$1500 - yes? No?

I am with you. When I bought my first Gen 05 I laughed at the guy who wanted to sell me an extended warranty. And I never needed it.

I did buy the warranty on my wife’s 16 Tahoe because of the electronics. And that paid for itself. I probably wouldn’t warranty my 05 today that I still drive hard, my only real concern would be secondary air pump. But even then I could fix that for less than the warranty cost I imagine. But the newer trucks have more going on and those cam tower leaks sound like a bitch. So for what sounds like the price and the length of coverage seems like really cheap insurance. I guess it all depends on your risk tolerance and how you feel about what the actual risks are. Lowe’s just offered me an out of warranty warranty for the dishwasher I bought 15 months ago, which just took a shit, good God I’m tired of replacing major appliances out of warranty so I got the five-year. I have to wait 30 days to be able to make a claim and I’ll make that claim on 31 days. Lol.

 

I hear ya. It's what ever makes you feel comfortable.

Cam towers leaks could happen but you got 5yrs/60k miles on the power train. That kinda offsets seeing the 10yr 100k mile warranty.

lol yea these new appliances are shit shows for sure.
I remember my mom would get tired of the color of her appliances because the color was out of style.
There were businesses that would come out and paint them. They never broke just went out of style.

 

If you stick with Whirlpool & Maytag, you'll get those nice 15-year+ lives out of your appliances again, but a lot of people get suckered in by Samsung & LG these days. They're fancy, pretty, shiny - like the wrapper for Pop-Tarts - and like the wrapper analogy, they're completely disposable as designed.

 

I don't think there's any household appliances being made today that are made in the US or last 15 yrs anymore regardless of the name.
It's mostly the complexity, parts made from plastic and cost-effective materials and trying to squeeze out every spec of efficiency that lowers the reliability, moreso than where they're made.
After WWII, we made everything here. Material was cheap, fuel was cheap, everyone was working. They oversized everything, built everything like a tank and efficiency was the last thing anyone cared about. Products lasted not just a decade, but generations. Now we look to shave every ounce, make it from the cheapest possible material, squeeze every last drop of water out of it, have it made wherever manufacturing cost is cheapest, etc, on and on.
Plus, people want new and "improved" stuff every few years, whether it's still good or not. There's really not much incentive to design anything to last.
I'll bet that if a company invested in a washing machine today that they could guarantee to last 20 yrs, they'd charge $10k for it.

 

I can confirm that Samsung appliances are pretty turds. We bought a matching set 12 years ago. I had to defrost the french door fridge 3x before the compressor died. We have a Whirlpool now. I've replaced the dishwasher drain sensors twice, and both drain hoses ($100+ for 2 hoses). The microwave also called it quits 2 years ago. We bought another Whirlpool. The gas stove is the only appliance thats been trouble-free.

 

Here is how I look at it:

You’ve got a truck worth 30-50k - most people wouldn’t think of not having “full” insurance coverage on such an investment - simply because you can never tell what someone else is going to do and not be responsible for.

So why wouldn’t I round out that coverage with the only gap it leaves (mechanical) - yes Toyotas are reliable - but it’s still a risk. You might come out ahead - but long term the odds say someone benefits from these contracts or no one would ever buy.

$1500 is 1-2% of the value of the truck. I’d “invest” in this over any mod 3 years into ownership. If the cost is a concern - shop your auto insurance and see about increasing deductibles for collision to 1k - you won’t likely find all 1500 in a year - but not unreasonable to potentially find 500 in savings.

And while I’m on the topic - research your states requirement on OE collision parts and of not required - look at carriers who only use OE or who offer an endorsement. For example - Indiana requires OE for any car 5 model years or newer - unless you agree to use Aftermarket. So it’s an automatic. Others though don’t have this rule - and if your going through the other guys insurance - it doesn’t matter what they bought.

Alot of people get suckered into buying coverage from some big insurers - particularly one with a lizard mascot and never think about what they are paying for. While savings are nice - check a local INDEPENDENT agent for options and ask about this. You might find $50 a year buys a lot better protection. In days past - price matching insurance estimates and using OE was possible for shops. Post COVID that changed dramatically. Shops can’t/wont do this and it’s a big chunk of your paying - especially when it’s not your fault. Good OE endorsements allow you to use what you paid for - even when it’s someone else’s fault. I am just not a fan of the fit/quality of many AM parts on Toyota/Mazda/Nissan. Now that said - I will also freely acknowledge a lot of the complaints are simply “psychological” - I’ve had more than one tech bitch me out for using an AM part on a car and tell me how junky a part they have to work with is - until I walk back to the parts office and come back with the receipt showing him the part actually was OE. Some of the stuff literally comes off the same production line in China.

 

it would be nice to know what percentage of trucks actually get the cam tower issue, and which ones just stay at a small leak and which ones actually need the repair due to ridiculous oil loss. Thats the main thing I would be worried about. If its less than 10% I think I would roll the dice without extended warranty.

 

I'd also consider your local dealership and whether they have a tendancy to duck out of warranty work. My experience with warranty on my last 3 vehicles, two Toyotas and one Ford, has been the "that's normal" routine and wasting my time on multiple trips until they acknowledged the problem. Plus, I don't think all of the techs are competent. I had one warranty repair at Ford result in causing another issue not covered by power train.

That being said, if you are used to dealer rates and not doing work yourself or at an independent shop, 1500 for warranty (assuming they do it) would probably pay for itself if something happened. I bought the Tundra though as the major powertrain items are very reliable and rarely fail. The fact that you can get a Toyota extended warranty for 1500 is a testament to that.