Best Extended Service Plans

[Floridastorm]

If one is inclined to obtain an extended service plan for their motor home which plans have proved to be a combination of the most comprehensive, the most affordable, and the most honest? I am not really inspired to get one, mostly do to price, but my wife needs the assurance since I am a retired desk jockey who is not much good at fixin' things.

[cruizerEd]

Lots of threads on this and your not going to get any consensus.
We paid $4200 or so for a 5.5 year 60K miles exclusion warranty on our 1 year old (at the time) Winnebago Journey 36M. It was the best price I was quoted and it came recommended by a fellow RVer.

It is really hard to recommend that you get a warranty unless you think you can work the system enough to get your money back.

For most people I suspect they would be better off just saving the money especially if you look at the really expensive warranties that only last one year.

Our warranty is from Compass. It is an exclusion warranty. That is it tells you what isn't covered and covers everything else. These are generally considered superior.

Ours has more than paid for itself and we plan on renewing it assuming the price is reasonable. We have a major slide repair that was over $5K so that covered it right there. Plus we have had the inverter, microwave, pump controller, water heater controller and a few other things.

The supposition that the average owner of an RV warranty will not get his money back is fairly accurate. I suspect that this is in part something you can control. We kept our RV for the whole warranty period. We don't put a lot of miles on it every year. We are full time so our RV may need more maintenance. We are willing to take the coach in and wait until the warranty process works out. We accumulate enough stuff by putting up with broken stuff to save on the deductible.

Also don't expect any warranty to end up only costing you the deductible. Almost every time we go in under the warranty they manage to not complete cover things.
but in the end it has still worked out.

Hope this helps.

[slapfoot]

Originally Posted by cruizerEd

Lots of threads on this and your not going to get any consensus.

We paid $4200 or so for a 5.5 year 60K miles exclusion warranty on our 1 year old (at the time) Winnebago Journey 36M. It was the best price I was quoted and it came recommended by a fellow RVer.



It is really hard to recommend that you get a warranty unless you think you can work the system enough to get your money back.



For most people I suspect they would be better off just saving the money especially if you look at the really expensive warranties that only last one year.



Our warranty is from Compass. It is an exclusion warranty. That is it tells you what isn't covered and covers everything else. These are generally considered superior.



Ours has more than paid for itself and we plan on renewing it assuming the price is reasonable. We have a major slide repair that was over $5K so that covered it right there. Plus we have had the inverter, microwave, pump controller, water heater controller and a few other things.



The supposition that the average owner of an RV warranty will not get his money back is fairly accurate. I suspect that this is in part something you can control. We kept our RV for the whole warranty period. We don't put a lot of miles on it every year. We are full time so our RV may need more maintenance. We are willing to take the coach in and wait until the warranty process works out. We accumulate enough stuff by putting up with broken stuff to save on the deductible.



Also don't expect any warranty to end up only costing you the deductible. Almost every time we go in under the warranty they manage to not complete cover things.

but in the end it has still worked out.



Hope this helps.

My opinion, not that it’s worth much, is that you insure yourself by setting some money aside on a regular basis. I’ve had plans but have never recouped the cost, so for me it’s cheaper to pay for repairs myself.

[Teamfoxy]

Originally Posted by slapfoot

My opinion, not that it’s worth much, is that you insure yourself by setting some money aside on a regular basis. I’ve had plans but have never recouped the cost, so for me it’s cheaper to pay for repairs myself.

I have always self insured rather than bought an "extra profit for the dealer" warranty. Its good anywhere and you only pay for what you need.

[arcaguy]

Originally Posted by Floridastorm

I am a retired desk jockey who is not much good at fixin' things.

You learned how to be a desk jockey, I'm sure you can learn how to be a handyman. Fixing stuff is also a great way to bond with your fellow RVers. But seriously, a fairly basic $100-200 tool kit, a few supplies, a good DC clamp-on multimeter and a little common sense and you can fix most of the things on your RV yourself. It ain't really that tough. Youtube is your friend in this regard. Save your money and buy your wife a string of pearls for her birthday. Good luck.

[Floridastorm]

Originally Posted by arcaguy

You learned how to be a desk jockey, I'm sure you can learn how to be a handyman. Fixing stuff is also a great way to bond with your fellow RVers. But seriously, a fairly basic $100-200 tool kit, a few supplies, a good DC clamp-on multimeter and a little common sense and you can fix most of the things on your RV yourself. It ain't really that tough. Youtube is your friend in this regard. Save your money and buy your wife a string of pearls for her birthday. Good luck.

I'm on VA 100% disability. As such, unfortunately I am not physically able to do most repairs/maintenance even if I was inclined to do so. At 80 I don't think I'm about to learn a new trade although there are probably a couple of things that I could handle if necessary. Just as I hire a professional or a handyman to do repair/maintenance with my home I will have to do so on my motor home. I already accept that reality. Whether that means having an Extended Service Plan or paying for events that come up from time to time, I guess that is what it is. Just trying to figure out which path is best for me Extended Service Plan or Self Insured. I do appreciate the helpful hints that you have provided.

[cruizerEd]

Originally Posted by Floridastorm

I'm on VA 100% disability. As such, unfortunately I am not physically able to do most repairs/maintenance even if I was inclined to do so. At 80 I don't think I'm about to learn a new trade although there are probably a couple of things that I could handle if necessary. Just as I hire a professional or a handyman to do repair/maintenance with my home I will have to do so on my motor home. I already accept that reality. Whether that means having an Extended Service Plan or paying for events that come up from time to time, I guess that is what it is. Just trying to figure out which path is best for me Extended Service Plan or Self Insured. I do appreciate the helpful hints that you have provided.

I don't know how you will use your coach and how you will feel about pulling up stakes and taking it in to a shop or changing your travel schedule every time something breaks. If you aren't going to fix small things and you don't want to go into shops for them you're going to want to use mobile techs. Our warranty discourages mobile techs and probably wouldn't approve them for most things. I'll wager any warranty that pays for mobile techs will be more expensive than it is worth.

If you don't have a coach yet focus on a top quality coach without a lot of complicated systems and as few slides as you can tolerate. Kind of a prevention over cure approach.

[JC2]

I agree.

Originally Posted by slapfoot

My opinion, not that it’s worth much, is that you insure yourself by setting some money aside on a regular basis. I’ve had plans but have never recouped the cost, so for me it’s cheaper to pay for repairs myself.

[Floridastorm]

Originally Posted by cruizerEd

I don't know how you will use your coach and how you will feel about pulling up stakes and taking it in to a shop or changing your travel schedule every time something breaks. If you aren't going to fix small things and you don't want to go into shops for them you're going to want to use mobile techs. Our warranty discourages mobile techs and probably wouldn't approve them for most things. I'll wager any warranty that pays for mobile techs will be more expensive than it is worth.

If you don't have a coach yet focus on a top quality coach without a lot of complicated systems and as few slides as you can tolerate. Kind of a prevention over cure approach.

I have already ordered a Cruise America refurbished Model 19G. So, except for the mileage, a 2017 is fairly new. Will have a complete professional inspection prior to signing and CA will take care of anything required from the list. If I do get an extended service agreement I would of course have to follow their policies and take it to a certified repair shop. Would probably have to do that anyway if I had no service agreement. Remember, small things for handy people are near impossible things for me. However, the people that own CA RVs seem to be pleased with them and they seem to have very few problems. My worry is big ticket items that cost a fortune. Service Agreements I believe are for events like those.

[cruizerEd]

One more thing. Don't be shy about asking for help. Even during covid I have helped other RVers. Last person I helped was a retired Navy guy next to me who didn't feel safe going on the roof but had something up there he was concerned about. Can't remember, maybe an antenna and asked me to go up. I went up fixed that and also noticed his GPS and Sirius antenna were just flopping around. I went backup and cleaned and put them down with some Dicor. I also inspected his roof and told him to get some other seals redone next time he was in.

I genuinely enjoy helping out and like the work. I don't even mind using up expendables. Just a few weeks ago a lady showed up with her trailer locked to her car and no key. I used up an expensive blade cutting it and wouldn't except the price of the blade from her.

A lot of the RVers out there are life long problem solvers and can't help but rise to a challenge.

So don't be shy ask away.

[mr.tommy]

Originally Posted by arcaguy

Youtube is your friend in this regard.

X2.

[Floridastorm]

It's nice to know there are folks around that still enjoy helping other folks.

[SuperGewl]

Originally Posted by Floridastorm

If one is inclined to obtain an extended service plan for their motor home which plans have proved to be a combination of the most comprehensive, the most affordable, and the most honest? I am not really inspired to get one, mostly do to price, but my wife needs the assurance since I am a retired desk jockey who is not much good at fixin' things.

$50 grand in a high interest account is your best bet. That way it's there if yo need it and if yo don't you're making money off of it.

[boomersooner]

We bought our new RV in December 2019. I put $3,600 away in a separate "RV account" for maintenance and repairs for one year. I then put another $3,600 for 2021 (used about $1,600 for the first year so balance is now about $5,600). I will then do it again for 2022 and onward, allowing the excess balance to build up for the dreadful unexpected repair that may run several thousand dollars. I did not arrive at $3,600 in any systematic way, but read thoroughly this forum at what others did and made my decision based upon that information. So far I have spent the money on two generator services, annual AquaHot service, and the full blown annual Freightliner service at Gaffney (about $1100, which included a four corner weight).

I bought an EW for my trailer back in 2010 and never used it, thus I consider that money wasted and certainly did not want to do it again on this RV.