Keep extended warranty if I plan to do mods?

[CrusrDug]

I have an 06 and bought the extended warranty. 7 years/100,000 for $2500. There is also a full refund if the warranty is never used.

I plan on doing a lift whether it's using the AHC, black box or whatever else I can find and decide on. The lift is going to happen. As far as future mods, I don't know at this time, but probably not much until it's paid for.

Do you think the warranty would void? The warranty place said any modification to the vehicle could void the extended warranty whether it's related to the current problem or not. My thinking is to cancel the warranty, save my $2500 in case I need it later (years 4-7).

From reading the site, I don't see a lot of warranty issues here or on the LX site.

 

[Pigeon]

They could deny a clame if they wanted to. Since its up to the dealership, they are the ones you should be asking. The decision is completely up to them unless it is something major and a warranty claims adjuster is sent - then your screwed. Unless the extended warranty is from Toyota, then you should never have a problem getting repairs done at your dealership (seeing they sold you the warranty and the vehicle) I would talk to the service manager - another thing to consider is that is a toyota and they aren't supposed to break.

 

[Jim_Chow]

Reading the fine print in my owner's manual (part II), it says that any mods can void the warranty. Also, it says if you alter the speedometer/odometer in any way, the warranty is void. Say you crank the t-bars and the CV boots leak and/or prematurely wear, they can say that since you altered the angles, that act lead to premature failure, and the warranty does not cover it. As far the odometer thing being altered, one could consider putting larger tires on there as altering the odometer reading (but the service manager needs to be saavy enough to recognize this...if the tires are, say, 1" larger, I doubt they'd notice, but if you come in w/ 35's or 37's, they'll definitely notice!).

OTOH, Schotts seems to have gotten everything covered, but that's his dealership. My feeling is the dealerships like to do warranty work since they can bill Toyota for it, but it can legally be denied.

Buddy of mine got a 7yr/100K on his new '03 for $1300, so I think you might have paid a premium. My guess is dealer cost is less than $700 on a 7/100K platinum.

 

[CrusrDug]

Yeah, I think I overpaid too. It was a late night when I bought and it sure sounded good at the time. I originally went in to buy a Sequoia and walked away with the LC. Figured it might be smart to protect it at any cost. Hey, at least I didn't fall for the paint and leather protector

The warranty is refundable if it's not used and that's the only reason at this point I am considering keeping it.

I will check with the local service manager and see what he says. I hadn't thought about that as I didn't know they had a lot of say with the warranty company.

Thanks

 

[jmarlo]

Toyota will most likely deny coverage under their warranty or any extended warranty for most modifications, especially if it can be remotely argued that the mod caused the failure. Technically, under the federal Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, a manufacturer should not deny a warranty claim unless they can prove/demonstrate that the defect was caused by the aftermarket part. However, in reality, they do it all the time, and its up to the consumer to fight them on it, which they figure most wont (and they are right).

What is worse, is most manufacturers flag your vehicle in their nationwide database that it has mods, and any dealer you take it to will have that information.

If your dealer says denies a warranty claim based on the presence of an aftermarket part, which you know for a fact did not cause the problem, insist that your dealer put their reasoning in writing and assure them that you will pursue your claim elsewhere. This should make the dealer reconsider their denial.

 

[NMuzj100]

Most of the expensive warranty work on these trucks isn't related to anything you'll mod. Electric seats, cd players cracked manifolds ect...
If I had a 7 year/100,000 mile warranty on mine it would have been a losing proposition on mine. At 8 years 80,000 miles No major failures.

If you can back out of the warranty now I say do so. Very few repairs are that expensive. Those that are you will want to have your choice of shops not be locked into a single dealership. They wouldn't sell it if it wasn't a money maker for them.

 

[CrusrDug]

I'm really up in the air about this especially with the Nav unit. I also don't know how long they have been doing this "full refund if not used" policy and if they will come back at the end with some kind of surprise and not refund it. I have one more day to nix the thing. I'm really thinking I shouldn't keep it. I never once looked back after turning it down on my 4Runner and the only thing I had to do on that was replace the CV boots. Toyota wanted almost 600 bucks for that job and that was just replacing the boots. I ended up taking it to another shop for complete re-manufacured units and half the cost.