The skinny on Extended Warranties

Non-mechanical types and first motorhome owners... You never know...
$7k for four years (we added the aqua hot - a $10,000 part)... 08 bus..
So far, it's paid for the new guts for the frig and a new exhaust manifold. Now we are waiting on a "throttle sensor."
All told, we've used about half of the cost and we are half-way through
Happy we have it. But of course, we're not going to do it again.
The older the rig, the higher the cost...

Bought a new '15 Fleetwood Discovery. Stealer started at $19k for 5 years. Then dropped to $14k Still said NO! Dropped to $9k and 6 years. Said yes to get him off our backs, but final signing still dropped it.
Guess it was a really big money maker for them and they don't have any faith in their equipment.
Would have had to pay interest on that too. Looked into all the various parts and the expensive ones were covered for 3-5 years. I can fix most anything.
Got $2100 back from a prior contract, we never used. Will save that and save up a few more grand just in case.

catkins wrote:
I have now had three of these contracts. The last one paid over $9k and cost me less than $6k. Breakdown occurred within the first three month of a four year contract and then rebated over $5600 as we sold and bought a newer RV. (Which we have now also bought for with them) On the other RVs I came out just about even, beating the odds I know. Not sure if I feel lucky or unlucky to have to have used it!

I am NOT mechanical and enjoy peace of mind. Xtraride has treated me VERY well over the course of my contracts. They have yet to turn down any listed coverage and have been VERY quick to give the OK for repairs. (You always have to get approval in ADVANCE of repairs.)

Read the fine print CAREFULLY. There are some exclusions but few with the contract I purchased. Covers all house components and engine/transmission. Does not cover fiberglass nor wear items.

Common wisdom is often to bank the money and self insure. Still a******shoot. Will it be enough?? My $6k would not have been! I prefer having a service contract........

For those who feel I am foolish, I am happy and sleep well at night. Being mechanically incapable, this makes me happy.

You don't sound foolish to me! I'm right there with you. Peace of mind is good.

I have now had three of these contracts. The last one paid over $9k and cost me less than $6k. Breakdown occurred within the first three month of a four year contract and then rebated over $5600 as we sold and bought a newer RV. (Which we have now also bought for with them) On the other RVs I came out just about even, beating the odds I know. Not sure if I feel lucky or unlucky to have to have used it!

I am NOT mechanical and enjoy peace of mind. Xtraride has treated me VERY well over the course of my contracts. They have yet to turn down any listed coverage and have been VERY quick to give the OK for repairs. (You always have to get approval in ADVANCE of repairs.)

Read the fine print CAREFULLY. There are some exclusions but few with the contract I purchased. Covers all house components and engine/transmission. Does not cover fiberglass nor wear items.

Common wisdom is often to bank the money and self insure. Still a******shoot. Will it be enough?? My $6k would not have been! I prefer having a service contract........

For those who feel I am foolish, I am happy and sleep well at night. Being mechanically incapable, this makes me happy.

I think of extended warranties (service contracts) more for used coaches. And then my big concern is for an engine or transmission that I have no idea of how it was maintained. Frankly, I can fix or get fixed about anything else. Peace of mind is nice.

We were offered an extended service contract in 2007 for our new 2008 Monaco Dynasty for $8,000 (5 yrs., I think). I took the brochure and read it cover to cover. It didn't seem to cover much at all, so MANY exceptions that it made my eyes cross.

We, generally, have had very few problems over the 70,000 miles and 7.5 yrs of ownership. I realize how lucky we were after reading some of these posts. We certainly did not spend $8,000 in repairs (not including regular maintenance).

The items that I remember off the top of my head are:
- Replaced hydraulic hose for rear slide (the L O N G one).
- 4 anti-freeze boxes (1st under warranty)
- Slide adjustment
- Front roof-air replacement (under warranty, labor cost only)
- kitchen hose repair
- Aqua-Hot board shorted due to above kitchen hose leak
- New hydraulic box for leveling and added brace
- Broken windshield wiper arm

Honestly, I think during that time our out of pocket repairs were less the $5,000.

New tires (8), new AGM batteries (8), replaced chassis batteries twice (2), belts, hoses, oil changes (every 10K miles), chassis lubes (every 5K miles), other maintenance... in 7.5 yrs... $14,550 (close est.).

Mark

gemert wrote:
I have an extended warranty/service contract by Interstate. It's a Diamond policy that covers everything that is not excluded and all damage caused by a covered failure. Very few things are excluded. I've used it once so far with a 500 deductible and it saved about 1500 in labor and parts. I paid about 6K for it and I was tired of haggling so I did not negotiate the price even though I knew I could have. Just wasn't worth it at the time. The Coach is in the shop again and I'm sure I will pay another 500. Not sure of savings yet, we'll see.
Happy Camping!

So you paid $6k for the policy, another $500 in deductible, for $1500 in repairs, and another claim likely costing you another $500 of which the total bill is yet to be determined. So far you laid out $7k for $1500 return and are $5,500 in the hole.

sflabrkr wrote:
I just got a quote online from Good Sam. A 1 yr policy is $5,611 on a 5 yr old coach with 35000 miles.
Are they crazy

Case in point. You're better off saving your money and pay for repairs out of pocket. Otherwise if you have no issues, you threw away $5,600 bucks. That's a lot of money for nothing.

Seems to me that the only way you know you got a good deal or made a good choice is to have a lot of problems. I will not buy extended warranties, keep the money in the bank, draw interest, and use it when needed for repairs.

In 2004 I bought a 2002 Ambassador and an ExtraRide platinum policy. That one cost about $4500 for 7 year 75K miles. Policy paid for a little over $12,000 in repairs and when we traded the coach, we received an $800 refund. Traded for a 2007 Scepter in 2007. Same policy, with some negotiations was $2700. Policy paid for lots of repairs, rear camera monitor, pulling fuel tank and repair, various slide seals and AC repairs. When policy expired, I checked on a new seven year policy. Cost was over $12,000 for same coverage. Checked with several independent sales outfit and costs ranged from $3,000 PER YEAR to $9,000 for seven year policy. Cheapest policy was $3500 to cover RV part of coach, no running gear coverage and none of the improvements added since coach was built (residential refrigerator) and such. Decided cost of policy wasn't worth it so I'm going without.