Is The Dealer Extended Warranty Really Worth It for Your 2022 Toyota RAV4?

When it comes to most Japanese brands like Honda and Toyota, one thing comes to mind…reliability. If you see a Honda or Toyota on the road, nine times out of ten it probably has not had any major repairs needed. See most Ford or Dodge owners worry about things like transmission problems or seals needing replacing or maybe a cracked dash. But unless you park your 1999 Toyota Camry under the sun for a year, then you probably wouldn’t have any of those problems especially engine and transmission problems.

The reason Toyota models are so reliable is because of their manufacturing method. On average, a Toyota plant will stop production about 2000 times a week according to Donut Media which made a video on Toyota’s reliability. This is one of Toyota’s practices called Kaizen (change for the better) which means that it’s better to stop production now and fix it rather than let it slide and have the car done on time with problems.

So, we now know that Toyota is very reliable. It’s been the status quo for decades. However, with Toyota’s reliability standards being high, is it really worth the extra few thousand dollars for the extended warranty? A lot of owners say no. On Facebook’s Toyota RAV4 Hybrid group, Jose Crisostomo asked, “I’m thinking getting extended warranty 10 years or 125,000 miles dealer says it’s going to cost me $2,600 Do you think it’s worth it?” Before we go into what the owner’s thought, make sure to watch the video by Donut Media which I have liked into this article. They really did a good job explaining why Toyota is so reliable.

Philip Stent said, “It’s a Toyota. No. Put your money in the bank. By the time it breaks down you will have enough to fix it. If you maintain it by the book.” This is a good point. Like I explained above, Toyota’s reputation for a reliable car, truck, or SUV has been maintained well over the past 30 some years so the fact that they make garbage vehicles is pretty bogus.

James Lew said he would get the extended warranty. He said, “If this was a pure mechanical vehicle that would be true but with all the tech and electronics that idea is not valid any longer. On these high-tech vehicles an extended warranty is the smartest thing to do.” He makes a pretty good point. Even though this generation of RAV4 is not in it’s first year of production, at the end of the day, tech is tech and it can fail. Even if you have a 10-year-old car with a lot of tech in it, at the end of the day, all it takes is a little malfunction which could send your car to the yard.

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What do you think? Would you get the extended warranty? Let us know in the comments below.

Harutiun Hareyan is reporting Toyota news at Torque News. His automotive interests and vast experience test-riding new cars give his stories a sense of authenticity and unique insights. Follow Harutiun on Twitter at @HareyanHarutiun for daily Toyota news.