Lifetime drivetrain guarantee on used vehicle

When I recently purchased a 2019 SR5 with 57,000 miles, the dealer offers a lifetime drivetrain guarantee if we have all the service done at the dealer at recommended intervals. Thoughts on this?

I like doing my own service and it is generally quicker to change oil myself rather than drive it somewhere and deal with all that hassle.

 

What type of dealer is this - is it a Toyota Dealer?

 

The knock is if you don’t follow their recommendations, it will void the warranty. The 4.0 is a damn reliable engine, so I’d pick your favorite Indy or do the work yourself.

 

Be sure to read the fine print.

 

Hope you like going to the dealer for service.

 

How much are they charging for this miracle warranty?

 

Read the fine print. And read the definitions of every word like “regular interval, and “lifetime”.

It sounds like it might be a shackle with a ball and chain attached.

 

You should get a copy of this in writing.

 

Yes, Toyota dealer. Here are the details on their web site:

https://www.summittoyotaofakron.com/summitlifetimeguarantee/

So I was curious if anyone else does this, or is this fairly rare ...

Nothing, other than you have to do service at their place.

I heard once that dealers make a lot of profit on service, so I suspect it is kind of like insurance -- they make enough on service to pay for the occasional problem. And typically if you can afford to insure yourself, that is the better long-term deal. But it might help ensure cars get serviced giving the dealer a better name, and lead to more long-term repeat business.

My first experience with this dealership, and it went fairly well compared to other experiences I've had buying vehicles, so maybe they are actually in it for the long game ...


I'm still planning to do my own service at this point.

 

looked through some Google reviews:

- they offer this for any brand of used vehicle they sell, not only Toyotas
- oil change and tire rotation cost $107 (in one case)
- one person lost his transmission fluid due to cooling line corrosion, and they did not cover that as it was damaged due to rust

 

There’s always a catch and the big one is requiring every service to be done with them and that’ll add up and isn’t always feasible.

 

The main reason we buy Toyotas is to not need stuff like this.

 

As far as I know 4Runner drivetrain is very reliable and if you change fluids at intervals stated in the manual it will last very long time. I don't recall hearing about any drivetrain problems except for maybe damages due to user mistakes or off-roading. So I assume that issues with drivetrain which would fall under warranty is very rare and dealer takes very low risk and will profit from that warranty especially if he sells it to many 4Runners.

 

Like shitty insurance, I usually consider stuff like this a scam that they’ll find a way to weasel out of.

ONLY time I’ve seen it work out is years back when gas was crazy expensive, this one Jeep dealer offered a “lifetime warranty” to this guy I know who bought a Jeep Commander with no fine print BS……boy was that a mistake. He laminated the warranty agreement and more than got his money’s worth.

Still has it, still gets them to fix shit. Only way he’ll get rid of that truck is if that dealer goes out of business.

 

My Step-Dad did that back in 2009 when they couldn't GIVE a car away. He bought a Dodge Ram 1500 from a local dealer who gave him a lifetime power train warranty, and just like your guy, there was no fine print saying he must do this and must not do that.

The engine was always getting repaired, or so it seemed. But he didn't care, because it was 100% free. He wound up owning that truck until it was totalled, but had 230k on the odometer when it did. It was his hunting truck so we put that beast through it's paces.

 

My dealer gave me this on my 4runner too. Because I live more than 40 miles away from the dealer, the requirement to have them service it is waived, but I still have the warranty.

 

I’ve heard similar with other crappy vehicles. Saw a youtube video on a guy that bought a lightly used late model Range Rover from Carmax for a very low price, and bought the best warranty/insurance plan for it. In a couple of years he had almost 10k of service done to address the fact those things are a disaster.

While he more than made back his money, the catch is this scheme only works if you’re willing to have a car that’s always in the shop lol

 

Who is underwriting this coverage for it to be “nationwide”?

 

That guy is Doug DeMuro, and he parlayed that into quite the YouTube success story.

CarMax has repriced their warranties afterwards, but it was good publicity for all parties involved.

Except Land Rover.

 

Land rover has been making wonderful looking vehicles (for the most part). Even if they aren’t exactly always beautiful, the body lines, gaps, and curves are executed wonderfully. I could definitely understand the temptation to want one. But everything you hear sounds about them is horrific, like the problems are so expensive and frequent, they’re essential totaled and unsellable in 5 years.

 

I wouldn’t want anything to do with this warranty. What a pain to have to do all the “inspections “ and silly things called for. Has a dealer ever checked torque on all body mounts? I certainly have not but I lube my drive shaft and I bet dealers don’t even if they mark it on the paperwork.

 

The only major powertrain item 5th gens are prone to develop is transfer case leaks at the actuator (requires splitting the case to fix). So you're hedging your bets on that vs. paying dealer maintenance rates for the next 10 years even on non-powertrain items like yearly cabin filter replacement. Look up how much they charge for iridium spark plug replacement or diff oil replacement. You also need to check the fine print for definition of "required maintenance", whether it's per the Toyota booklet or whatever the service writer says is required.

On the flip side, this is a used vehicle. You don't know how abusive the previous owner was. (Think daily commute in 4hi on dry pavement, boat launches in water deeper than the axle breather, no oil changes in the last 57k...) Since the warranty is free, I would keep to the dealer maintenance for a year or two, even do fluid changes ahead of schedule, just to establish your 4Runner isn't damaged goods, then stop going to the dealer.