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Brogan Woodburn is a writer for USA TODAY Homefront and has read dozens of extended auto warranty contracts, including the fine print that will tell you whether your car insurance covers slashed tires or can get you a new engine replacement. His editorial experience in the auto industry includes work that appears on MarketWatch and Motor1.com.
Brogan is based in Prineville, Oregon, and enjoys exploring the outdoors in his free time. Having studied guitar at Berklee College of Music, he also performs classical guitar for local events and weddings.
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The Toyota extended warranty can cover mechanical breakdowns for up to 10 years or 125,000 miles beyond the in-service date.
Toyota offers three coverage levels to choose from: Platinum, Gold and Powertrain.
You can get a Toyota extended warranty before 3 years/36,000 miles.
Toyotas are known for reliability, but the factory warranty period of three years or 36,000 miles is relatively short. So, should you get a Toyota extended warranty to cover repairs after that point?
Do your research before you lock in a multiyear warranty plan. As Michael Chung, senior director of market intelligence for the Auto Care Association, told us, “Know your budget, and if you can, from a financial standpoint as a consumer, identify how much it will cost you. Is it better to make payments through a warranty, or are you able to stomach a significant repair bill?”
Our team combed the fine print of Toyota’s Vehicle Service Agreements to help you decide. We’ll show you what to expect for cost and coverage and compare Toyota with the best extended warranty companies.
Toyota offers three plan options for new, used and certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles through dealerships: Platinum Protection, Gold Protection and Powertrain Protection. Here are the details:
New Toyota vehicles are eligible for an extended warranty plan before three years or 36,000 miles. If you’re shopping for a used, CPO or leased vehicle, you can get an extended warranty at the time of vehicle purchase or lease.
For leased vehicles, Toyota offers the three plans above plus Lease Wear Protection. This covers mechanical breakdowns on all major systems plus wearable components such as brake pads and wiper blades.
The Toyota extended warranty is transferable to a secondary buyer for no extra cost. You can also cancel the warranty within 30 days for a full refund minus a $50 fee. After that, you’ll get a prorated refund.
All Toyota extended warranty plans come with 24-hour roadside assistance, travel protection reimbursement and rental car coverage for extra peace of mind.
Roadside assistance covers spare tire installation, lockout assistance, battery jump-start, fuel delivery and towing. So, if your Camry gets stuck on the side of the road, you can call Toyota for help.
Travel protection reimburses you for food and lodging if your car breaks down over 150 miles from home, and rental car coverage reimburses you for a rental while your car is in the shop.
These last two benefits have different allowances by plan. The Platinum plan reimburses up to $100 per day for trip interruption for five days over the life of the contract, while the other plans cover $50 per day and a maximum of four days. Similarly, the Platinum plan covers a rental car up to $50 per day for five days per occurrence, while the other plans cover $35 per day (five days per occurrence).
Like all extended warranties, Toyota’s extended warranty comes with some exclusions. For example, it won’t cover wearable items like belts, hoses, tires or bulbs. It excludes glass, upholstery and trim. The warranty also won’t cover damage from misuse, abuse, accidents or lack of maintenance.
These are all common exclusions to any extended warranty. We didn’t find anything out of the ordinary when comparing the fine print of Toyota’s extended warranty with others.
All new Toyotas come with free maintenance through ToyotaCare for the first 2 years/25,000 miles. After that, Toyota offers prepaid maintenance plans separately from warranty coverage.
ToyotaCare Plus Service Drive can cover up to 4 years/45,000 miles, and ToyotaCare Plus can cover up to 5 years/75,000 miles. Toyota Service Care covers 2 years/unlimited miles and can be renewed multiple times (though you should expect costs to increase as your vehicle ages).
All new Toyotas come with a new vehicle limited warranty with 3 years/36,000 miles of bumper-to-bumper coverage and 5 years/60,000 miles of powertrain coverage. Beyond that, new vehicles get rust-through coverage for 5 years/unlimited miles and emissions components coverage for varying lengths depending on the part.
Comparing Toyota’s extended warranty with its bumper-to-bumper factory coverage shows you get an extra 7 years/89,000 miles of coverage. That’s a good amount of coverage, especially if you can find an affordable price.
Toyota doesn’t provide online quotes for its extended warranties, so you’ll have to contact a dealer to see what you’d pay. Our team researched costs in different Toyota owner forums and found a few examples:
While these are anecdotal examples, they show Toyota’s extended warranty costs can vary widely. You can save some money by calling different dealerships in your region and finding one that sells a plan over the phone. You can also use those quotes to negotiate a better price from your preferred dealer.
All Toyota extended warranties have the option of a $0 or $100 disappearing deductible, which is what you pay for covered repairs. With the second option, you don’t have to pay a deductible if you visit the selling dealership for repairs.
We found the average extended warranty from third-party providers costs between $2,804 and $3,151 depending on the plant type. These averages are based on quotes we got from top extended warranty providers for different vehicles at various mileages.
You can compare these averages with quotes you get from Toyota to see whether the warranty is a good deal.
A Toyota extended warranty can be worth it if you get it at the right price. Toyotas are reliable, so you’re more likely to get value from a warranty on an older vehicle than a newer one.
Toyotas are known for going the distance. Owners in forums frequently celebrate going 300,000 miles and over. Users report Toyota even produces window decals that show off high-mileage status for different milestones.
Toyota also scores high in industry rankings. J.D. Power ranks it in second place out of 29 automakers on its 2024 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, which polls owners on repairs within the first three years of ownership. Similarly, RepairPal ranks Toyota as No. 8 out of 32 car brands. Compared with industry averages, Toyota repairs are less expensive and needed less frequently.
RepairPal data shows Toyota owners pay about $441 per year for maintenance and repairs. This is quite a bit cheaper than the industry average of $652. Generally speaking, Toyota parts are widely available and affordable. Below, you can see a few costs for different breakdowns from RepairPal.
Toyota Motor Credit Corporation has an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which shows it handles complaints promptly. However, it has a 1.1-star rating from customers on BBB.
Most reviews are for other financial services, not Toyota’s extended warranty. One review we read by Mark F. said he was having a hard time getting a refund for the warranty.
The customer service you receive depends on your local Toyota dealership. If you’re thinking of buying a plan, look up BBB and Google Reviews ratings for your dealership to see what to expect from its service department.
That said, since Toyota backs these warranties, you shouldn’t have a problem getting a claim covered if you’ve kept up on maintenance and followed manufacturer recommendations.
You can get a Toyota warranty from dealerships before your manufacturer warranty of 3 years/36,000 miles is up. That doesn’t give you much time to decide if you want a plan. Plus, Toyotas are very reliable, so you might not get as much use from a warranty until the car gets older. Third-party companies offer more flexibility in different ways.
While Toyota provides good extended car warranty options as a manufacturer, there are some restrictions to be aware of. First of all, the plan only covers repairs at Toyota dealerships. This might make it impractical if you don’t live near a Toyota dealer. Third-party coverage applies to any licensed facility, on the other hand.
Also, you have to purchase the plan before the factory warranty expires at 3 years/36,000 miles. Toyota offers used car plans on vehicles up to 10 years and 150,000 miles, but you can only buy a plan at the time of vehicle purchase.
These restrictions are common for manufacturers. However, third-party warranty companies such as Endurance and Carchex offer more flexibility — you can purchase a plan after the factory warranty expires and mileage can extend to 200,000 or above. Below, we compare Toyota with some of the best car warranty companies.
The Toyota extended warranty lasts for 10 years or 125,000 miles, which is great compared with other manufacturers. However, third-party car warranties can cover up to 200,000 miles or more depending on the company. We recommend comparing Toyota’s extended warranty with other options on the market.
Get started with quotes for protection plans below.
Endurance offers coverage for up to 8 years or 200,000 miles, but it only offers long-term plans.
We analyze, rate and rank top vehicle service contract providers to help you discover the right one for your needs. The best auto service contract companies offer transparency, affordability and expansive coverage options, among other qualities.
We rate companies using our objective scoring methodology. We assess brands on factors that are important to consumers like you — including cost, coverage, market standing, trustworthiness and customer experience. After scoring companies on a 100-point scale, we simplify final scores into the 5-star ratings you see in our content.
BBB scores are accurate as of March 2024.
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