Extended Warranty-to buy or not?

[ganormans]

We just upgraded from a 2000 class c to new class A MH. We are having a hard time deciding on whether or not to purchase the extended warranty. We typically steer clear of these on basic appliances but seems like there's an awful lot to go wrong here. Anyone have any experience, thoughts, etc?  :-\

 

[DandS]

There are those that say buy one and those that say never buy. The real answer is whatever you feel comfortable with. We bought one with our first new coach, never used it in four years, and now have a new coach I didn't buy one for. Again, your choice.

 

[BernieD]

First, never buy from a dealer, the markups there are very inflated. Next, if you have a new coach under manufacturer's warranty, you have warranties ranging from 1-5 years and 12,000-200,000 miles for the various components. Wait it out at least 3/4s of a year and see how you feel about things, shop different warranty providers (always only consider an exclusionary policy, one that covers everything not specifically excluded) and keep asking advice. You can always buy one later.

 

[angiesdamon]

I'm having the same discussion over in the Newcomer's thread. My husband and I just bought our first RV, used, and we're really looking to have some peace of mind about repairs. I know sometimes you'll never have to use it, sometimes it'll pay for itself within a year.

We're definitely leaning towards buying one. We got a bunch of quotes, best price so far is www.wholesalewarranties.net. I'd say to go ahead and put in a bunch of quote requests, take a look at the pricing and all of your options. Having the potential contract in front of us is helping us make a decision.

 

[vermilye]

If you decide to purchase one, please read it carefully.  Every month there are complaints in Motorhome & Trailer Life about how the Extended Warranty companies manage to get out of paying for what you thought was a covered repair.

 

[nwtraveler]

Yeah, what Jon said. Even then you are taking your chances. One of their tricks is
that they don't cover 'colateral damages', ie: if one component fails and takes out
other components they will cover the one that failed but not the ones that were
damaged as a result of the original failure. So they are usually fine for single big ticket
items but if you have, say, a shorted water heater element that causes other
problems and wipes out your converter, tv, microwave, etc., well, tough luck...

Been there, done that.

Kim

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It's insurance and people are usually disappointed when insurance doesn't cover something after you paid a bunch of money in premiums. Of course, the opposite is true when it does pay off.

Most extended Warranty insurance disappointments come from a failure to read and understand the exclusions, of which there are many. People hear 'warranty' and think it is bumper-to-bumper coverage like the OEM waranty, but it is anything but.

Read carefully and make sure you don't have the rose-colored glasses on. The insurer is going to strictly interpret every clause as well as requiring that his claim procedures be followed to the letter.

 

[scottydl]

This question gets at least one of the "most asked" awards.    Here are a couple very recent threads discussing the same thing:

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=33663.0

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=33714.0

There are probably about a hundred more topics on the subject in the archives, just use the "Search" button above.