Daniel Mattia is a writer for USA TODAY Homefront. In addition to covering auto warranties, he has written about auto loans, personal finance, insurance and business for Yahoo! Personal Finance, RateGenius and other publications. Before beginning his professional writing career, Daniel was a licensed insurance agent and helped clients understand and purchase life and health insurance policies. In his free time, he is often working on his fantasy fiction novel series, hiking in the mountains of West Virginia or tackling a DIY project. He lives in Huntington, West Virginia, with his two rescue cats.
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In 2023, Toyota’s U.S. market share was 14.4%, according to Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book, ranking No. 2 in total market share.
Toyota’s new vehicle warranty is about average, but we wouldn’t consider it one of the best new vehicle warranties. The automaker’s basic coverage lasts for three years or 36,000 miles, with powertrain coverage in force for five years or 60,000 miles. t
By comparison, some of its competitors, such as Hyundai, have much longer coverage terms of 5 years/60,000 miles for basic coverage and 10 years/100,000 miles for powertrain coverage.
Though Toyota’s warranty coverage doesn’t exceed industry standards, it provides useful protection to keep you on the road without breaking the bank. Let’s look at what the Toyota warranty covers and what other benefits you get for purchasing a new Toyota.
Endurance offers coverage for up to 8 years or 200,000 miles, but it only offers long-term plans.
The Toyota new vehicle limited warranty provides four coverage levels for your new Toyota. Basic coverage — the bumper-to-bumper warranty — lasts three years or 36,000 miles and covers all of your vehicle’s components other than normal maintenance and wear-and-tear items.
Air conditioning recharges, wheel alignment and wheel balancing are excluded from basic coverage. Instead, these services are covered for one year or 12,000 miles.
The brand’s powertrain warranty, which covers the engine, transmission and transaxle, front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive systems, seatbelts and airbags, lasts for five years or 60,000 miles. Powertrain coverage begins when your basic coverage ends, though its term is based on your vehicle’s in-service date.
Toyota also provides protection against corrosion perforation of sheet metal with a 5-year/unlimited-mile rust-through coverage. If an original body panel is corroded, Toyota will repair or replace it under this warranty.
Throughout the duration of your factory warranty, Toyota will provide you with a loaner vehicle for any warrantable repairs that meet one or more of these criteria:
ToyotaCare is included by default in the brand’s new vehicle limited warranty. This service provides a no-cost maintenance plan (for two years or 25,000 miles) and roadside assistance (for two years and unlimited miles). Any replacement parts under this plan are guaranteed to be Toyota Genuine Parts.
Under the ToyotaCare maintenance plan, the company will complete factory-recommended maintenance for free (according to your vehicle’s maintenance guide). This includes engine oil and filter changes, tire rotations, multipoint inspections and fluid level inspections and adjustments.
The roadside assistance perk covers battery jumpstarts, towing to a Toyota dealership, tire service, emergency fuel delivery, lockout protection and winching.
The length of ToyotaCare coverage may be extended by purchasing ToyotaCare Plus or ToyotaCare Plus Service Drive.
Like other car warranties, certain components, services and events are excluded from your Toyota warranty. Common exclusions are the following:
Other specific exclusions include the following:
In general, if your new Toyota is damaged or needs repairs due to something other than a factory defect or workmanship error, you’ll likely have to cover the cost out of pocket.
Third-party warranties, or aftermarket warranties, are vehicle service agreements or contracts that extend the length and coverage of your car’s factory warranty. These contracts are sold and administered by third-party providers unaffiliated with your car manufacturer.
Usually, this means you have more freedom regarding where you take your car for maintenance and repairs and more options when choosing parts manufacturers.
Extended warranty coverage begins when your factory warranty ends, so you can’t overlap or double-dip on coverage. In this way, third-party extended warranties aren’t directly comparable to factory warranties because they’re each in force at separate times (though some extended warranties provide additional coverage that may be active at the same time as a factory warranty).
However, third-party service contracts extend all or some of your factory warranty coverage. As a Toyota owner, this is especially beneficial considering the company’s relatively short factory warranty duration of three years or 36,000 miles.
If you plan to keep your car for longer than its factory coverage remains in force, purchasing a third-party warranty may give you peace of mind that costly repairs are covered.
Most extended auto warranties offer benefits on top of comprehensive or powertrain coverage. These perks may include roadside hazard or tire protection, rental car reimbursement, travel interruption reimbursement or maintenance cost reimbursement.
Toyota offers less warranty coverage than its competitors. The Toyota warranty offers less coverage than the Lexus factory warranty, the company’s luxury brand, and similar bumper-to-bumper coverage compared to the Nissan factory warranty.
The best new car warranties — offered by Hyundai, Genesis, Mitsubishi and Kia — provide five years and 60,000 miles of comprehensive coverage and 10 years and 100,000 miles of powertrain coverage.
On the flip side, Toyota’s warranty outshines some other companies, such as Ford, that don’t include any maintenance coverage.
Toyota’s hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell electric and all-electric vehicles, such as the bZ4X, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Prius, RAV4, Sequoia, Tundra i-FORCE MAX and Venza, are covered by a hybrid system warranty and hybrid battery warranty in addition to the brand’s other warranty coverage.
Under the hybrid system warranty, Toyota handles repairs and corrects defects in materials and workmanship for eight years or 100,000 miles from the in-service date for the following components:
The hybrid system warranty also protects your battery from abnormal loss of capacity by ensuring it has a minimum of 70% of its original capacity.
The hybrid battery warranty is in force for 10 years or 150,000 miles from the in-service date. This covers hybrid battery repairs to correct defects or workmanship.
The Toyota Certified Used Vehicles (TCUV) program covers used Toyota models that meet certain standards, including age, mileage and condition. Toyota Gold Certified vehicles must be less than 6 years old with less than 85,000 miles, and Silver Certified vehicles must be less than 10 years old with 60,000–125,000 miles.
To qualify as a TCUV, a vehicle must also pass an inspection at a Toyota dealer: Gold Certified vehicles must pass a 160-point inspection and Silver Certified vehicles must pass a 136-point inspection.
After passing certification, Toyota certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles are covered by the manufacturer’s CPO warranty.
Toyota Gold certified vehicles are covered by a limited comprehensive warranty for one year or 12,000 miles from the purchase date. This covers any repair or replacement components that fail under normal use due to a defect in materials or workmanship.
Certified vehicles are also covered by a limited powertrain warranty. Coverage for Gold certified vehicles lasts for seven years or 100,000 total miles. Silver certified vehicles are covered by a limited powertrain warranty for one year or 12,000 miles from the date of purchase.
Under the Toyota CPO warranty, limited powertrain coverage includes the following:
If you purchase a certified hybrid vehicle, its hybrid-related components are covered for eight years or 100,000 miles from its in-service date. Similarly, its hybrid battery is covered for 10 years or 150,000 miles from its in-service date. Certified fuel cell vehicles are protected by an 8-year/100,000-mile warranty that covers key fuel cell components.
Like the best CPO warranties, the TCUV program offers additional perks, including 24-hour roadside assistance, travel reimbursement and rental reimbursement.
No deductible applies to covered repairs under Toyota’s CPO warranty. You can also transfer coverage to a subsequent owner without paying any fees.
Though most factory warranties cover similar components, systems and events, no factory warranty covers everything forever — and the Toyota warranty is no exception.
Extended warranty coverage is especially useful when a factory warranty — such as Toyota’s — expires after only three years or 36,000 miles. Repair costs increase as your car ages and racks up mileage, leading to more parts breaking and failing.
Extended warranties pick up where your factory warranty leaves off. These service contracts cover repairs — typically at a repair facility of your choice — for well into the tens of thousands of miles (or higher).
The best extended warranties offer coverage terms of up to 10 years or more, with some extended warranties covering vehicles with more than 100,000 miles.
In other words, an extended warranty may give you peace of mind if you’re concerned about the cost of repairs after your factory warranty runs out.
Toyota is the most reliable mass-market car brand, according to the 2024 J.D. Power U.S. Dependability Study. The brand earned a score of 147, which means it has 147 problems for every 100 vehicles. This is much lower than the study average of 190. In contrast, the lowest-ranked brand, Chrysler, has a score of 310, or 310 problems per 100 vehicles.
This may be due, in part, to Toyota’s production system, which allows factory workers to stop the production line immediately upon noticing an issue or inconsistency with a machine or component.
Additionally, two of Toyota’s vehicles, the Corolla and Prius, were ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the study’s list of the top 3 most dependable compact cars. The Camry took first place in the study’s ranking of the top three most dependable midsize cars.
Toyota ranks No. 8 out of 32 brands for reliability, according to RepairPal. You may expect to pay an average of $441 per year in repair costs when owning a Toyota, compared to the average of $652 per year for all car models.
Toyotas go in for unscheduled repairs an average of 0.3 times per year, compared to 0.4 times yearly for all cars. Of these repairs, 12% are considered severe, which aligns with the severity of repairs for all models.
You can buy an extended auto warranty directly from the manufacturer or a third-party provider. Many dealerships offer extended warranty coverage when you buy a new car, though you may also buy coverage directly from the manufacturer, which could help you save a few bucks.
You can purchase third-party extended warranties from a provider of your choice, including brokers or direct administrators. This gives you more options to compare plans and coverage.
According to a December 2023 USA TODAY Homefront auto warranty survey of 1,500 extended warranty owners, 46% of respondents reported purchasing an extended warranty directly from a manufacturer or authorized dealer. Another 35% purchased coverage from a third-party warranty provider.
Toyota offers three vehicle service agreements (VSAs) for new, CPO, used and leased cars:
Coverage varies depending on the type of VSA you purchase:
New cars are eligible for any of the three VSA plans above within three years or 36,000 miles. Used and leased vehicles are eligible for coverage at the time of financing.
In addition to these three plans, Toyota also offers two specialized plans:
Toyota also offers other optional coverage plans, including a prepaid maintenance plan and tire and wheel protection plan.
Like Toyota’s vehicle service agreements, aftermarket car warranties vary in eligibility, coverage and length. But because these products are available from various providers, you have more options to suit your unique budget, needs and preferences.
For example, some Toyota extended warranties are only available for purchase when you finance your new car. This may increase your initial purchase price or result in paying for coverage months or years before it’s in force.
With an extended warranty from a third-party provider, you may purchase coverage anytime. The trade-off is that the cost of a policy is generally determined, in part, by the age and mileage of your vehicle.
However, many third-party extended warranty companies offer different payment options. Some allow you to pay for the warranty upfront, just like many sold by dealerships, by paying either a lump sum or by wrapping the cost into your loan. Others allow you to pay for coverage month-to-month, or even in a monthly subscription-like contract.
Third-party extended warranties also allow you to visit the repair facility of your choice, though some providers require that the facility is certified.
For the best coverage, shop around to compare coverage from direct administrators and brokers, such as Endurance, Autopom and Carchex.
Toyota makes generally reliable vehicles, which partially justifies the relatively short length of its factory warranty. Though no car warranty lasts forever, Toyota’s 3-year/36,000-mile warranty isn’t the most sufficient coverage if you plan on keeping your car for years or you’re likely to hit the mileage cap within the first year or two.
For the most comprehensive coverage, we recommend comparing extended warranties from both Toyota and third-party extended warranty companies. These products will give you greater coverage over a longer time than the Toyota factory warranty provides.
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