Hello And Extended Warrenty

[MNMJ]

Hello,

I've been a happy reader of this forum for 4 years. The comments on here (thank you all), as well as a weekend test drive from Lexus Chester, helped me decide to buy a Mar 2010 (MY 2009) Mesa Red IS-F in Nov 2010.

Its a great machine and now I find myself in the unusual position of contemplating an extended warrenty. Historically I have changed cars just prior to the 3 year end of warrenty time, so have no experience of the risk vs value trade off.

The Lexus website suggest £795 for one year or £1335 for two. So, finally, to my questions:

1. What is the collective opinion; is this worth having?

2. Are these prices negotiable at the dealer?

3. Are these actually IS-F prices? The website just has the category 'IS'

Aplogies if this is resurrecting an old thread. If so, could someone point me at it.

Thanks,

M

[stevet]

Its a difficult one and I'll be in the same position later this year. Its down to peace of mind and think £800 for a years worth is good. I was quoted the same so that must be for the ISF. The ISF is pretty bullet proof with no known issues. Mines just coming up to 60k miles and runs like new. I've got every receipt from new and nothing except normal service items and tyres are there. I also have a full print out of the cars history from Lexus and no problems there either. So its not a high risk not to have it, unlike the German performance cars.

[tonyricha]

If you do buy make sure it is for 2 years as this stops them putting it up after 1 year. The warranty is sold by and appears to be a Lexus product but is actually by a 3rd party called twg services limited (yes lower case may tell you what they are about!) Almost every claim my dealer has submitted has been refused but the back down real easy,muppets! It really annoys me they will not say about wear and tear if it reduces a claim, the small print is pathetic and clearly they dont read it.

I have argued 4 claims and they have backed down every time and so saved me cash but you must be prepared to argue hard, I have just gone for another year on my 160K 2006 GS450h only because the complexety of the hybrid system but they now want £995 for the year.

Good luck Tony

[MNMJ]

Thanks Tony and SteveT.

It is useful to know it is a 3rd party; I shall ask some good questions when I am at the dealer for its service and MOT next month; after all it will be them I will be dealing with (I assume?).

I'm only on 18000 miles so its pleasing to hear that they can cover much bigger miles with no faults.

I've also just had through the post the Lexus offer for breakdown cover at £115 for the year. That is somethng I would definitely want. Breakdown cover also seems to be part of the extented warrenty package, which using man maths makes the warrenty feel like £680 p/a for one year or £602.50 pa if I go for 2 years. Of course I could get green flag or AA cover, but that feels like skimping a bit far, and I like the cover for any car principle offered by Lexus.

I have a couple of weeks to decide, so I'll wait and see if others have additional points of view.

M

[fjcfarrar]

I took out 2 years additional warranty cover when I bought my ISF in 2008, and it has never missed a beat. Nevertheless, when this was getting close to finishing last year, I bought two further years because although not expecting any problems; if a major one arose, another mortgage would be needed because ISF parts costs are staggering for major items. The warranty is after all just an insurance against unlikely events which provides peace of mind even if at a hefty price and sadly will have little influence on selling-price or trade-in value

The Lexus warranty may well be underwritten by a third party but is operated by Lexus UK, and all reports suggest they operate it fairly and do not go to the extravagant extent that some other warranty providers will do to avoid paying out.

I also bought prepaid servicing at the same time as the car & have extended that to seven years too - it works out cheaper.

[harey]

I totally agree with the previous post. I've also had my ISF since the early days and extended the warranty twice. It's worked well, and managed by the dealers (so you don't have to pay and claim the money back). I've also extended, not worrying about the reliability, but to cover those things that would be expensive (like SatNav screens!). It also includes the Road Side cover. The cost is actually £995 (which can be paid in 10 months interest free payments).

[derekhb]

in same position really, just wondering if i should take out a service plan on my 2008 is250 at £31 per month for 31 months for next 3 services. My local SAAB authorised repairer state they can do the servicing using genuine parts for 75% cheaper than a lexus dealer !!!

[giorgoXXI]

Lexus warranty was around £900 a year, so around £1800 for two years, which was a bit too much.

I ended up going with Warranty Wise, cost me £950 for 2 years, and there is no part list (everything included). Obviously the Lexus warranty is less hassle if there is an issue, but I couldn't justify the cost (AA breakdown costed me £55 anyways).

[MrW]

I've got a third party warranty too, its worth noting that if its not extended from the original, after 50K miles you can't even get a Used Lexus warranty even if you bought it from a Lexus dealer.

Oh and it cost the dealer under £200 to put the warranty on mine, I've seen the paperwork what huge markup or what!

[MNMJ]

I got my warranty today whilst having the 3 year service and MOT done. The dealer had a warranty brochure with a summary of cover and conditions and a ''How much will it cost' insert that listed the whole Lexus range. The IS-F is on the sheet as £995/£1850 for 1yr/2yr as identified by Giorgo and Harey above.

BUT....last week I called the dealer who sold me the car (Wolverhampton) to check the online IS price of £795/£1395. They confirmed that would be the same for every IS including the IS-F and offered to sell me the warranty over the phone.

When I pointed these lower figures out at the dealership today, they checked 'the system'; it turned out that the price was indeed £795/£1395 and the sheet "must have been an old brochure". The date on it appears to be 09/11.

They were very good about it, apologetic even, and offered me the internet price straight away.

I wonder if Lexus were finding that not enough IS-F owners were taking it up at the higher price and they were consequently losing people and cars from the dealer network. It then makes sense to drop the price.

There are all sorts of other reasons that occured to me, some of which might require vetting by a lawyer before they are published, but the main moral of the story is to do your research. 5 minutes on the internet and a 5 minute phone call saved me £515.

[MrW]

Excellent result.

[MNMJ]

Yes, very pleasing result.

I'm now going to shop around to see if I can beat their tyre quote for £238.14 per rear and £227.94 per front.

I normally use Event Tyres who come to my home and have been exceptional in price and service over the years. When I first used them I asked a few questions and it turns out they also served the P1 Supercar club in Cheshire so that gave me confidence about their ability to do big and expensive wheels.

[Orfordness]

Yes, very pleasing result.

I'm now going to shop around to see if I can beat their tyre quote for £238.14 per rear and £227.94 per front.

I normally use Event Tyres who come to my home and have been exceptional in price and service over the years. When I first used them I asked a few questions and it turns out they also served the P1 Supercar club in Cheshire so that gave me confidence about their ability to do big and expensive wheels.

Try E-Tyres or Black circles for tyres

Steve

[MNMJ]

I'll have a look at them too Steve. Have you personal experience of them, or is that where 4 Sqn got the tyres for the Harriers?