Extended Warrenties

[Oldbanker]

In February, 2007 we purchased a new Itasca Sunrise 35L and soon will reach the 1 year point that will result in the loss of many of the warranties currently covered by Winnebago. Recently we started to receive offers to buy extended coverage insurance and are quite curious to learn the good and bad experiences that others have had with these plans. Although I am usually an optimist and hope we have no major problems with our RV, I am also a realist and expect that sooner or later something will break that could cost quite a bit of money to fix.

We would appreciate learning from those that bought continuing service or warranty insurance to include costs, success in dealing with the providers after problems occurred, and any horror stories that they may wish to share.

Any recommendations by owners to buy from or avoid certain insurance companies may be handled by email if desired.

Oldbanker

[Oldbanker]

In February, 2007 we purchased a new Itasca Sunrise 35L and soon will reach the 1 year point that will result in the loss of many of the warranties currently covered by Winnebago. Recently we started to receive offers to buy extended coverage insurance and are quite curious to learn the good and bad experiences that others have had with these plans. Although I am usually an optimist and hope we have no major problems with our RV, I am also a realist and expect that sooner or later something will break that could cost quite a bit of money to fix.

We would appreciate learning from those that bought continuing service or warranty insurance to include costs, success in dealing with the providers after problems occurred, and any horror stories that they may wish to share.

Any recommendations by owners to buy from or avoid certain insurance companies may be handled by email if desired.

Oldbanker

[Oldbanker]

I believe that I got the cart before the horse! Since this post, I started to read about extended warranty concerns in this forum and am learning that this a common question with many pros and cons.

Will keep reading and doing my homework.

Oldbanker

[Route 66]

There have been many discussions in several forums on this issue.

Searching the forums will return plenty of info.

[Tom N]

After your 1 year warranty expires, if you have a chassis problem, will you try and collect under both your extended warranty and your 3 year chassis warranty???

-Tom

[FrontRangeRVer]

GREAT!!! I LOVE GIVING MY OPINION!!!

The general consensus on this board and others, is that the extended warrantees are a bad investment. If you really want to have money for a possible breakdown of a piece of equipment, put a set amount of money in your savings account for that day......don't give it to a warrantee company for them to deny your claim anyway.

Whoo Hoo! That felt good!

[John_Canfield]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by FrontRangeRVer:
--snip-- The general consensus on this board and others, is that the extended warrantees are a bad investment. If you really want to have money for a possible breakdown of a piece of equipment, put a set amount of money in your savings account for that day......don't give it to a warrantee company for them to deny your claim anyway.--snip-- </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I couldn't have said it better!

[Scooter]

There are good companies selling extended service contracts.......and BAD companies.

Your research should reveal some names to avoid and some names to research further.

There are usually four parties to these contracts: You, the outfit that sells these contracts, the administrator or gatekeeper and finally, the insurance company.

I'm not sure but perhaps a RV mfr (maybe Monaco or others) will sell you their own service contract, eliminating the middlemen and giving you some sense that things will be taken care of.

If you can afford $2000 or more for a 7 year/100K mile EXCLUSIONARY, comprehensive , service contract...read every word and then do it again. See who is administrator is and what is their past history. You won't be dealing with the salesman any more. Who are the insurance companies. Check them out with the ratings firms, including Weiss.

You do realize that your engine has a 3 year warranty and when you buy a 7 year, you are really only getting an additional 4 years on the engine. But the fridge, slide, jacks, etc. will be covered after one year.

We have a 7 year contract and found out by being vigilant, that the administrator (RVR) went out of business and that a judge, instead of assigning the contracts to the insurance companies, ruled that the assets of RVR be given to the policy holders. Big Woop! So I called the salesman who sold us this policy and he gave us another for the remaining balance of the term at no additional cost, with a sound administrator and reliable insurance companies.

But, if I did not check from time to time and a serious covered item broke down........I would have to have started from scratch or ate the repair cost.

You probably realize this is a gamble. Just like Homeowners insurance premiums, Auto insurance premiums, Health insurance, etc.

Have not yet used our RV contract and over the years have had factory warranties on our Ford F150, Subaru Forester and Chev Tahoe. By reading CHECKBOOK magazine we were able to get these FACTORY warranties for about 1/2 what the dealer wanted. Overall, I have not yet recovered 100% of our output, but getting very close and the Tahoe has 4 more years to even the score. But the peace of mind is something to think about.

Good hunting.

[Route 66]

As Scooter posted, only consider Exclusionary policies, not Inclusionary ones.

An exclusionary policy will list what is not covered.

An inclusionary policy will list only what is covered, but anything not specifically listed will NOT be covered.

[kalynzoo]

I take my rig in for service, I'm not a self service guy. I like woodworking. That said, Last summer I had my basement air serviced under my extended warranty. I paid a $50 deductible, and they paid $1,300. On a previous MH my transmission was replaced under the extended warranty. It works for me and gives me peace of mind. I will purchase one on my next MH. You asked for opinions.

[Richard 34A]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom N:
After your 1 year warranty expires, if you have a chassis problem, will you try and collect under both your extended warranty and your 3 year chassis warranty???

-Tom </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

As long as the chassis is under the manufacturer's warranty, I don't think an extended warranty or service contract comes in to play...

[David K]

When we purchased our used MH, we purchased a 4 year, 40,000 mile warranty from RV Shield. It is a bumper to bumper coverage. I know that some people say don't buy extended warranties but, the previous owner did not keep good maintance records on the MH even though everything was working when we purchased it. Since the purchase, the hydraulic fan hub went out and a manufacturing defect caused a U-joint to fail. In both cases, the parts and labor were covered for the replacement by the extended warranty (less my deductible of course) and at this point, I have recovered over 50% of the cost of the extended warranty. I may not get back all of the cost but, the peace of mind has let me sleep a lot easier at night. Both repairs were done at Cummins South and in both cases, they had no problems working with the warranty company and getting approval for the repairs.