Is an extended warranty worth it ?

[flash]

I need to do some tradin with him if service includes me getting to drive a Gomad .

[FlintTony]

OK Ric. Come and get the Nomad. Only thing is, then you will be addicted to it. Tell Les what a great Christmas present it will be and I'm sure you will own it. You will have to build another garage to store it though. If it gets up to the 50's this weekend, I'll get it warmed up for you. Nice and warm!

[EVIL SS 1970]

Originally Posted by Ms Grumpy

When I bought my 2008 Toyota 4 1/2 years ago I argued with David about buying the extended warranty. He argued that it is money that we would just throw away, especially since we would pay interest on it because it would be financed.

Go back to June of this year. I took the Toyota in for its regular service/maintenance which included a tire rotation. OK, nothing out of the ordinary, except when I picked up the car I had a small vibration at higher speeds. So the next week I take the car back to the dealership and tell them to take the car out on the road and drive it at a higher speed to feel the vibration. After sitting there for 2 hours they come back and tell me that it is probably the tires and that it should go away. I knew better, but they wanted nothing to do with me. So I take my car home and do short drives, no long trips in the Toyota.

Fast Forward to last Wednesday. My van was full of Davids crap and I needed to go to my Niece's house to help her prepare Thanksgiving Dinner. I picked up my mom and we headed out to my niece's. I felt the vibration, and so did my mom, I think it actually was starting to freak her out. Now it was not a car shaking vibration, it was when you got on the gas you felt a small vibration. Steering wheel didn't shake so I knew it was not the tires, it had to be something else. Well as I was heading back to my moms I noticed that the vibration was starting a lower and lower speeds. By the time I got to my moms I could feel the vibrations at 35mph.

After dropping my mom off I decided to just go to a Toyota dealership that was close to her house, not the one I had previously taken the car to. After explaining the problem to the Service rep. he said they would take a look and let me know if it was the tires and that it would cost me $98.00 to have them balance the tires. A little outrageous on the price, but OK, if that is the problem I just wanted it fixed.

So I sat in the waiting room for almost 3 hours. The way this dealership is, you can see into the service area. It was probably 45min before I saw my car in the service area (I didn't have an appointment and they took it for a test drive so I don't think that's too bad). I saw them take all 4 tires off and I saw them checking out all the brakes. When they got to the front end there were a couple of guys at first looking, then there were 3, then 4, then there were 5 guys checking out the front end. As soon as they were there, they were gone. I saw the guy who had originally started on my car, start working on another car. I sat there for another 30 minutes till the service manager came out and told me that it was a bad bearing and that they could not get the part til Friday. YEAH ! I have an answer, and it will be fixed, and it is under warranty. No cost, even better.

I missed the call on Friday morning from the dealership. So before we called them back, David and I had to figure out a time to tell them that we will be there to pick it up. Since I was driving we decided to have David call and talk to Brian the service manager. After being on hold forever, Brian came on the phone and told David that they would need the car a little longer. Brian told David that the problem was a lot bigger than anticipated. As they were taking the part off that needed to be replaced, they found another problem, then as they took another part off, they found another problem. It turns out that I need a new transmission and front axle. HOLY CRAP ! David asked how much this was going to cost. If I didn't have the platinum warranty, it would have been extremely costly, since I had the warranty, everything is covered.

So it will probably be at least a week til I get my car back. Hopefully fixed, but my concern is that it will not drive the same. I guess I need to keep a positive attitude, but to have the transmission & front axle replaced at 36,000 miles ??....I am just glad it is covered.

From my understanding its standard practice these days to stick bearings in enclosed cases on new stuff, and if the casings get damaged (say, a mechanic using a slide hammer to get your wheels off for a brake job) you're pretty much S.O.L. and will need new wheel bearings. I've owned an assortment of cars over the years as drivers, and until I started buying new cars, I never had wheel bearing problems -so it would seem to be a very common trend these days. Control arms are another big one that I have noticed alot of newer stuff having a ton of problems with way before they should.

Replacing a transmission around 36000 miles is just re-godamndiculous tho if you ask me. Bearings too, especially with how pricey they are if you don't have a warranty. I personally never do the extended b2b 60k plus 5-6 year warranty myself, but then again I currently own a driver that should be more than good after that point with most things. I do hava a 5 year 100k powertrain warranty on the car tho so if my tranny takes a nose dive, Chevy is picking up that bill lol

[Ms Grumpy]

Got my call that the car is done. I didn't have time today to go and get it, cause I am going to take it for a LONG test drive to make sure that things are right.

[shadowgray396]

I'm sure it will be great for you.

[Ms Grumpy]

I will be keeping my fingers crossed.

[Ms Grumpy]

So I picked up my Toyota today. When we walked in to the cashier desk, I told her my name so that she could get the paperwork. She grabbed it and turned around and said your total is $3708 and change. I didn't know what to say. I was told that this was warranty work and I was pissed. So they page our service guy, and of course, he was at lunch. Things are not getting any better cause grumpy is there with me and he is getting vocal.

I asked to see the paperwork, yep there it was a total of $3708. Now I had a recall problem taken care of too, and that said "warranty" and there was no charge. So we tell them we need to talk to someone cause we are not paying a penny for this. About that time, the service department manager comes in and says that there was a mistake and he just noticed it, they had my car for over a week and they have called me 4 times and no one noticed ? Anyway. Got everything straightened out, and it was all warranty work, and no charge.

Before I left the service area I asked the service manager if the car was taken for a test drive to make sure there is no more vibration, and he said yes his mechanic took it for a test drive. (Later I noticed that there we only 2 miles put on my car which included a test drive when I dropped it off and after the repair) I also asked if they had any other problems like mine, all the service guys said that this is the first one that they had seen. They also said that there was no grease in the trans axle when they pulled it. So I have driven over 35,000 miles like this ?

So now it is time to drive away, lets hope there is no vibration. I got onto the expressway and got it up to 80mph, no vibration. Also, it is a lot quieter when driving. So I am very, very, very happy.

[69chevelless]

Never buy a German car without a warranty is my advice. I took my 2006 Audi a8 in for an oil change last week and when I got it back I was told that I needed all new tire pressure sensors which is $2500 and front end work but I forget the specifics for $1500. My 6 year 100k miles warranty just ran out so now I'm in a pickle and don't want to have to pay for the repairs since I've been looking for a new car anyways. I'm gonna see if I can get away with a private sale as is and get $20k. The oil change was $200 alone, expensive!!

[RBeckman]

Originally Posted by FlintTony

OK Ric. Come and get the Nomad. Only thing is, then you will be addicted to it. Tell Les what a great Christmas present it will be and I'm sure you will own it. You will have to build another garage to store it though. If it gets up to the 50's this weekend, I'll get it warmed up for you. Nice and warm!

Tony, she said NO and that you are bad influnce on me when it comes to cars. As they say, when wife is happy we are all happy.

We are looking at selling this spring and building a new house and I already have the garage(s) planned out. In the process of looking for acreage first.

[shadowgray396]

So was the work done under the original warranty or under your extended warranty? I don't think any trans axle would last 35k with no oil in it, Some where along the way a seal had to start to leak which let the oil leak out.