Extended Service Plans

[Lynne Marie]

Just bought a 2011 Fifth wheel and would like to purchase an extended warranty. Good Sam seems reasonably priced. Have read mixed reviews on their plan and others too. Would appreciate others' experiences and input.

[Tumble Weed]

I've always steered away from those. They usually only cover appliances stuff like that, but heck if your frig goes out that's a big chunk of money. The price of the plan is way cheaper than the frig. I still wouldn't buy one.
But when I bought my Ford for some reason I decided to buy the trany warranty and yeah 6 months later I had to replace transmission.
So it's a catch 20. Only thing in 3 5th wheels I've own a microwave went out at 375.
I'd say do what make you fell comfortable.
Just go out and have lots of fun.

[TexasTwoStep]

IMHO If it was a good deal for the average consumer then they wouldn't be offered. They've got to make money. Having said that, if you suspect that your rig is going to be problematic get it.

[Kro1957]

I bought one with our new unit in 2002 and never used it so it was money wasted in our case. Just peace of mind.

[RickO]

Originally Posted by Lynne Marie

Just bought a 2011 Fifth wheel and would like to purchase an extended warranty. Good Sam seems reasonably priced. Have read mixed reviews on their plan and others too. Would appreciate others' experiences and input.

Welcome to the forum... but I'm a bit confused.

Did you just purchase a Fifth Wheel AND a motorhome? At first I thought you had made duplicate posts but they were posted the same day and each refers to a different RV.

Rick

[RickO]

Originally Posted by TexasTwoStep

IMHO If it was a good deal for the average consumer then they wouldn't be offered. They've got to make money. Having said that, if you suspect that your rig is going to be problematic get it.

Two comments:

1) IMHO there's nothing wrong with a business making money. The people who make and sell our RVs make money... along with everyone in the food chain. Yes the list prices on EW's contain a lot of padding but so do new DP's. They need to be negotiated. Not sure why you believe that if something is a "good deal" it wouldn't be offered.

2) A good EW can provide a degree of "peace of mind" for some people... even if they never have to use it. It's hard to quantify the value of that.

The problem with so many EWs is that the companies build in fine print and their business model dictates that they push back on nearly every single claim.

I'm about at the end of my 6 year EW with Easy Care and I've been extremely happy with them. The rig is in the shop now getting both front slide motor lock motors replaced under the EW. They have never denied any part of one of my claims.

Best of luck.

Rick

[dsbear]

I like the peace of mind that they offer, knowing that no big expense is going to surprise me. I would shop around before jumping to GS. There are other places with equivalent products that are much less expensive. For example, for our new to us '11 Damon Astoria CW wanted $8k for four years 48k miles, and for the same coverage for 5 years and 55k miles I purchased from David Scott at Wholesale Warranties for $5k.

[CampDaven]

I am my own warranty provider. And anybody can do it.

I had a 4 year EW on my 1st rig. $4000 cost. $1500 recovered in claims. Well, I did feel good in the beginning of the extended warranty.

I have put about $175 (average) per month into a "fixit" account since 2000 when I bought rig 2. It has gained in interest. It buys tires and such.

My expenses on rig 2 over about 11 years was less than $4000.

Now I have rig 3 and have 3.5 years left on my drive train warranty. I maintain it. The odds of a major drive train failure is very low. But I got it covered!

Self-warranty works, but it takes discipline.

Just sayin......

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by TexasTwoStep

Having said that, if you suspect that your rig is going to be problematic get it.

If I suspect that I don't want the product, no matter what it is.
Ask the salesman: "Is your product that shoddy that you think I need a service policy?"

[Lynne Marie]

Originally Posted by RickO

Welcome to the forum... but I'm a bit confused.

Did you just purchase a Fifth Wheel AND a motorhome? At first I thought you had made duplicate posts but they were posted the same day and each refers to a different RV.

Rick

Thx! One RV, a 2011 keystone alpine 5th wheel.

[Kro1957]

Rick, would you go with Easy Care again?
I think there are a lot of warranty companies out there.
Dealership we are working with now is promoting Route 66.
Another post mentioned setting a "fund" aside every month for those expenses that come along. Not a bad idea, I know a Harley Davidson owner told me he does that with his bike. I guess if you looked back at what you spend on repairs in a 10 year time, and what a EW cost you can figure if that is a good deal or not. Right now I am prone to go the "special fund" route.

[RickO]

Originally Posted by Kro1957

Rick, would you go with Easy Care again?

IF I were to buy another EW, I wouldn't go anywhere but Easy Care. But, I just decided not to renew the EW which is expiring the end of this month. I'll probably just "self insure"... but without the formality of moving money into a special account each month.

The EW served it's purpose when I bought it. I was a newbie buying his first ever RV and it was a new 40DP. I was concerned about a lot of things and knew that I didn't know what I didn't know... so the EW was a bit of insurance and I was luck to have a dealer who sold EW from a great company like Easy Care. I did no research prior to buying it.

Although I think the "peace of mind" was the greatest benefit and reason I bought it... over a six year term they paid a total of nine claims totaling a bit over $6K. They have also just approved the replacement of both slide motor locks which won't be cheap. I paid around $7K for it as I recall.

Rick

[dodgenoble]

We bought a extended warranty on our new 2007 Mobile Suites, it was a 7-year plan. We did not buy it from the dealer. It was cheaper to buy it direct from the company. It was still around $1,200.00. Most experts will tell you not to buy them and I wouldn't have but after looking at all the electronics in the 5th wheel it kinda scared me.
We have used it to re-place the frig. around $1,200.00 and the fan motor in one ot the A/C'S around $150.00. Our G.E. Profile Microwave and a Ground-Fault breaker went out because of low power but the campground took care of that bill so as you can see it has payed off for us.
Guess it comes down to peace of mind.

[Tumble Weed]

My mistake I didn't realize that these plans cover slide motor, big foot and such.