Extended warranties - RV-Dreams Community Forum

jrzygrl64 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Extended warranties

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Howard & Linda Represent Wholesale Warranties.......you might want to PM them for a Quote and there opinion.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill and Kelly,

Be sure and read you RV's warranty. You may find that some of that 2 year warranty is "limited." When we purchased our Mobile Suites, our warranty read that it came in with parts of the RV being only 1 year, other parts were 2 years, and more major parts being 3 years.

Terry

jrzygrl64 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Mike! I filled out the quote form for Wholesale Warranties. Should have it tomorrow or day after.

Terry, the brochure I have says "2 year limited bumper to bumper" and "5 year structural".

Bill and I definitely need to read up more on what the "limited" part means, exactly.

Kelly

karen948 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We had Xtra Ride on our last motorhome, and no complaints. They paid claims without any hassle, and for us it paid for itself.

Karen

The Restless Youngs · RV-Dreams Family Member

I researched them and read good things about them in various forums. I also got a quote from Xtra Ride and prices were competitive with other quotes I got. Just make sure it covers full time use ....a couple of quotes I got needed an "addendum" for full time use.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

Have you considered self-insuring? We took 10% of the purchase price and put it into a fund and add to it each month. Then when something needs to be fixed, replace tires/batteries, do maintenance, do upgrades, the money is there and we don't have to get anyone's approval and work is done to our satisfaction. Remember, that all insurance companies make money by paying out less than they take in.

Barb

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

Barbaraok wrote:
Have you considered self-insuring? We took 10% of the purchase price and put it into a fund and add to it each month.....

I like where you are going with this idea. Something for us to consider as a strategy also.

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

so, not every rig is the same, but we took a 5 year extended warranty on our 2010 DRV Mobile Suites thru a company from Howard & Linda's connections at Wholesale Warrenties.com. Due to first replacing the circuit board on the fridge, then the cooling unit, then a ceiling vent, we've pretty much recovered our warranty expense, and we have 4 years left.

Not saying everyone will need an extended warranty, but buying an unit that was only 3 years old, we can already justify the cost even if we never file another claim for 4 years. What's the likelihood of that?????

Next big purchase?? An extended warranty on the truck, peace of mind if nothing else after all the issues we had just getting the truck and getting on the road.

Just my opinion and experience, certainly hoping no one else has the issues / angst we had in the few months between April - August last year, that we had, but knowing what I know now, I won't scoff at extended warranties ever again.

Note: we never took or used extended warranties before FT'ing, now, well, we wouldn't be without them.

jrzygrl64 · RV-Dreams Family Member

The quote from Wholesale Warranties came back a lot cheaper than the XtraRide. $1997 for 7 years, but we sort of lose 2 years b/c the unit comes with 2 years bumper to bumper. The rep I spoke to said if we wait, say 18 months, to get it the price would go up a few hundred dollars, b/c then it won't be new. If we had purchased a used 5er I don't think I would hesitate to sign up, but Bill feels like since we are buying new, what the unit comes with should be enough. I'm more thinking if one big thing breaks, it could pay for itself in one repair.

Bill is leaning more toward the "self-insure" idea, but my fear is that $2000 or more could be wiped out with one (possible) broken slide, or who knows what else.

Has anyone had to use their extended warranty on a new unit? To the point where you at least broke even?

Thanks again for your help!

PIEERE · RV-Dreams Family Member

Had a couple pull in ti the park with a 5er with dual axles; thankfully as it was missing the right rear tire/wheel and damaged the spindleand skirting behind the axle; this unit was only 4 months old. If this was a used unit; the repair guy said it would have ran them 3,000.00 plus to repair it back to original.

Howard · Host

Hey Bill & Kelly,

When we bought our rig new back in 2005, we bought the 7-year extended warranty and it more than paid for itself in the years after the manufacturer warranty expired (mostly minor stuff, including gray tank replacement, that added up). It's pretty standard that the extended warranties are "cheaper" when the vehicle is new because they don't pay until after the manufacturer warranty expires.

When our 7-year warranty expired, we were able to get another 4-year extended warranty. We went through Wholesale Warranties (before we started representing them) because I compared some of their warranty company contracts (they are a warranty broker representing multiple companies) to other contracts. The coverages were virtually the same with the same A-rated insurance companies backing them, but the Wholesale Warranties-recommended contract was so much less expensive (a much better value). Extended warranty companies often allow dealers to build in quite a bit of profit into their commission for selling the warranties - I've heard from some dealers that they sometimes make more on the warranty than the sale of the RV. :)

In your case, assuming that the extended warranty wouldn't kick in until year three, and you would only get the benefit of your $2,000 for five years, that's still only $400 a year - not too bad. Of course, self-insuring is a better way to go .... it always is until the costs exceed what you have saved. That's just a standard risk of any insurance or insurance-like product. For us, we can live with the $400 a year for some peace of mind without feeling like we've overpaid for it.

But one of the big keys to RV extended warranties is fully understanding them and how to get the most out of them. Too many people expect them to cover items they aren't designed to cover and then are disappointed. We try to help with some education about RV extended warranties on our RV Extended Warranties page.

Hope that helps a little. :)

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill and Kelly:

In full discloser we had an extended warranty via Howard and will probably get one again. However, IMO, “it depends” on whether or not you are the type who can or wants to repair things yourself AND, this is a big AND, if you are willing to wait for the repair to be done after the warranty company has approved you claim. That can take some time. I’m not saying the time is excessive or not excessive. I’m saying it takes longer if you have to wait for a claim representative to come and approve the repair which sometimes, not always, is the case. Regardless there is paperwork to be approved and that takes a little time - but not much.

Now, in the case of replacing a holding tank, as H & L had to do, that’s something I don’t care to tackle. Could I? Probably, but I wouldn’t want to and the extended warranty would pay for that as it did for H & L.

Again, if I remember correctly, H & L had their fridge go out and if memory serves they choose to spend a bit more money and have it fixed “faster” than if they waited for all the warranty requirements to be met. As I recall they were on a tighter schedule. Their call as it would be yours.

We used our extended warranty to have a repair done. However, we were not traveling and we were willing to wait to have the work done. If we were traveling and the same thing happened I might have paid for the repair or done the work myself to get us back on the road sooner. (We travel a bit – sit little.)

IMO the cost for the extended warranties that Howard and Linda represent are quite affordable – actually they are very good Insurance. Not a total no maintenance cost purchase – Insurance against large(r) cost failures. But they don’t cover everything and things can take more time to get repaired if you use them. So, IMO, as “insurance” they are not a bad idea remembering again that if you can fix things yourself you may or may not find them as beneficial. “It depends.”

BTW, if I am not mistaken, these warranties will not cover running gear issues such as tire or suspension failures. In our case those have been covered by our regular rig insurance.

Our perspective

TheNewhalls · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have our warranty through Wholesalewarranties.com (H & L) and we got a rider for the tires.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

TheNewhalls wrote:
We have our warranty through Wholesalewarranties.com (H & L) and we got a rider for the tires.

Very true, those are extra cost but are available. I was speaking of the nominal policy.

BTW, I do think for Motorhomes the warranty is an even bigger deal due to the potential out of pocket – especially for the larger and more expensive to repair drivetrains.

Bill

jrzygrl64 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks everyone! I did read Howards page and will have Bill read it also. He tends to be a "Mr. Fix It" type of guy and HATES to pay anyone to do something he is capable of doing himself and always maintained our vehicles, has replaced clutches, brakes, etc himself or with his brother. He finished our basement (mostly) himself, etc. Flipped a whole house (mostly) himself, including electrical. I just think it is unrealistic that he will be able to do a lot on the road when we don't have our own driveway/garage to work out of and a garage full of tools at his disposal.

Thanks again for the input - it is very much appreciated!

Kelly

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is anecdotal information, but still pertinent. We had warranty on a previous RV and mostly only had a problem with the 19" television quitting on us. We used the warranty to replace the television and was shocked to see a $700 bill for that replacement. When we purchased our Mobile Suites, we also got another warranty, but have not had to use it much yet. When we had problems with our RV refrigerator (Dometic), we were told that if it required a full replacement, it would be near $3000.

Now, Jo and I are somewhat strange. While the warranty would have replaced or repaired the RV fridge, we decided that we would rather purchase a residential fridge and install that rather than have to deal with a refrigerator having problems again in just another 2 years. That is how long the RV fridge lasted for us.

Terry

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Good point on here as usual. We were not fans of extended warranties before our RV lifestyle, full or part-time. When we bought a new TT several years ago we bought the dealer's extended warranty. None of the smaller problems we then encountered were covered. Then we bought a used 5th wheel and purchased a warranty from Wholesale Warranties (thanks Howard & Linda) for less than we paid the dealer and covering a longer period of time. We had some fried electronics/wiring from a power surge that was NOT covered but it was our fault. We will purchase from WW again!

We bought a used Dually from a small town dealer and because we were hesitating on the purchase, he offered an extended warranty at his cost ($1,000 vs $2,500 retail) if we'd make the deal. It's paid for itself about 4-5 times over so far.

I'm guessing Bill Joyce is one who believes in self insurance but I am not sure. Hope he pipes in here with his knowledge and experience.

Terry, couldn't your warranty have paid the cost for replacement and you paid the rest to get what you wanted, just curious? Also, as I recall, your rig is stationary so you most likely wouldn't have many claims, am I correct?

Now we have to find out about a warranty on our new (used) Jamboree.

Sherry

PJ Vagabond · RV-Dreams Community Member

I checked online here, when I was thinking about buying it, I know Jesse already told me this, but thought I would try, it is too old to cover thru RV dreams group, as I'm sure you know. Hugs!

-- Edited by PJ Vagabond on Wednesday 29th of January 2014 09:00:35 PM

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have had mixed luck over the years. For one car, it was a great move. We had a 7 year extended warranty on our motorhome and had a couple claims. But each claim had a deductible and in one case we got new parts instead of rebuilt to not wait and had to pay the difference. In the end, the warranty cost more than we got back. Now we are self insured and just paid out a large repair. I am sure an extended warranty would have helped, but not paid it all.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

WestWardHo wrote:

Terry, couldn't your warranty have paid the cost for replacement and you paid the rest to get what you wanted, just curious? Also, as I recall, your rig is stationary so you most likely wouldn't have many claims, am I correct?

Sherry

Sherry,

The warranty would only replace with another RV style refrigerator and as I mentioned, we didn't want to have to deal with RV fridge problems again in two years. But, our residential cost less than $1500, so we elected to go that route. I've read of folks spending lots of time trying different options for making an RV fridge to work, only to have to replace the cooling unit or the whole fridge.

While we are "static" full-timers, it doesn't mean we are stationary. We retire at the end of June and will be towing our Mobile Suites to the Colorado Springs area and may be there for anything from 1 to 3 years. Jo has one sister in Colorado Springs, another currently in Canon City, and a niece and nephew-in-law up at Cripple Creek. Jo says it is time for "sister time" as she is the last one to retire.

Terry

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry, a usual I wasn't being clear with my question. I was wondering if the warranty company would pay you the cost of the RV refrigerator and you could personally pay the difference for a residential refrigerator? I'll be I'm missing something but trying to understand how these warranties work. I know, on a car, we could pay the difference if we wanted more than insurance offered but we would get insurance cash payment. Am I making sense here?

😄 Sherry

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sherry,

I'm not knowledgeable enough about the process of warranties myself. However, I do know that the residential refrigerator is definitely cheaper than a full replacement of the RV refrigerator. As for repairing the cooling unit on the original RV fridge, it might have been a bit less than the cost of the Samsung. As for the warranty company, I "think" (yeah, that's dangerous) that they would only work with direct replacement, model for model.

One thing is certain. Jo and I have both loved having the residential fridge over the RV one. Since we had ordered our Mobile Suites with a pure sine wave inverter and already had a Honda EU3000Is generator, we felt we would never really need the advantage of having a refrigerator that could cool using LPG.

Terry