Extended warranty…to buy? Or not to buy?

[Arcticgrywolf]

Good evening. Well my wife and I got the call today and our new 22 mle has finally arrived. I know this may now be the right place exactly to ask, but if something was to break it may be electronics and tech.

Not sure if anyone has had experience with extended warranty on their GD. $4000 Canadian to increase to 7 year ultimate warranty. Again I am always hesitant due to what is required to maintain warranty… does all winterization and services need to be done at dealer….

Any thoughts or experience would be very helpful.

thanks from your newest 22mle owner

Chris and Brittany

[ncitro]

Good evening. Well my wife and I got the call today and our new 22 mle has finally arrived. I know this may now be the right place exactly to ask, but if something was to break it may be electronics and tech.

Not sure if anyone has had experience with extended warranty on their GD. $4000 Canadian to increase to 7 year ultimate warranty. Again I am always hesitant due to what is required to maintain warranty… does all winterization and services need to be done at dealer….

Any thoughts or experience would be very helpful.

thanks from your newest 22mle owner

Chris and Brittany

I would definitely not get one, and I sure wouldn't pay $4,000 for one. First rule of warranties, if they didn't make money on them they wouldn't sell them. They usually have tons of strings attached getting them to pay out can be a huge pain. On top of that your exposure isn't that high. Probably the most expensive thing is your refrigerator which is a fraction of that cost. Also you'll find it's going to be difficult to get into your dealer for service, and you'll do better to work on it yourself or find yourself a good mobile tech, neither of which will probably be covered.

[Country Campers]

I will add that the new unit comes with a 1 year bumper to bumper , and most appliances have a 2 year warranty. Although dealers charge quite a bit for their hourly wages when getting service, if you can get in to them , I would agree to pass on the extended warranty but would also say to do what you are comfortable with. If you like to do simple repairs or troubleshoot and fix any problem that come along then you can skip the extended warranty. If you do not like to do repairs yourself and rely on a dealer to keep your RV in top shape then maybe the extended warranty will fit you well.

Brian

[Guest]

I'm on board as well to not do it. 4K could easily cover a repair and its unlikely you will ever encounter a repair out of warranty that would come close to this. Most issues show up in early ownership where the repair trend drops sharply after the first season. However you can expect small repairs on occasion, but to wait weeks to get in for a repair and weeks to get your rig back is not worth it.

Jim

[RJAPCOK]

Good evening. Well my wife and I got the call today and our new 22 mle has finally arrived. I know this may now be the right place exactly to ask, but if something was to break it may be electronics and tech.

Not sure if anyone has had experience with extended warranty on their GD. $4000 Canadian to increase to 7 year ultimate warranty. Again I am always hesitant due to what is required to maintain warranty… does all winterization and services need to be done at dealer….

Any thoughts or experience would be very helpful.

thanks from your newest 22mle owner

Chris and Brittany

A little bit about product reliability.

Products typically follow a predictable pattern of failures. Just after being put into service, a product experiences a higher than normal rate of failure called called "early failures". Early failures are usually due to defects in materials and workmanship and are normally covered by the manufacturer's warranty. As the life of the product goes on, the number of failures drops off rapidly, and stabilizes at a much lower rate of failure. For the next period of time, (months or years) the rate of failures is low and constant and these failures are called "sporadic failures". As the product reaches the end of it's useful life, the failure rate once again begins to increase and these are called "wear out failures".

Extended warranties are sold to the consumer to cover the period of time when a product is in the "sporadic failure" part of it's life cycle. That's not to say they don't serve a purpose, it's just that they cover the period of time when the product is least likely to fail. (assuming normal use and maintenance). They are in essence, an insurance policy, where everyone who buys one pools their money so the "risk" associated with a failure is spread out. If you don't have a covered failure, you will have gotten nothing but peace of mind for you money. However, if you are one of the consumers who experiences a covered failure, you may be glad you bought it.

So with all of this, my advice is to understand what you are buying, what is covered, what is excluded, etc. You may find you would rather spend your extended warranty money on upgrades to some of the covered equipment. Or you may decide to just set aside that same amount of money in a designated account to pay for repairs yourself.

Anyway, congratulations on the new trailer! I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Bob

[Cate&Rob]

An excellent summary of the situation by BobRJAPCOK in post #5.

The only place where the extended warranty could be a benefit is for a covered item in the latter years after the manufacturer warranties have expired. Not everyone on this forum understands "Canadian" pricing. Replacing the AC and the fridge would likely cost more than that $4K.

Definitely read the fine print to understand what is considered "maintenance" and thus not covered. Also, learn the process for making a claim. Does it have to go through your dealer? or a service facility endorsed by the extended warranty provider? or can you use a mobile tech? Also, what is the process if you are not near your dealer or their service provider?

There are definitely pros and cons to this. If you are the kind of person who can put that $4K in an "RV Service" account and forget about it until you need it . . . I would definitely do that. Unfortunately . . . I have never been able to do that myself .

Rob

[Country Campers]

To add a little to my previous post.

Regardless if you decide to get an extended warranty or not take some time to learn about the RV and what items need attention throughout the year. The roof requires inspection every 3 months, this alone could save you a headache while camping. Other items would be tires, lug nuts, hitch, plumbing, battery , and more than should be checked periodically. Checking and doing preventative maintenance will offer a more enjoyable time camping and may not require a extended warranty, but like has been mentioned if needed it could be a good investment.

Brian

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I have never bought an extended warranty on ANYTHING yet, and so far it's all been money in the bank. I'm sure I will experience a failure that an extended warranty may cover, but I'm already thousands of dollars ahead of the game. I've never seen/heard a compelling argument for extended warrantees.

[Schiefswret]

Good evening. Well my wife and I got the call today and our new 22 mle has finally arrived. I know this may now be the right place exactly to ask, but if something was to break it may be electronics and tech.

Not sure if anyone has had experience with extended warranty on their GD. $4000 Canadian to increase to 7 year ultimate warranty. Again I am always hesitant due to what is required to maintain warranty… does all winterization and services need to be done at dealer….

Any thoughts or experience would be very helpful.

thanks from your newest 22mle owner

Chris and Brittany

I saw NO. Nothing you read about on this topic matters if you can’t find a Dealer that won’t give you a hard time or by saying they can’t get you in for several months, or a Mobile RVIA Certified Tech that can’t get to your house or storage location in less than 6 weeks. None of these issues are rare. Save the 4K and prepare to pay a Certified Mobile RV Tech $100-150 an hour and keep your fingers crossed that you get a good on. I’m very blessed to have found one who lives 10 miles from me. I’ve used him 4 times now and he is EXCELLENT and has probably saved me a ton of money compared to waiting forever to get my rig back from the dealer and/or paying a ton of money so I can HOPE that it’s getting done properly. Good Luck with your decision.

[J & J Bumblebee]

We bought an extended warranty on our Micro Minnie. I used it once and paid the $100 deductible for whatever we got repaired that wasn't covered. We sold it and discovered that we could get the remainder of the contract reimbursed to us. It took the dealer longer than it should have to get our money back, but we got half of what we initially back.

If you do decide to get one, make sure you have that option with it so if you change your mind you're not out all that money.

John

[familytruckster4]

The extended warranty is one of the most profitable items for the sale team. The odds are always stacked in the houses favor, that plus you have to commit to overpriced maintenance and using the dealers service dept.
Only you can decide if it makes sense for your level of risk.
Remember, you asked