Community Forums

Up smoke · 06-07-2013, 09:11 AM

The Mrs. and I just purchased our first MH. A 2009 Itasca Meridian 34 Y. Just curious as whether to purchase the extended warranty/protection plan or not? Have read on other forums on this site, and it seems to be a toss up, on whether to purchase it or not. Though maybe some of you folks on here that already own Itasca, Winnebago MH's would know the reliability of these coaches.
Thanks.

vsheetz · 06-07-2013, 09:20 AM

I bought a used coach last year. While typically I do not buy additional service agreements, in this case I did (with a high deductible) - as a mitigation for any major items wrong with the coach (engine, transmission, etc.), and since I did not have a personal history with it. Now that I have gained experience with the coach and am confident there are no latent issues, I do not plan to renew after the year of coverage ends.

FIRE UP · 06-07-2013, 10:05 AM

Up Smoke,
Congrats on the new purchase. Sometimes the butterflies set AFTER the purchase of something big and the tummy get's iffy so, I do hope all goes well with your new home on wheels. We certainly lover our '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with 330 CAT. Now, to the point. Are you a gambler? Do you like to take chances at the tables? I mean, you always have the possibility to WIN, DON'T YOU?

You see, the way I personally like to look at extended warranties is kind of like gambling. You see, in the "house" they're gambling that they don't have to pay you big winnings. And, you're gambling that with a little money on the table, you'll win BIG!

Well, the warranty companies and, even the manufacturer are also gambling that, you'll pay EXTRA during the purchase of your new coach, to help "mentally" insure that you'll be covered in the event of a catastrophic failure. Any you, are gambling that you'll ONLY have to pay a way SMALLER amount, up front, to cover, any catastrophic failure at any time in the contracts duration.

There are many, many folks out there that are happy they've purchased one. It has paid off for them. But, there are equally the same amount of folks that have paid and, two things:
1. They NEVER USED IT in the contracts time frame.
2. It covered the initial breaking of a part but, not the many residual broken parts that were the result of the original covered breaking part.
3. It didn't even cover the broken part because the people didn't read the EXTRA FINE PRINT of the contract.

So, what does all this mean? Simply, you take your chances that the money, whatever amount you think is of value to cover a potential disaster, is going to be put to good use in a policy that will spend a lot larger amount of money to cover whatever could possibly go wrong or break.

The philosophy of many now, after they've spent that hard earned money on a contract that never was used is, Keep the money in the bank, in a separate account, let it build or simply add a small amount to it every now and then, and then, if and when a breakage happens or, something goes "mishuga", then you'll have maybe all or at least some to cover the issue. Just a suggestion.
Scott

Sky_Boss · 06-07-2013, 11:18 AM

The Good News and the Bad News...

On my Winnebago I had last year I had a service contract from a company that went bankrupt. Fortunately, I had made 1 claim that equaled what I had paid them when I cancelled and then they declared bankruptcy 2 weeks later.

Now comes the DSDP and I'm thinking, nope not gonna happen again.

Well...I lied to myself. I purchased a 4 year contract with Wholesale Warranties. It is a bit pricy compared to many but it is an exclusionary policy meaning it tells you what it doesn't cover which I like. I've had it about 4 months and already collected over $1500 without a single dispute. I have another claim in the works that I expect will also be covered for another $600 and working on a 3rd that may be as much as $1500.

I have found them to be very responsive so far. So...my total premium for the covered period is about $5500 and I may have gotten back 2/3 of it already. We will see on the pending claims if they continue being so easy to work with.

Like FIRE UP said...it is like poker. You decide if you want to risk a known amount for an unknown amount of protection. No different than auto insurance. The thing you have to understand that these service contract operations can be good, bad and horrible to work with.