Extended Warranties

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JoAnn

JoAnn

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Joined
Dec 21, 2006
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We've had our 2006 Monaco Diplomat PAQ for almost 4 years.  We purchased a 4 year extended warranty online with Wholesale Warranties right after we purchased it.  We've been very happy with this insurance and have gotten way more than our moneys worth out of the current policy.  Wholesale Warranties gave us a quote again to cover the coach for another 3 years.  Needless to say, the price is higher.  I'm wondering if there are any other good companies I could compare with.  I've read bad reviews on Good Sam's, Cornerstone and American Guardian.  Is there any other you all would recommend?  We know we also have the option of just saving our money for anything that needs to be done.  TIA

JoAnn & Jim 
 
You will read bad reviews about any of them, but most such are because the RV owner failed to understand the contract coverage and then got angry about things not covered.  Cornerstone is an OK insurer, and American Guardian as well.  None of them are generous, though, and the coverage listed in the contracts are ruthlessly enforced.  Some of their policies have more coverage than others, though.

The best I can say is to get multiple quotes and carefully compare coverages - they are not "all the same". If one policy seems notably less expensive than another, study the fine print until you can figure out why and whether it is something you are concerned about.

Any policy for a 13 year-old coach is going to be steep.  You might consider one for powertrain-only, just covering the really high ticket items.

I stopped insuring mine for repairs after it turned 9. 
 
Warranties like this are essentially optional insurance coverage as you called it... it's a toss up as to whether you will get your money's worth, and the provider is betting you won't (which is how they make a profit) and has statistics to back that up. Sounds like the warranty has worked out for you so far, which is good and puts you ahead of the house (to use a gambling term.) But that luck may not hold out. ;) If you want to keep continued coverage, treat it like insurance... get as many quotes as you can and compare the costs with the likelihood of needing the warranty. Be prepared to read all the fine print and know what you're buying. Cheaper upfront costs usually include higher deductibles or more exclusion loopholes for the provider, i.e. things that they will not cover.

I assume that most of the complaints on these types of policies are either related to customer service, or claims... so read those reviews with that in mind, remembering that anything claim-related probably WAS in the contract and the customer did not read/understand it at the time of purchase. You can keep yourself from being in that situation, by very carefully going through all paperwork before paying anything. Or, as you said, you can take the same amount of money (whether lump sum or monthly) and put it aside in an RV repair fund to have available when needed.

EDIT: I see that Gary covered most of what I wrote, a few minutes before I posted it. Hopefully that means I'm right! :)
 
Thank you Gary & Scott.  I pretty much take reviews with a grain of salt.  Where we go for our warranty work recommended both companies I mentioned so I figure it will be worth checking.  I'm just trying to see if there are more companies to check.  The 2 quotes I got so far are in line with one another.  The warranty we currently have we've gotten more than double back what we paid for it.  Also I like that Wholesale Warranties will go to bat for us with the actual company, if necessary.  We full-time and plan to keep our Diplomat so we might bite the bullet and do it.  We're still discussing and deciding.  Thanks again!

JoAnn & Jim
 
It's a tough call.  Like you, I came out a head on my first policy - had a rash of electronics failures and several chassis air leaks that got expensive.  By the time the policy was expiring, repairs had subsided to a moderate level so I decided to skip the very expensive follow-on policy.  Worked well for me - only one moderately expensive repair in a 4 year period.  The American Guardian policy I had on a previous coach was ok, but I only had two claims on it in 4 years. I cancelled early and got a partial refund.  Two of my friends had Cornerstone policies and were very satisfied - one of them had a major engine cooling system claim and recovered his full premium cost in that single repair.

As with any insurance, it's highly valuable if you have claims and a worthless expense if you don't.
 
I feel that buying an extended warranty is not so that you come out ahead...it's "insurance"...insurance against having a huge bill that you can't afford.  I don't get upset if I don't come out ahead and I hope that I don't come out ahead as that would mean that I had problems and inconveniences.  I never buy extended warranties on things like lawn mowers, TV's and various appliances and that has worked out well...I'm way ahead on those.  However, I did buy an extended warranty on my present tow vehicle and the one before.  I didn't come out ahead, or even break even, but I felt good having the insurance just in case I blew an engine or transmission or other large cost breakdown.  I did use both warranties a few times and each time I felt it was a partial refund on the price I paid for the warranty.

My point is that just having the insurance "in case" has a value in itself (it's not worthless) and the cost of the insurance will more than likely be at least reduced by at least some repairs during the warranty period.  Both of my original costs, I felt, were greatly reduced by covered repairs and what I didn't recover of the cost was a real value for the piece of mind...that is how I feel anyway. A friend's 20 year life insurance came to it's end and his comment was, "Well, that was a waste of money."  My comment was, "Yes, it is a real shame that you didn't die!"  I have never bought any kind of insurance and then hoped it paid off.......Just my opinion.
 
I have Phoenix America, through RVCare out of Texas.  As one service writer told, "they're no worse than the others".  Which I believe, they are ALL going to do everything they can to get out of paying for something.  The call center and customer service of Phoenix America sucks for the most part.  The guys at RVCare have been great.  The claims adjuster won't talk with me, I get it, that's where RVCare comes in, they can read the file and tell me what's going on.  I got a quote from Wholesale and they were much higher than Phoenix America.  So far we have had issues with the air leveling; a controller, a sensor and compressor.  We have also had computer/electronics issues that now seem to be fixed.  We have two years left on the policy at which time if all the bugs have been worked out I think the most I would go with again is a major breakdown policy ie. engine/tranny.  Cummin's tells me it's $40k to rebuild a ISM500.  We are now about even or money ahead of what we paid for the policy.  For comparison, we paid $6k for a 3 yr., unlimited mileage, exclusive, zero deductible policy, if that helps compare to Wholesale.
 
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