miles did/do you cover in each one?

[rayaans]

41 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

Yep, it was just a generic example.

Sometimes I forget there are separate sections on this forum

The rest of the post should still be relevant though.  Although, that is some impressive reliability you have had there.  How many miles did/do you cover in each one?

60k in the RX300, 46K in the RX450h, current RX has 13k on it and the IS although 4 years old has 15k on it at the moment

[200h]

On 03/10/2017 at 11:52 AM, Casa1862 said:

Actually, I've just noticed Lexus have reduced the price for the IS, £495.00 for two years , that makes it a little more competitive, but still doesn't get around the higher service costs.

 

https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty/#

 

 

i spoke to lexus this morning and the cost hasn't gone down its still £895 for the 2 years

[Guest]

This may help:

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-maintenance/the-cost-of-car-ownership/

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[Dealkent]

On 04/10/2017 at 4:55 PM, 200h said:

i spoke to lexus this morning and the cost hasn't gone down its still £895 for the 2 years

I have just started the extended 2 year warranty at £ 895 , and would have been furious if they dropped it to £ 495 so easily ! . I wish they would drop the servicing costs , they seem too high , van comptred to other premium marques