Extended Warranty

It?s time to consider getting another extended warranty on the Coach.
I?ve been told dealership is now dealing with Global Warranty Corp (this location is in London, Ontario, Canada).
Been quoted approx 6K for 4 years.
I know a lot of repairs can be done for that amount BUT there is also the thought that one repair could be far greater.
A lot of things I can do, but like many, age, arthritis and not being as flexible as when younger do impose limitations.

I?ve looked online for reviews, the BBB for their home area and honestly see a number of negatives.
I think I am also aware enough to realize that people mostly only provide reviews when they have complaints, satisfied clients many times don?t feel the need to post their experiences.

I guess my question is, have of you folks taken extended warranties, with this company, had any good or bad experiences with repair coverage being denied, insurer requiring used parts being installed?

I know this is a lot to ask but with the wealth of experiences here I thought someone will have experiences to share.

Many thanks

Bob

We have RV Care, backed by Phoenix American.  It was a little under $7k for 3 yrs $0 deductible exclusionary.  Bought it to cover anything major when we bought our used Monaco and had to drive it across country to get home.  Luckily haven't had anything major go wrong.  This is the one complaint I have.  We had a problem when the generator wouldn't start.  Called the number for service, which gets you to a "call center", not the actual warranty company.  The "call center" is a PITA and they don't seem to know much.  Told them I needed someone to come out and see why the generator wouldn't start.  They said we didn't have that coverage but we could have the coach towed to a repair shop.  I explained I didn't need or want to be towed.  I then asked for the name and number for a repair shop near me.  They didn't know of one and told me to Google it. ???  Thought I had roadside coverage but I'm not a lawyer so who knows.  I called Phoenix American a few days later when I cooled down to find out just what I had.  I do have roadside coverage and the call center had it wrong.  Phoenix American seemed to be OK, the call center is something else.  Jury is out on RV Care, but after the next major trip in May if the engine/tranny are not having any issues we plan to cancel the policy and self insure.  I can see the reason for a warranty, I'm 66 and not as nimble as I was years back.  It would be almost impossible for me to do much without having a lift or a pit to work out of.  Here's a good joke, I check Good Sam for a quote and was told a 1 year with a $100 deductible is $19,000 per year.  They couldn't tell me why.  Good luck.  One other thing, I did ask a service manager at a RV shop what he thought of Phoenix American and he said they were not any worse than the rest of them.

    Have a similar story to ZinluvR. Paid $6300.00 for four years, dealer soaked me with repair bills not covered so I canceled after one year and got $4000.00 back. That helped to get some of the repair money back.   

There are many opinions on the whether or not warranties are worth the money and just as many posts. A search will bring up more than you would want to read, but here is a recent one. http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,111189.msg1003480.html#msg1003480
We have had good luck with our company, Portfolio from Wholesale Warranties.

Thanks for the info,
Wondered if anyone has dealt with Global Warranty, I know the head office is in Canada but from my understanding they  insure folks in the US also.
How about any Canadian folks?

No experience or ties to either, but I have read some good and a lot bad things about Cornerstone, and pretty much good things about Wholesale Warranties.

I doubt if the company that underwrites the policy makes much difference, if that's your concern.  What is important is the myriad of fine print as to what is covered or not and your luck, meaning the exact nature of the repairs you need.  Most of the complaints you read will be failures to understand the many limitations of these repair insurance policies  and/or an expectation that the claims agent would take a liberal view of the terms rather than a rigid one (they will NOT, ever!).

Don't listen to the dealer sales pitch. Read the actual warranty contract, not the sales brochure.  If you think it covers enough items to be worth the price, go ahead and buy it.  I personally think it is very expensive limited insurance, but it's your peace of mind that matters, not mine.

I'll leave a couple thoughts with you, though. The dealers gets a hefty commission on that sale, probably 15% or more. Then the company that administers the policy (handles claims and customer questions) gets another substantial percentage. What's left is the amount the underwriter expects to pay out in claims, an amount they have calculated based on actual repair statistics. It's surely less than 2/3 of the premium you pay and more likely 60% or less.  That's the average amount of claims the insurer expects to pay.  Obviously a catastrophic repair that happened to be covered would pay off much more, but what are the chances?

if you add up everything they want to sell you a warranty for you would spend 10's of thousands of dollars a year.  Think about it.  Buy a washing machine, refrigerator, cell phone, TV, car, RV, computer, iPad, stove and on and on.  Then they frequently don't want to cover anything that would actually break AND they cover it when it is new. 

I don't need coverage on my car the first five years.  Give it to me years 10-15. ;D ;D

We self insure everything.  Warranties are one of the highest margin items that a company sells. 

Now you always have the guy that had some repair the warranty covered which was more than the warranty but what he didn't tell you was about all the warranties he bought that were worthless.

KandT said:

if you add up everything they want to sell you a warranty for you would spend 10's of thousands of dollars a year.  Think about it.  Buy a washing machine, refrigerator, cell phone, TV, car, RV, computer, iPad, stove and on and on.  Then they frequently don't want to cover anything that would actually break AND they cover it when it is new. 

I don't need coverage on my car the first five years.  Give it to me years 10-15. ;D ;D

We self insure everything.  Warranties are one of the highest margin items that a company sells. 

Now you always have the guy that had some repair the warranty covered which was more than the warranty but what he didn't tell you was about all the warranties he bought that were worthless.

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Hmm not sure if I'm "that guy", but I'll take a run at this. If my current RV cost as much as my car I wouldn't need extra coverage on it either, but my RV used cost five times what I paid for my car new. It costs 150 times my iPhone, or iPad, and 450 times a TV. I don't know what washing machines or refrigerators cost, but I'll guess my RV cost about 120 times more. Unlike you, I don't have deep enough pockets that I can afford to self insure everything I own. I try to be smart about which insurance I buy and I do my research and read the fine print on each one. If I bought a new car that came with three slide-outs, two A/Cs on the roof, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom I would get an extended warranty for THAT new car.

Be grateful you can afford to self insure everything.

Dragginourbedaround said:

If I bought a new car that came with three slide-outs, two A/Cs on the roof, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom I would get an extended warranty for THAT new car

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That?s exactly the way I am lookingat this whole thing.
I?m retiring in Sept and also would like to hopefully cover any major repairs if required.

It?s a gamble, I?m betting something will need fixing (that will be covered) and the insurer is betting against me.

If I amortize over 4 years, it doesn?t seem as bad  .
Still have lots of research to do, but that will wait until after I get home.

It?s a gamble, I?m betting something will need fixing (that will be covered) and the insurer is betting against me.

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Right. And the insurer has statistical data, whereas you have only gut feel.

But you probably have fire insurance on your home too, even though you don't expect it to burn down. Nor do you worry about getting your money back if you don't have a fire.  Part of the insurance gamble is the potential size of the potential loss even if the chances are slim, i.e. you buy insurance because you could not afford to cover the loss yourself.  A diesel pusher does have some big ticket items that could require repair, e.g. major engine components, transmission, etc. Even without one of those big ticket items, you might recoup quite a bit of the premium in smaller repairs, meaning the cost of the "peace of mind" insurance on the rest is actually modest.

I think, however, that $6000 for 4 years of coverage on a 10 year old DP is a fairly low premium. That suggests to me that the coverage is more limited than some other policies. Read the coverage clauses carefully, and get some other quotes and compare what is covered.

Thanks for your insight Gary.
Attached is the brochure and the coversge is Ultramax.
I will be asking for a copy of the contract to read thoroughly when I get home.
Wondering if the price as quoted is because DP has less than 50 thousand miles on it. (I?ve had it for almost 4 years now and put 30K on it)

Was only able to post 1 page of brochure due to size

Also read the section on maintenance, ie oil changes.  My policy REQUIRES a licensed shop do the maintenance, I can not do the oil changes myself.  And, it has to follow the factory schedule, not when you think it needs to be done.  I think Cummins is once a year or at a certain mileage.  This wasn't a deal breaker for me, it means once a year whether I put on the miles or not I take it in and get the oil changed, which will be several hundred dollars.  I would really like to find a power train warranty only, but they all want to throw in other stuff to justify the premium.  But, we have a "new" "used" coach so I'll keep the policy I have for about 2500 more miles and then cancel if no engine/tranny issues.  But also, with a 2009 model I don't have all the fancy computer stuff like the new ones.  Given that for the most part a diesel and Allison tranny will go more miles than I will ever put on, it makes sense for me to cover what ever other costs I come across.  New TV's, washer, dryer, refrig are relatively cheap compared to a extended warranty that will look for any reason not to cover something.  An example, the am/fm/cd/Sirius/whatever thing radio in the coach is not working right, even the clock is not working right.  RVCare will try and fix the stupid thing.  OK, the warranty covers it.  Now, I have to drive the coach one way 80 miles to a repair shop, get on a waiting list for service, they fool around for a couple days trying to fix it.  Can't be fixed.  Warranty says it's 9 years old and will give me $50 bucks credit toward a new one.  Instead I go on amazon and buy an new one for $100 bucks, it's shipped to my door and I replace the old unit.  OK, I paid $100 bucks to self insure, but what did it cost me in time and fuel to go with the warranty that would end up stiffing me in the end any way?  Oh, one other thing, the warranty will most likely not cover shipping for parts.  160 mile round trip in diesel plus two days of my time plus paying part of the cost of the new radio.  Things to think about.  Anyone know of a warranty for just the engine/tranny?

I apologize if I ruffled some feathers in the way I gave my opinion.  I get passionate that everywhere you turn someone is trying to sell a warranty for this or that.  It is none of my business how someone handles their money nor if they get an extended warranty. 

My thought process seems to be in the minority so maybe I should be the one rethinking it.

As far as being grateful I can self insure, I am far from wealthy.  Heck my main vehicle has over 120K miles on it and my RV is 13 years old (probably 14 because I think it was the 05 model bought in 04.  But what I do enjoy is personal finance.  A sheet of paper with all the monthly expenses and financial plans for upcoming trips and major expenses have helped me weigh a lot of decisions.  I actually do it in Excel now but paper is just as good. 

If a warranty helps some sleep well at night then go for it!!  No use in worrying about something you can solve for a few thousand dollars.

My thought process seems to be in the minority so maybe I should be the one rethinking it.

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I doubt that. I suspect there are a lot who don't think much of these extended "warranties" but are silent.

It?s interesting but I NEVER purchase extended warranties but am considering it on the DP simply because there are so many complex systems which I think will not be cheap to trouble shoot and repair after FINALLY finding the problem hopefully.

Do I sound negative?

Probably because I have heard and read stories on how so much time and therefor money is spent by a shop on diagnostics only to find original problem not corrected.

I like to putter, do repairs, maintenance etc but I?m thinking (knowing) that at my age I can?t do everything.

So at the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I am considering the warranty but will do all my research first.

KandT, I don?t think you ruffled any feathers, this is all a good conversation with lots of input which is great.

Best to all

Bob

My thought process seems to be in the minority so maybe I should be the one rethinking it.

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Not at all.  Insurance for repairs is very much a personal choice thing, with the value of "peace of mind" high on the list.

The biggest point to get over is the notion that somehow those plans will provide free repairs for the life of the contract. THAT ain't gonna happen. But as insurance for potentially large repairs that might be beyond your means to self-insure, it has value. Whether its worth the premium price is highly subjective.

In my own case, when my coach was new I opted for a 6 year insurance plan at what I felt was an attractive price, $3200. As it happened, I had enough moderately expensive repairs (mostly electronics) that I recouped a high percentage of the premium price. However, when that contract ended, the cost of a new one was substantially greater, 2x the price and only 2/3's the time period, so I chose NOT to buy another policy. That too worked out well, with only one significant repair that would have been covered and that under $1k.

Wondering if the price as quoted is because DP has less than 50 thousand miles on it.

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I doubt it. Calendar age and gas vs diesel seem to be the dominant factors.

ZinLuvr makes a strong point - many policies have gotten finicky about maintenance and demand proof of regular maintenance, usually professional, for certain types of repairs.  Regular maintenance does have an impact of repair frequency, plus it's an easy cop out for the adjuster, since the engine and chassis manufacturers recommended intervals are very conservative to begin with and largely ignored by many owners anyway.

Bob T said:

It?s interesting but I NEVER purchase extended warranties but am considering it on the DP simply because there are so many complex systems which I think will not be cheap to trouble shoot and repair after FINALLY finding the problem hopefully.

Do I sound negative?

Probably because I have heard and read stories on how so much time and therefor money is spent by a shop on diagnostics only to find original problem not corrected.

I like to putter, do repairs, maintenance etc but I?m thinking (knowing) that at my age I can?t do everything.

So at the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I am considering the warranty but will do all my research first.

KandT, I don?t think you ruffled any feathers, this is all a good conversation with lots of input which is great.

Best to all

Bob

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That's pretty much my line of thinking when it comes to extended warranties. I do all the house/appliance maintenance on our coach, but very little maintenance on the drive train. I have very little experience with diesel engines and transmissions, so I leave that to those who do.

The risk of having a catastrophic engine or transmission failure is, in my opinion, very low, especially on a well maintained coach, but it does happen. In our case, having to replace our 8.9 Cummins would exceed $40,000.00, so it makes sense to us to have an extended warranty - for that "peace of mind" Gary mentioned. I doubt I'd buy one if our coach had a gas engine, but that's an individual decision, based on how much you'd be comfortable shelling out if you had to buy a new engine.

We're also shopping for another warranty, and we've received quotes for as little as $3900.00 for a three year policy on the drive train only, to $7700.00 for a four year policy that covers things in the house as well. Another thing Gary mentioned is very important... the drive train must be maintained to factory standards for coverage of those items to be in effect. Our current extended warranty actually says that. That's a good thing to do anyway.

Kev

The prices that Kev mentioned are the reason I think the $6000 quote must have some significant limitations. There are a lot of subsystems & electronic control components on any high end coach like a Dynasty or Tour. Engine replacements are rare indeed, but $500-$800 items abound.

Glancing at the Global brochure for the Ultramax, my gut reaction is "too good to be true". With coverage that broad (remember its a sales brochure!), there has to be a lot of fine print restrictions in the contract.