Lexus IS extended warranty: cost, coverage and plans
Expensive and unnecessary thanks to the IS line’s high predicted reliability
The Lexus IS (or “Intelligent Sports”) offers Lexus luxury and build quality in a tight, nimble package. For many buyers, it also represents their first luxury vehicle purchase.
Since nobody likes paying for luxury vehicle repairs, you might be considering an extended auto warranty to protect your new vehicle. But what are your options with a Lexus IS? What do plans for these vehicles typically cost? And do you even need an extended warranty on a Lexus, given the company’s reputation for rock-solid build quality?
Read on to find out.
Key insights
- With a Lexus IS, you have two main options for extended auto warranties: You can buy a Lexus Extra Care plan from a Lexus dealer or a plan from a third-party provider.
- All Lexus IS vehicles come with a four-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and a six-year/70,000-mile powertrain warranty from the factory.
- Expect to spend around $3,500 for a plan that offers three extra years of bumper-to-bumper protection once the factory warranty runs out.
- However, with Lexus consistently topping some reliability rankings — and the IS specifically earning high predicted reliability scores — an extended warranty probably isn’t necessary unless you don’t mind paying $3,000-plus just for extra peace of mind.
IS extended warranty coverage
An extended warranty effectively “extends” the warranty coverage your car came with from the factory. Every new Lexus comes with:
- A four-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, which covers nearly everything but parts made to wear out over time
- A six-year/70,000-mile powertrain warranty, which covers your engine, transmission and drive system
Even if you bought your Lexus IS used, you may still have some of both warranties remaining. For example, a two-year-old IS 350 with 30,000 miles on it should still have two years/20,000 miles of bumper-to-bumper coverage and four years/40,000 miles of powertrain coverage left. If you decide that’s not enough, you can purchase an extended warranty from either Lexus itself or a third-party warranty company.
» LEARN: What to know about manufacturers’ extended warranties
Extended warranties are generally available in multiple coverage levels. For example, Lexus’ Platinum Extra Care plan offers bumper-to-bumper protection, while its Powertrain plan is similar to your factory powertrain warranty. It also offers a Gold plan that provides coverage in between those two.
As for how and where to buy them, Lexus Extra Care plans can only be purchased from the dealership and only while your factory warranty is still active. You can typically purchase a third-party warranty online at any time, though.
One last note — it’s worth remembering that auto warranties only cover repairs needed due to factory defects, such as your Lexus’ infotainment system suddenly failing. Preexisting conditions, damage due to outside causes and wear and tear aren’t covered.
» MORE: What does a car warranty cover?
If you have significant savings, getting stuck with a massive repair bill might not be a huge worry, but if you don’t, it could be ruinous. A ConsumerAffairs investigation found that most drivers surveyed couldn’t afford to pay cash for a $1,000 repair bill, and 13% of respondents simply had no way to handle a bill that large — even with credit.
How much does a Lexus IS extended warranty cost?
On average, a Lexus IS extended warranty costs around $3,500. That’s based on the quotes we received for seven-year/100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper plans with a $100 deductible. (Keep in mind that a “seven-year/100,000-mile” extended warranty runs concurrently with your four-year/50,000-mile factory warranty, so you’re really only getting three years/50,000 miles of extra coverage.)
We used a pre-owned, well-equipped 2021 Lexus IS 300 F Sport as our sample vehicle and started by reaching out to our local Lexus dealerships to get quotes on Lexus Extra Care plans. We also collected quotes from olive and Endurance, two third-party extended warranty companies. (For context, $3,500 is more than the average extended auto warranty price, which tends to be around $2,500.)
How do you know if you’re getting a good deal on an extended warranty? Get quotes from multiple providers and compare them to give yourself context.
Your cost may vary based on which IS you drive, its current age and mileage, and the length of the warranty. To illustrate, we changed our sample car to a 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance and got a quote that was $2,200 more for the same seven-year/100,000-mile plan from one provider.
It’s also worth mentioning that you can buy a Gold or a Powertrain extended warranty if you want to keep costs low, but it’s a riskier decision. Those plans tend to cost nearly as much as Platinum plans and only cover a fraction of the same parts. (One Lexus dealer we spoke with even asked us not to buy a Gold plan and went on to explain how Gold and Powertrain customers end up disappointed far more often.)
» READ MORE: How to choose an extended car warranty
Is a Lexus IS extended warranty worth it?
An extended warranty for your Lexus IS probably isn’t worth it unless you don’t mind paying $3,000-plus for extra peace of mind alone.
An extended warranty could still be worth the cost if you expect your Lexus IS to have major issues later in life, but evidence suggests that your car will likely be exceptionally reliable. In its U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, J.D. Power ranked Lexus No. 1 out of 29 brands for having the fewest issues per 100 vehicles after three years. Consumer Reports also ranked Lexus No. 1 out of 30 carmakers.
Reliable vehicles are less likely to need repairs. As a result, extended warranties aren’t as useful for them.
As for the Lexus IS specifically, Consumer Reports gave the sports sedan a strong predicted reliability score of 4 out of 5, and 2019 RepairPal data estimates that Lexus IS 300s cost owners just $428 per year ($583 per year in January 2024 dollars) in maintenance and unplanned repairs. For context, that’s 34% lower than the industry average and 42% lower than the cost to own and repair a Mercedes-Benz C 300.
Such high reliability scores across the board point to a simple conclusion: You probably won’t make your money back on an extended warranty for a Lexus IS. (We even checked consumer reviews for IS vehicles on our site, but most of the issues mentioned were things not traditionally covered by extended warranties, like tire problems and issues with the interior.)
That said, sometimes you just want the added peace of mind that if something does go wrong, you probably won’t be on the hook for repairs. To help decide if an extended warranty might be right for you, check out our article on whether an extended car warranty is worth it.
Article sources
- J.D. Power, “Vehicle Dependability Slumps as Rate of Deterioration Increases, J.D. Power Finds.” Accessed March 20, 2024.
- Consumer Reports, “Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars?” Accessed March 20, 2024.
- Consumer Reports, “Lexus IS.” Accessed Aug. 16, 2023.
- RepairPal, “Lexus IS300 Repair & Maintenance Costs.” Accessed Aug. 16, 2023.
