Extended Service Plan - what to do?

[DanandBetty]

Just wanting to check for the prevailing opinion about buying an extended service plan on my coach. (33,000 miles on 07 Monaco Knight DFT). I get the drift about the gamble involved the way all insurance is but here are my questions:

If you bought a plan have you ever used it?

If you used your purchased plan did it save money compared to the total plan cost?

Have you had problems that your plan didn't cover so you had to pay anyway?

If you didn't buy an extended service plan have you had big expenses that made you wish you had bought a plan?

What do you recommend I do? I'm trying to decide whether to buy in or not.

[SmokyRV]

I have had it on two of my RV's. On both I have had expenses in excess of $1,000 and in both cases only paid a $50 deductible. I am pretty handy but some issues exceed my level of expertise.

It's a personal decision but I compare it to auto and homeowners insurance. A necessary expense!

[UFO Pilot]

I have never had a claim denied and I have received about 3 times what I paid for the policy. Not every claim has been paid 100% but I have only paid my $100 deductible the majority of the time.

[Pepper2]

We did not buy a plan. Our largest and only expense beyond general maintenance in the 3 yrs. we have owned our MH was $600 for work on our slide. Knock on wood

[Walter5555]

I had a Camping World plan a few years ago and every time something would go wrong and when I took it to a shop the mechanic would call them to see if they would cover the part and they always denied it.
Now when I had to take it to a shop another three separate times and they kept refusing to pay for the repairers I canceled the plan.
They will not cover a broken part if it was cause by an oil leak.
At least thats what they said at that time.
If you are looking for a plan the one Camping World has won't cover your rig if it's over 15 years old you can check that out.
When I called them and complained about it all I got was (Were very sorry about that.)
Just a thought.

[glennb100]

Make sure you read and understand every word. These contracts are written by legions of lawyers and are designed to minimize the pay out.

[dmason]

We have a XtraRide platinum plan for 84 months or 75,000 miles with a $50 deductible. Purchased it along with our new to us 2007 Scepter in 2009. It has paid for itself several times over. Haven't had any claim denied which we largely credit to our service tech and his ability to relate our RV problems to different aspects of the plan coverage.

[UFO Pilot]

The shop or repair tech's ability and willingness to work with the warranty company seems to make all of the difference in the world.

[Not a Clue]

To me, the two most important things to look at when getting an extended warranty:
1) Make sure you know what you are buying....they are not all created equal....read the small print BEFORE you purchase it.

2) When making a claim make sure you have a service tech that knows how to deal with extended warranties. (How to describe the problem you are having).

I have a pretty extensive extended warranty and my service tech has never been denied a claim when he has called.

Whether or not it has paid for itself....pretty close and still have another year left on it.

This is just my opinion based on my experiences.

[smlranger]

You may want to check on Cornerstone out of Hickory, NC. We purchased our first ESP for a motorhome on the rig in our signature since it is a pretty complicated beast and I am getting older and less willing/able to do my own repairs. We covered the house with a reasonable deductible.

So far, it has just about paid for itself and I still have 3 years to go on the plan. The shop/s I've used had no difficulty getting authorization to do the repairs and I only paid my deductible.

My only regret is not getting full coverage to include the chassis. I may now have an issue with the Cummins diesel that could be fairly costly and I had banked on the fact that most DP' drive trains, if properly maintained, are fairly bullet-proof.

[DanandBetty]

I've been reading the coverage on the Camping World/Good Sam extended service plan and I'm not impressed with their language. I've talked with 3 guys in this RV park in the past month who have Good Sam and a laundry list of denied claims or expenses below their deductable (a hazard with high deductable levels). I'm pretty sure that if I buy into a service plan it won't be with Camping World/Good Sam - also they want about $1800 per year for my coach.

I will check out Corner stone and XtraRide, thanks for the tips. Thanks....Dan

[wolf1281]

When we bought our 03 HR Endeavor used with around 30,000 miles. We debated the same as you. We ended buy the RT66 plan from the dealer we bought the coach. We paid around $3000 for the three year plan. In all they covered around $5000 in repairs. Including a rear air unit. Overall I think it was the right decision to get the plan. Your buying a major investment with many different parts that can go wrong. The piece of mind is worth the ticket.
Make sure you read the small print several times.

[singhrv]

I will be taking delivery of '08 Monaco Diplomat with 31k miles. Xtraride offered by my dealer is around 8k for 4y/50k. That price is so steep that I did not even bother to negotiate.
I am leaning towards purchasing a service contract because I am certainly not qualified to work on any major repair myself. I just don't know which plan will treat me fairly when I follow their policy. GS has pretty bad rap from what I have read. Wholesale warranties and Nationwide Auto Warranties have quoted between 4,300 and 4,700 for 4/48 exclusionary policies. Tough decision.

[RayJo]

Originally Posted by smlranger

You may want to check on Cornerstone out of Hickory, NC. We purchased our first ESP for a motorhome on the rig in our signature since it is a pretty complicated beast and I am getting older and less willing/able to do my own repairs. We covered the house with a reasonable deductible.

So far, it has just about paid for itself and I still have 3 years to go on the plan. The shop/s I've used had no difficulty getting authorization to do the repairs and I only paid my deductible.

My only regret is not getting full coverage to include the chassis. I may now have an issue with the Cummins diesel that could be fairly costly and I had banked on the fact that most DP' drive trains, if properly maintained, are fairly bullet-proof.

Having worked in the insurance field for over 30 years--we too purchased a Cornerstone warranty policy and have not been disappointed. This was our first motorhome [2008 Dynasty] and when anything went wrong we took it to the dealer. Cornerstone has paid every claim submitted and has definitely paid for itself and we too have about 3 years to go before expiration. We will definitely purchase again! Better not leave home without it…