New Class C
- Thread starter scooter83
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Ex-Calif
Well-known member
Others may have better opinions but my basic take is that all warranty is a "for profit" business. They don't lose money on extended warranty. Something like a 70% profit margin.
RV warranties can be very hard to collect on. Long wait times to get in. Very often the RV is already driven very far from the "factory" where the warranty needs to be done.
If something does break big time, it would be a win. But most things won't break.
As far as coatings, underbody stuff - add ons - there are lots of threads debating their value - especially at dealer prices. My belief (bottom line) is that some of them may be good but I would get them from a 3rd party.
The risk when buying new is that extended warranty and coatings and such can easily be rolled into the loan - even if they are not the best value/quality - because the buyer doesn't have $3k laying around to get underbody from a 3rd party.
RV warranties can be very hard to collect on. Long wait times to get in. Very often the RV is already driven very far from the "factory" where the warranty needs to be done.
If something does break big time, it would be a win. But most things won't break.
As far as coatings, underbody stuff - add ons - there are lots of threads debating their value - especially at dealer prices. My belief (bottom line) is that some of them may be good but I would get them from a 3rd party.
The risk when buying new is that extended warranty and coatings and such can easily be rolled into the loan - even if they are not the best value/quality - because the buyer doesn't have $3k laying around to get underbody from a 3rd party.
Kirk
Well-known member
First question is, do you normally buy an extended warranty for your car? The chassis of the class C is just a van without the usual body so look at in the same way.
An extended warranty is actually an insurance policy to cover repairs when needed. You only save money by paying for insurance if you have major issues. You should buy insurance to protect you from financial disasters but not for things that could be paid for when they happen. A good example is that we all buy insurance for our house because a major loss could ruin us financially, but we probably don't buy insurance on small appliances because they are easily replaceable and we could get by without them. An RV extended warranty should be looked at in the same way.
If you do choose to buy an extended warranty you should only consider it if it is one that covers everything except specific listed items and anything not on that list is covered. There are also those which only cover the listed items and you should avoid them. There will be a wide range of prices also and the cheaper the price the less it will cover and the more it will take to get a claim paid. From what I have seen, more customers are satisfied with the higher priced warranties than the cheaper ones but you should read every word of the contract for any that you consider.
I have had one on an RV and also had RV that didn't have one. Based on that experience, if your RV is not to be your home but only used for recreation, I would not buy any extended warranty on it.
An extended warranty is actually an insurance policy to cover repairs when needed. You only save money by paying for insurance if you have major issues. You should buy insurance to protect you from financial disasters but not for things that could be paid for when they happen. A good example is that we all buy insurance for our house because a major loss could ruin us financially, but we probably don't buy insurance on small appliances because they are easily replaceable and we could get by without them. An RV extended warranty should be looked at in the same way.
If you do choose to buy an extended warranty you should only consider it if it is one that covers everything except specific listed items and anything not on that list is covered. There are also those which only cover the listed items and you should avoid them. There will be a wide range of prices also and the cheaper the price the less it will cover and the more it will take to get a claim paid. From what I have seen, more customers are satisfied with the higher priced warranties than the cheaper ones but you should read every word of the contract for any that you consider.
I have had one on an RV and also had RV that didn't have one. Based on that experience, if your RV is not to be your home but only used for recreation, I would not buy any extended warranty on it.
thanks for the advice
thanks for the advice
Adventurous Traveler
Well-known member
Great explanation by Kirk.
When we bought our first used motorhome we (dear wife and I ) considered getting an extended warranty on the rig. After reading up on them on a couple of different forums than this, I decided against it. Now, some 15 years later and on our third used motorhome I can easily say I've made out by not getting any kind of warranty. Even last year when I had to put a new radiator in my diesel rig at a cost of about $6K (the radiator alone was $3K) and then at the end of the year and pushed into this year a slide-out bottom replaced for $2200 I'm still ahead.
On a monthly leading to yearly basis, I round up my monthly RV payment to $1000 per month and the overage covers insurance and any repairs, except last year of course, but over 15 years I've built up a nest egg to draw the money from when needed.
I've always read if you do go the warranty route look at warranties for what they exclude, more so than what they include.
When we bought our first used motorhome we (dear wife and I ) considered getting an extended warranty on the rig. After reading up on them on a couple of different forums than this, I decided against it. Now, some 15 years later and on our third used motorhome I can easily say I've made out by not getting any kind of warranty. Even last year when I had to put a new radiator in my diesel rig at a cost of about $6K (the radiator alone was $3K) and then at the end of the year and pushed into this year a slide-out bottom replaced for $2200 I'm still ahead.
On a monthly leading to yearly basis, I round up my monthly RV payment to $1000 per month and the overage covers insurance and any repairs, except last year of course, but over 15 years I've built up a nest egg to draw the money from when needed.
I've always read if you do go the warranty route look at warranties for what they exclude, more so than what they include.
Thank you for the input
