Extended Warranty ?

[deaton]

What really bugs me about the process of “buying” an ESP (or insurance, or Roadside Assistance Plan, or fancy wax job etc.) from a dealer is the sales tactics some of them employ. You get a quote, then you decline to buy, then they sharpen their pencil and lower the quote.

Strange, but I enjoy that give and take when negotiating the price of the coach and the meager value they place on my trade, but, somehow, I’m offended by it when buying these types of add-ons. I feel like I’ve dropped into a time-share sales pitch.

Do others feel this way or am I just strange?

[Dutch Star David]

Originally Posted by flyboy013

All - thanks for the various responses and PMs. As expected, some have gotten their value out of the extended warranties/ESPs and others have not. While I haven’t decided yet as to how to proceed, it would appear that I have a year to make up my mind as I have a Newmar provided warranty until then. Perhaps the experience between now and then will help guide me. Also, I tend to be a harry homeowner and expect that I’ll do some portion of the MH maintenance and repairs myself. Given that I may not have sufficient receipts to prove that preventive maintenance work has been done, I may have issues in getting warranty service under the plan. Additionally, the nearest Spartan Service Center is 1.5 hours away. This means 3 hours to drop it off and another 3 hours to pick it up. That 6 hours may help convince me to do any repair work myself. The nearest Newmar Service Center is even further away meaning that I may be better off doing repair work myself (when possible). Obviously for the first year I’ll plan on having Newmar do any warranty work.

Thanks for all the input. 7 days to go until FPU. [emoji3]

Just compare cost if buying today vs. 1 year from now.

[FLJOE]

Originally Posted by 67vette

Like quite a few folks mentioned I never buy extended warranties for cars, appliance's etc however I did buy a full coverage program from Good Sam at the FMCA rally last winter. I have a 500.00 deductible and full coverage on everything. If I recall correctly you want to be sure that whatever you get is not a "limited" warranty in other words here is a list of things we cover, and if not on the list then it's your problem. The other thing is I can transfer my plan if I go ahead and sell the coach to someone else which I believe is a great advantage.
Haven't had to use it yet and hope i never do.
I'm not a big GSam/Camping World guy but this plan seemed the best for our coach and situation, good luck.
PS- dealer programs are another profit center for them

Friend of mine had that GoodSam/CW warranty on a new Toy Hauler a few years back. It had a ton of issues, some serious. Every time it was in for service work they charged him huge "shipping/handling" prices for the parts involved. He could have had the parts shipped to his house for 1/10 of what they were charging him but that was all part of the scam of how they were making up some of the profit. For example a repair part was $300.00. So he paid $100 deductible for a $300.00 part plus $300 or $400 labor. So at first you would think it was a really good idea to have the GS warranty because that $700 repair only cost him $100, right? Wrong, by the time they added shipping and handling on a couple parts the bill to him was around $300 or more. What a joke.

[FLJOE]

Originally Posted by deaton

What really bugs me about the process of “buying” an ESP (or insurance, or Roadside Assistance Plan, or fancy wax job etc.) from a dealer is the sales tactics some of them employ. You get a quote, then you decline to buy, then they sharpen their pencil and lower the quote.

Strange, but I enjoy that give and take when negotiating the price of the coach and the meager value they place on my trade, but, somehow, I’m offended by it when buying these types of add-ons. I feel like I’ve dropped into a time-share sales pitch.

Do others feel this way or am I just strange?

I assume everyone feels the same way, or at least I do. The dealer we just purchased from only deals with what I would consider high end coaches. Their "paperwork" guy sent me an email reference extended warranty information prior to the delivery date so I could go over it. At delivery he brought it up again but no real sales pitch. When I told him I was going to wait 10 or 11 months and then reconsider the only thing he did was show me several applications he was working on for customers that had waited and were trying to get a Cornerstone warranty. Unless I was completely fooled and he was showing me fake props it looked like by buying the Cornerstone warranty at the end of the year period would cost a lot more. So I bit. But he still didn't really put any pressure on. Usually they stay with a sales pitch and knock down for at least 10 minutes.

[deaton]

Yeah, I was told the same think, that it would be a lot more expensive to buy at the end of the first year. Some friends of mine have told me that is not necessarily true, but you might have to pay for a pre-contract inspection.

Anyway after thirteen years owning coaches at, say $1,500 a year that I haven’t spent on extended warranties less... Well you see where I’m going with this.

[ByeTheWay]

An extended warranty allows you to pay up front for service/parts you may need but when it comes time to collect you have to ask permission to spend the money you gave them. How does this make sense?

[flyboy013]

FWIW - I sent back my paperwork to the dealer today for next week’s FPU and declined both the Cornerstone ESP and the Road Hazard coverage. Thanks again.

[Quincy]

When you buy insurance you say a prayer you never need it. If extended warranties were a good deal for the consumer they would not be available because there would be no profit in them. Having said that if you need them then they were a good deal.

If anybody is a USAA member they probably offer a better price for them, at least, I know they do for an auto extended warranty.

Spending our kids inheritance one trip at a time