I'm looking at buying a 2008 Toyota, should I also pay the extra and get the Extra Care Protection? Or is it a cash cow for the dealer?
I had it with the previous Toyota car I owned and never used it.
Any advise would be appreciated.
Forget it. What does it cost, by the way?
If you pay the first price the dealer offers for it, then it IS a cash bonanza for the dealer. Their first offer is usually double keystone or better markup - if they say $1,200 they're only paying $400 (or less) wholesale.
On Toyota's it's usually a wash, since things tend to not break. They bought me a new alternator.
If you decide to go for it, you only want the ExtraCare offered by Toyota themselves - DO NOT buy the policy from any third party company, the level of corruption in that industry is staggering. For openers, look at the actual policy language to see what they do not cover, not the slick sales brochure. There's enough wiggle room in the real fine print to slip the Queen Mary through.
The crooked third-party companies use every dodge in the book to not pay out on claims, including delaying "Claims Adjusters" for several weeks and if you or a mechanic so much as touches the car first they deny the claim. And if they can't wiggle out of the claims they go bankrupt and disappear when they start losing money....
But not to worry, nobody loses their jobs - they'll be open next week under a new name and charter they had all set up and ready to go for that express purpose.
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The only exception is that if you can buy it cheap on the internet, and if you sell the car before it expires, assuming it is still transferable it may enable you to get a better price for the used car.
One of the big loopholes for third party policies is non-coverage if any seal or gasket is leaking. In other words, head gaskets are not covered, and if the oil pan or valve cover gasket is weeping, engine repairs might not be covered, even if they are unrelated to the weeping.
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Don't buy a service contract of any type on any device. They are BIG profit centers for those who sell them.
I used to sell maintenance contracts for the largest two-way radio manufacturer in the USofA. They were major profit generators for us. Over a ten year span, we would make more profit on a service contract then we made on the sale of the radio.
Remember, the folks who sell these are in business to make money. They wouldn't offer them if they didn't make money on them.
Jack
The only time I ever bought an extended warranty was when I purchased a new 1985 Hyundai Pony. THAT extended warranty paid off 4 times over...at the very least. Original warrantor, a private company, went bankrupt, however Hyundai honoured it. I would NEVER, absolutely NEVER buy an extended warranty for a new Toyota. If one can afford a new Camry, they can afford the occasional repair. If one lives THAT near the line that car repairs will do them in, then SOMETHING is seriously wrong with their financial planning.
In my opinion, it depends on your driving conditions and mileage, if on an average you travel 30-40k miles a year then that would be pretty handy.
Always visit this newsgroup for infos, if you stay here long enough that would already be extra care protection for your Toyota =) Check out guides, tips here and for consumer reports about Camrys, Corollas,etc. before getting the car, or buying new sets of tires, spareparts.. Its all in here and its free!
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