Sienna lifetime maintenance option

[imref]

Hi All,
I'm in Virginia and am planning on buying a 2011 Sienna in the next week. Ourisman offers a lifetime warranty on the engine/transmission if you buy the car from them, and use them for all scheduled service. Given the tranny blew on my Odyssey after less than 80k miles, I'm thinking that this is a pretty good deal. My assumption is that I'll pay maybe an extra $100 a year for maintenance versus a local shop, but that won't kick in until year 3 and later given maintenance for the first two years is covered by Toyota.

Am I correct in my logic?

Thanks in advance and I look forward to joining your club!

[MatrixPC]

It's all depend on how long you will keep the van and how many mileage you put in it per year. Also, are you going to move anywhere outside the area? This type of warranty only valid at that dealer. Are you a typical DIY person? Actually you don't really save much by doing oil change yourself vs dealer doing the job given the oil change interval for the van recommended by Toyota. If their selling price is right, I think it's a deal, but it had to be in black and white. Verbal agreement doesn't count. Don't compare Toyota auto trans to Honda auto trans. Honda auto trans are suck in general, but their manual trans are just as good.

[imref]

thanks for the response - i'm not a DIY guy (well, I was 20 years ago). I plan to keep it at least 10 years and not move.

One thought I had is that I normally use synthetic, but if I get the lifetime warranty then i can use regular oil. Does the Sienna XLE require synthetic oil?

[akphs]

Originally Posted by imref

Hi All,
I'm in Virginia and am planning on buying a 2011 Sienna in the next week. Ourisman offers a lifetime warranty on the engine/transmission if you buy the car from them, and use them for all scheduled service. Given the tranny blew on my Odyssey after less than 80k miles, I'm thinking that this is a pretty good deal. My assumption is that I'll pay maybe an extra $100 a year for maintenance versus a local shop, but that won't kick in until year 3 and later given maintenance for the first two years is covered by Toyota.

Am I correct in my logic?

Thanks in advance and I look forward to joining your club!

To a point. We bought from FitzMall because they were MUCH more coherent and MUCH more willing to deal on price. Not clear that this "lifetime" warranty will mean much down the road: cars get stolen, wrecked, and there will be exclusions. So to me, the feature is attractive but only a wee bit. YMMV!

[bullfrog23414]

Originally Posted by imref

thanks for the response - i'm not a DIY guy (well, I was 20 years ago). I plan to keep it at least 10 years and not move.

One thought I had is that I normally use synthetic, but if I get the lifetime warranty then i can use regular oil. Does the Sienna XLE require synthetic oil?

The Sienna calls for 0w-20 oil. Currently the entire market for this oil is synthetic (pretty sure anyway). The factory fill is synthetic and if you take it to your dealer for service, it will be serviced with synthetic. So for all intents and purposes, synthetic is required.

[imtan8]

I think its more personal preference and budget. Need to be more specific what the lifetime maintenance cover to see if its worth it.
If you have a set budget and got a great deal on the Sienna with money left over go for it.

[92hb_hb]

Slightly OT, but related.. Speaking of Fitza utomall, i got an internet quote from them and took it to a local dealer.. The local dealer matched the price, saving me a 16 hr trip + gas money to drive to Fitz and back..

Anyway, the local dealer also offers a lifetime powertrain warranty on their vehicles to the Original owner.. I'm just wondering how this would work SINCE I do my own DIY maintenance.. But I think Toyota now offers 2 yrs free maintenance anyway on their new cars, so at least i'm covered for those 1st 2 yrs in terms of maintence cost..

[Hol3shot]

Anything that the dealership is trying to sell you is just another way for them to make profit. For things like this where they have a maintenance plan for sale, they make them so there are VERY few, if anybody that will actually make out and save money. Otherwise,why would they offer something if it is such a good deal for the consumer? Because they like you so much for buying a an from them? Not. Just another way to make sure your money is spent their at their dealership. Then they're banking on you not using it, or violating something so they don't have to cover repairs, or anything else they can do to weasel out from honoring their original deal.

There are VERY few things that can be found at the dealer that are going to save you money in the long run. What they are there for is for convenience and people that have extra money but not the time or desire to deal with the maintenance.

Now they're saying the oil is good for 10,000 miles since they are covering the oil changes. When we had to pay for it, they were suggesting 3,000, then 5,000 miles as the oil got better. The jump to 10,000 didn't come about until Toyota came out with the maintenance free program.