Community Forums

BlueGekko · 06-26-2012, 05:32 PM

Looks like we're going to buy a 2005 Freedom Elite from Camping World. They're nearly done with their PDI and have plugged the only leak in the cabover. No other apparent problems. Got a call a few minutes ago from their rep who asked if we'd be interested in a 48 month extended warranty for $4,000. $50 deductible for work done on chassis or coach by CW: $100 deductible for work done by others. Is this a good deal? If not, why not? Can we get better extended warranties elsewhere for less? Anyone have any experience with CW's warranty service? Can we buy an extended warranty after the purchase or are they usually connected to the purchase? Thanks for any advice, Don

Tha_Rooster · 06-26-2012, 05:52 PM

I don't have one, but you there is several companies that sell them. I call them insurance policies it's a waste of money until you need them. There have been several threads on trying to get certain ones to pay. The price is depending on age of unit and coverage.

bldr11 · 06-26-2012, 06:06 PM

You will get alot of pros and cons on here about them. I have one and it has more than paid for itself. Have heard alot of negative on cw extended. I have extra-ride and could not be happier. Claims are paid with no hassles, has had alot of positive feedback. Shop around for your best price. Extra-ride was highly recommended by ppl. Where I get my service done says it I'd there best company he has dealt with.

Mr_D · 06-26-2012, 06:42 PM

If the TT is so good ask them why you need it. If they say it's "for your protection" ask them why, isn't the TT any good?

About 50% of the service policy cost (not a "warranty" by law) is pure profit for the seller.

Ask them to give it to you as part of the sale, not as an extra add on (profit).

Kazoo Tom · 06-26-2012, 07:02 PM

Look the policy over very carefully before you accept it. The best policies (yes they are insurance policies) are "exclusionary" policies. That means if the item is not specifically excluded from coverage, it is covered. Other policies are "inclusive" which means if it is not in the policy it is NOT covered.

There are also very specific procedures for having repairs authorized and making a claim. If you do not follow those procedures to the letter you will likely be denied, even if the repair is covered in the policy.

My dealer threw in a 5 year "Ultimate Coverage" plan with Cornerstone United in my deal. The cost would have been $4400 to purchase it for our used 2007 coach. It is an exclusionary policy and covers pretty much bumper to bumper for us.

I have a neighbor who administers and sells these contracts to auto dealers. He looked over the policy and said it is one of the better ones. Very little is excluded and the claims procedure is very straight forward.

To be honest I probably would not have purchased the contract on my own. We are not believers in extended "warranties" for anything. In the past we have been money ahead by NOT having the contracts. However our current motor home is much more complex than our previous one and the contract does offer a great deal of "peace of mind" for us. It only takes a couple of the major systems to fail to pay for the agreement.

There are many who advocate taking the money that you would have spent and putting it in an interest bearing savings account. That way if something happens you have the cash to cover it. If nothing happens you money is safe in the bank.

It all boils down to how much risk are you willing to accept should something go wrong? If you decide to purchase the contract you should ask for a substantial discount. The dealer cost for the contract is normally about 50% of the quoted retail price.

RickO · 06-26-2012, 07:05 PM

If you use our search feature, you'll find MOUNDS of reading material on each of the questions you've asked. This is always a fairly controversial topic when it's discussed.

Just some of my random thoughts:

* It's best to think of an EW as an insurance policy... NOT an "investment". If you go in thinking you're going to "come out ahead", you're probably not going to be happy with your "investment".

* Dealers have a BIG mark up on these things and therefore their price is highly negotiable. I assume your negotiating on the rig is done but Mr_D is right about it being a good idea to start from a position that you want an EW included in the price of the rig. I didn't and wish I had.

* I have read here on the forum about quite a number of members not being happy with the CW EW.... although there are also a lot who are not happy with other EW's too.

* IMHO, peace of mind is the absolute best reason to buy one. I was a newbie with a brand new 40DP and bought one for that reason... not because I though I would make money on the deal. Many will suggest that you just put the money you would have spent on an EW in a savings account and use that to pay for repairs. I'm sure that works well for many people. Every now and then, one of them will have to pay a big repair bill and will wish they had one but it's a matter of risk tolerance.

* I bought a 7 year Total Care policy from a company called EasyCare. I could not be happier with them over the past five years. I've never even had to speak to anyone at the company because all of the shops I've used are happy to deal with them directly... including billing them directly instead of me paying the bill and having to get reimbursed. BTW, I paid $7K for my policy which was WAY too much.

* I wouldn't buy my policy from the dealer (unless it was negotiated under favorable terms during the purchase of the rig) because there are many firms out there selling them at a discount.

* I wouldn't buy an EW when the coach was still under warranty. It's really a waste of money.

* (on edit) I would also add that it's nice to not have to think about it when something goes wrong. I just put it in the shop and get it fixed instead of maybe thinking that "I don't have to spend that money on getting it fixed now".

My EW will be expiring in a couple of years and the jury is still out as to whether or not I'll renew it.

Best of luck and congrats on the new rig.

Rick

R2Home · 06-26-2012, 11:19 PM

AS has already been stated, they can be spendy and if you do not need it then it was a waste of money. We have purchased two EW for our 2003 Endeavor, the first one and a different one when that first one expired. While the first one cost us a little $2500, it saved us BIG time when we lost the radiator. The repair bill for the radiator was about $6000 and we only ended up paying about $1500.
EW are more for 'peace of mind' then anything else.
My suggestion is to look at what it 'might cost' for unforseen repairs. The check top see how much 'free' cash you have lating around that you could spend on a repair. The unthinkable does happen!

Monacoach · 06-27-2012, 07:43 AM

We negotiated our extended warranty into the price. Here is a list of some of our repairs in the last three years.

Dash air stopped working twice
Isolator solenoid stopped working three times
Hydraulic jacks failed... this was the biggy...... would have cost over 3000
Coolant leak,,,, turbo coolant line

we still have a couple more years to go so for us it has been good...... ......

BlueGekko · 06-28-2012, 04:29 AM

I agree with most of you in principal that extended warranties are a profit source. However, if one can afford one, it's also a great measure of relief/peace of mind if and when something major goes south. We're boomers in our last year of gainful employment. Though we have a good retirement financial cushion, most of it is tied up in long term investments and annuities so funds aren't immediately available for expensive repairs. Once we give our notices in December, we'll have a "dry" period of 2 yrs before Social Security and our annuities kick in. We've got the money now to invest in a 3 yr extended warranty to cover the dry spell. $3000 for the coach/chassis warranty now seems to be an inexpensive alternative to putting out many thousands in the event of stove, refer or major subsystem failure on a 2nd hand 2005 Chateau. Yes, ideally, self insuring is a more practical way to go but would come up pretty short if the major failure happened within our 2 yr dry period. I appreciate everyone's advice but fear of major bills and need for peace of mind have won the day. Soooo, the policy CW is offering through Good Sam essentially runs bumper to bumper. Has anyone had good/bad experiences with this policy or the service? Also, since we're buying the RV through CW, they're "giving" us a 1 yr, "free" GS Roadside Assistance policy and are trying to sell us a $695.00 GS Tire and Wheel Protection policy. Any ideas on these two programs? Thanks for everyone's input, it's been very helpful. Don

ralphie · 06-28-2012, 06:43 AM

Extended policies are high profit deals for dealers and the sellers. It all comes down to what makes you comfortable. I'm anti-extended warranty mostly because so many items are not covered, and the seller gets to determine every issue. On the other hand, some folks have indicated their warranty has saved them thousands of dollars. One suggestion is to set some money aside to always make sure you have the funds available to cover a big ticket item, like a complete diesel motor.

Jon Mopar · 06-28-2012, 06:56 AM

if it were $2500, I'd say yes....for not for $4k. You have to sit down and say "what are the big unpreventable things that could go wrong that would cost over $4K?" Make a list.

Im not sure if this is a Class C or what, but the most expensive mechanical items are usually the A/C unit, generator and leveling jacks. Even major service/repair on them wouldn't cost nearly $4k.

Unless you can work it into the price, I say that you should keep your cash, and just take car of your RV. What I've done in the past is slowly create a "rainy day" fund, just in case you actually need to replace something big. But if you never do, YOU get to keep the cash, not some stranger.

Kazoo Tom · 06-28-2012, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueGekko

I agree with most of you in principal that extended warranties are a profit source. However, if one can afford one, it's also a great measure of relief/peace of mind if and when something major goes south. We're boomers in our last year of gainful employment. Though we have a good retirement financial cushion, most of it is tied up in long term investments and annuities so funds aren't immediately available for expensive repairs. Once we give our notices in December, we'll have a "dry" period of 2 yrs before Social Security and our annuities kick in. We've got the money now to invest in a 3 yr extended warranty to cover the dry spell. $3000 for the coach/chassis warranty now seems to be an inexpensive alternative to putting out many thousands in the event of stove, refer or major subsystem failure on a 2nd hand 2005 Chateau. Yes, ideally, self insuring is a more practical way to go but would come up pretty short if the major failure happened within our 2 yr dry period. I appreciate everyone's advice but fear of major bills and need for peace of mind have won the day. Soooo, the policy CW is offering through Good Sam essentially runs bumper to bumper. Has anyone had good/bad experiences with this policy or the service? Also, since we're buying the RV through CW, they're "giving" us a 1 yr, "free" GS Roadside Assistance policy and are trying to sell us a $695.00 GS Tire and Wheel Protection policy. Any ideas on these two programs? Thanks for everyone's input, it's been very helpful. Don

If such a policy gives you peace of mind, then go for it. I think I would still try to negotiate the price down before you close on the deal. It's a matter of feeling comfortable with your purchase, and how much risk you are willing to assume on your own. Buy the policy and hope you never need it and feel comfortable if you ever do.

The road service is a good choice. We have Coach-Net for road service and have been very satisfied the few times we needed them. All of the road service plans have pros and cons. you can check on www.rv.net/forum/ for some comments on the GS products. The first section is dedicated to GS services. Keep in mind that the site is owned by Affinity Group (parent company of GS).

Check the tire policy fully. The usually onlly cover you for "road hazard" failures. If you have an underinflated tire that fails, you are not covered! Read it carefully before you decide if it is for you.

RanCarr · 06-28-2012, 09:50 AM

I don't think so. Whatever it is will break down or blow up or die 24 hours after the extended warranty is up.

Monacoach · 06-29-2012, 06:53 PM

Ok I gave you my example now in the same family, my parents were on a trip to Florida when their coach engine died. The coach was towed to a repair facility which determined the crank shaft had broke and that it would take at least three weeks to fix and about 12 000 dollars..... they had warranty..... it was covered....they jumped in the toad continued to Florida stayed in a condo and picked the coach up on the way home............ My brother took his semi truck in for a routine maintenance........ bill was over 13000 dollars... ( I know its not a motor home but still) long list of repairs including new axels.... don't be fooled into thinking that a little 2000 dollar fund is comparable to a warranty company. Sure they make money of these warranties... why is that bad who cares as long as we are covered.......and the warranty has fine print, it tells you what is covered.. obviously maintenance items are not covered......