Dealer Extended Warranty: Worth it?

Contact Wholesale Warranties for a quote BEFORE you make a decision. In YOUR situation, these guys suggesting you put $4k in the bank is laughable. I am pretty mechanically inclined and I'm on my SECOND service contract. Yes, you must be diligent on looking over the contract carefully. Jeff Shelton is the owner of WW and is accessible over the phone. He will explain the contract fully to you BEFORE you purchase. My first contract was paid for by the dealer, thru negotiations. They replaced the rear end in my coach at a cost that exceeded $4k. They replaced the cooling unit on my Norcold, $2k. My second contract thru WW has replaced one of my 15,000btu heat pump A/C, $2k, one of my tires that blew when I ran over a piece of steel, $750, replumbed the kitchen sink because of a design flaw with the slide mechanism, $2k, repaired the engine turbo when it came loose, $1500 and replaced a couple solenoids for the step cover, door seal and air horns. So, I'm one of those that has benefited from the contract and YES we are full timers, using the coach a lot. 86,000 miles so far. The "trick" in using these contracts is they require you to jump thru certain hoops to get proper service. Most people don't or won't jump thru those hoops. You MUST get prior approval BEFORE any work is done. When my A/C unit failed, I had a mobile tech come to the cg, determined the unit was no good, obtained approval, ordered the unit, had it delivered to the CG, returned and installed it on site. All within a weeks time. I did pay an additional charge for expedited delivery. My choice.

I believe in the service contract for, like you, peace of mind while traveling. While some of these things could be fixed yourself, $1k a year is cheap insurance....just sayin....Dennis

Thing about my RV is if I didn't panic when I had a problem, sat down and thought about it, I almost always found a lower cost solution than if I'd panic and head for a dealer.

But...I had the luxury of being a full timer and could almost always limp to a nearby RV park and sit as long as I needed, browsing forums like this for expert help.

Also discovered that many areas with RV parks have mobile RV techs available. Much lower cost than a dealer. Diesel truck shops are all over the US and often will work on RV's. Much lower cost over a branded shop like Freightliner or Cummins. (Freightliner once quoted $2400 for a master cylinder swap, firm. I did it myself with help from a friend for $550, took 3 hours and I'm no expert).

Doesn't take long to get to know nearly all the systems and how to repair them when you're forced into it. And there's many ways of doing without while parked at a RV park if you have an appliance problem or even a chassis problem.

What was interesting to me is that the Excursion for that year is a 360 ISC 1050 of torque. Makes me curious why newer models get less. Even our 2013 Expedition 40x is only the ISB 6.7 360 hspwr with 850 on the torque.

Makes me jealous.

I have a extended warranty. So far it's a joke. But .... As the wife keeps telling me you never know. They try to deny everything and drag there feet approving the repair to our dealer. Took them two weeks to approve a stupid water mixer valve.

Put it in the bank and leave it there. Wish I didn't listen to my wife for once.

Thanks for all the feedback. Couple of quick responses to several of your comments.

1. The coach has new wheels and new batteries.
2. The dealer also offered us an option to add a powertrain warranty. If we added the powertrain, the total is $8k for 4 year of coverage. That seems too much for me!

Like i said in the OP, i reject extended warranties/service contracts usually, for the RV, however, it would be nice to have peace of mind since we're newbies.

However, I'm pretty handy and can do a lot of repairs. I can see how insurers will fight on every repair. I didn't know only 10% of purchasers used theirs (wow!) I'll talk to the Mrs and reach a consensus.

Someone mention negotiating the length of the warranty or cost.

I'll post back when we get back from the dealer tomorrow!

As previous posters said, put your money in the bank and save up for those possible repairs. Many insurers stipulate that you do maintenance. An example might be yearly maintenance on your roof. If you don't have a record of having a RV dealership doing that maintenance (at about $100 plus caulking) then they would most likely deny a leak repair. It would be a fight every time you try to use the warranty! Not worth the hassle when 90% of the time you can repair the items yourself. Good luck

I use to be a service manager for a major retailer and we sold 'Service Contracts' (SC) as they are properly known. Naturally, as the manager, I had to know the SC business inside and out. What I found was that only 10% of SC purchasers ever use them. That other 90% paying in is what makes the industry profitable.

When I bought my first RV and they offered a SC, I looked into the industry and found some slight differences, like 15% use them at least once. The main difference was the criminal actions of the SC companies themselves. They seem to have such a good time weaseling out of paying for repairs that it's laughable. I wouldn't trust a one of them, not a one, to actually pay up.

Word from here is to put that $4000 in the bank. Be self insured. Or put $1000 in the bank and then add to it monthly.

I would be concerned that it is a 7+ year old coach with only 11,000 miles on it, and the dealer is excluding a power train warranty. Low mileage on a diesel is not necessarily a good thing.

Coaches have maintenance items due based on mileage or time, which ever comes first. This coach should have been regularly serviced. Does the dealer have service records?

I'd be willing to bet it has the original tires on it which are due for replacement based on age and the fact they have sat for so long. The tire age is four numbers following the word DOT. The first two numbers represent the week, and the last two represent the year.

I'll bet the tires are considered wear items.
No powertrain coverage, not much else to break except the fridge and TVs.

I'd say NO, NO, NO.

This is an age old question about insurance. The businesses are in business to make money, so the odds are going to be in their favor. Just like a casino. You may break even or come out ahead, but odds are, you're getting peace of mind for your money. How much is that worth? Only you can determine that. I've never been a big fan of insurance, so I shy away from it. As I get older, I'm sure the money will be less important and the peace of mind will become more important, but I'm still young enough and have the mechanical ability to rip out a refrigerator or other component if it breaks.

Good luck on your decision.

elhajj33 wrote:

Coach has 11k miles on it. Dealer offered a 4yr warranty for close to 4,000 covers everything but the powertrain for $100 deductible.

Just say NO.