I bought a used 1984 Toyota Landcruiser FJ60 in 1988 from
a Toyota dealer in MA. In addition, I
purchased a 2-year, 24,000-mile warranty from the Toyota dealer. It was a great truck, and I had no issues.
The warranty required me to have all the fluids changed
at 12,000 miles. I cannot remember the
name of the Toyota Dealer in Woburn, MA but I was working close by at that time,
so I brought it to them for service.
They changed all the drivetrain fluids as required by the
warranty on Friday. That weekend it
started shifting funny. I brought it
back to the dealer on Monday and they told me there was transmission oil all over the
bottom of the vehicle and I had blown the transmission!! They blamed me even though there were no
issues before they had done the maintenance required by the warranty 3 days before.
The dealer told me it was not fixable so they would have
to find me another transmission.
I did my own searching and found a shop in Upstate NY
that had several rebuilt transmissions on the shelf ready to go for $850. The Toyota dealer wanted to go a different route. My Landcruiser had 57,000 miles on it. They said they were looking for a used
transmission with less than 57,000 miles on it for a replacement to satisfy the
warranty requirement. I was livid. I called an attorney and was told there was nothing
I could do based on the after-market warranty I purchased. The dealer gave me no option.
The Toyota dealer found and bought a used transmission from a junkyard in
Canada for $150 and had it shipped to Woburn, MA. I told them I didn't want that and wanted a rebuilt transmission ready to go from Upstate NY. They said no. Throughout the process, I also found out
there are warranty deductibles per item that I was responsible for paying for. I ended up paying hundreds of dollars in deductibles per the warranty
I purchased. IT WAS A BAD EXPERIENCE.
I currently have a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Hard Rock and I started getting those vehicle warranty calls. I talked to one company and told them my
story. The person on the phone promised
me that wouldn’t happen with them! I
said I was interested but I wouldn’t sign anything until I could read the
warranty agreement.
They sent it to me.
Reading through their warranty in the middle of the document on page 5
it said, “Replacement of Covered Parts that have experienced a Breakdown may be
made with original equipment manufactured parts, non-original equipment
manufacturer parts, re-manufactured parts, or used parts, at the
Administrator’s discretion.”
This brought back bad memories. Hmm … let's see … an $850 rebuilt transmission
on the shelf ready to go or a $150 used transmission from a junkyard in
Canada. I was forced to take the $150 tranny from the junkyard in Canada at the Administrator's (Toyota Dealers) discretion …
A Jeep Wrangler is one of those vehicles where you can modify
pretty much everything.
With that, this same warranty document, on page 10, “Section V-Exclusions – What’s not
covered”. "Any breakdowns caused by any modifications, alterations,
and/or additions to Your Vehicle, or if any modifications, alterations, and/or
additions have been made to Your Vehicle You are using or have used Your
Vehicle in a manner not recommended by the Manufacturer, including but not
limited to, the failure of any custom or add on/aftermarket parts regardless if
supplied by a franchised dealer or not, all frame or suspension modifications,
lift kits (unless the lift kit option is marked on the Application Page and not
to exceed 6 inched of combined lift), oversized/undersized tires or wheels not
recommended by the original manufacturer (unless lift kit option is marked on the
Application Page and not to exceed 6 inches greater than the Manufacturer’s
specifications), trailer hitches. Also
not covered are any emissions and/or exhaust systems modifications, engine
modifications, transmissions modifications, and/or drive axle modifications,
which includes any performance modifications.”
There were more paragraphs after this …
You will get those calls and can purchase a warranty, or not! It's up to you but you can LEARN FROM MY BAD EXPERIENCE.
If you
are considering one of those after-market or dealer-extended warranties, read
it carefully. I had a Toyota dealer sell
me that warranty. It was not backed by
Toyota. Read the warranty someone is trying to sell you before you throw down your cash and sign so you aren’t forced to settle for “the Administrator’s
discretion”.
Note: I had this lousy after-market warranty experience and a bad Toyota dealer service experience. I did buy another Toyota after my Landcruiser as they make good vehicles. Over the years I had 2 more bad dealer service experiences with a Toyota dealer in New Hampshire. They are supposed to be honest. 3 strikes ... I would stay away from Toyota for your vehicle service.
Giving credit where credit is due, I have had positive dealer experiences over the years with a Jeep dealer, a Honda dealer, a Nissan dealer, a Mazda dealer, and a Chevy dealer.
