This Simple Hack Allows Prius Owners To Keep Their Extended Warranty

Remember that time when you were in the Toyota dealer and the salesperson talked you into extended coverage on one of the most dependable vehicles on the market? If I personally had to wager an educated guess on how many people have actually used that plan, it would more than likely be a pretty small number of people.

The Toyota Prius (despite a few common issues) is one of the most solid built vehicles on the planet. I would even say it could be called the Land Cruiser of pavement, because we all know they are not meant for off road. So, what happens when you want to buy a new Prius and you still have not used your extended warranty? Well, knowing this 1 thing can help you keep it without purchasing it again.

The Toyota Warranty

All Toyota vehicles have some sort of coverage from the time they are new. The generic warranty is 3 years 36,000 miles bumper to bumper coverage. This usually is a "blanket" warranty that covers any manufacturer defects while excluding customer neglect. Things like recalls, are not the same thing as these warranties, they fall under a different set of rules.

I have seen many things be covered under this warranty from shocks/struts, to engines, transmissions and everything in between. However there are other warranties that go beyond the this one in order to cover other systems longer that could end up being very costly to the consumer.

The standard Toyota Powertrain warranty specifically covers the engine, transmission, and associated components. It is good for 5 years 60,000 miles. My friend who takes really good care of his Sienna, recently had the water pump fail at 59,000 miles, but Toyota covered the $1200 dollar repair job.

Toyota also has two other similar but different emissions warranties on emissions related components. The warranty difference come in depending on what state you live in. For instance, in California, the emissions warranty is for 8 years 150,000 miles. This means that cars that were designed to be run in Cali, or that are California emissions compliant, have a higher warranty range due to the higher emissions regulations standards set forth by the California Air Resources Board or C.A.R.B.

My wife has an aunt who had an issue with her 2014 Camry, and because it was a California emissions car, Toyota covered it at no cost. After a littler persuasion by me of course. I had to pretty much put their noses right in it to show them.

So what about Prius, what is covered? All of the above warranties will be the same and Prius also has an 8 year 150,000 mile warranty on all parts that are for emissions. This means your hybrid battery. Good to know if you have a Prius that is less than 8 years or 150,000 miles and has a faulty battery, Toyota will owe you one.

Toyota Extended Warranty

There is a hot debate about whether an extended warranty is actually a good thing for the money you spend on it. If you never have to use it because the cars are so well built that they have very few issues, then why buy it? Also, what happens when you want a new Prius? Until I did some research, I was not aware that anything could be done about utilizing that warranty till today.

The extended warranty that you got talked into can actually be transferred. There is a clause in there that allows you to utilize that warranty on your next Prius. Just make sure you read on how to do that exactly, because I am not sure what hoopes you have to jump through to get that done. I just know it is possible.

Conclusion

Repairs outside of warranty can be super expensive. On board computers can cost loads of dough, and diagnostic time can rack up quickly. Extended warranties in my opinion are a great safety net, as long as you can keep utilizing them each time you get into a new Prius.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about Extended Warranties on Toyota Prius. Check out my other story Why the first generation Prius is better than either generation Nissan Leaf.

See you in the next story where I am discussing why the Toyota Prius AWD-e is the best one yet and why car enthusiasts and average car guys loathe the Toyota Prius.

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Peter Neilson is an automotive consultant specializing in electric cars and hybrid battery technologies. He is an automotive technology instructor at Columbia Basin College. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Service Technology from Weber State University. Peter can be reached on Linkedin and you can tweet him at The_hybrid_guy on Twitter.