Author Topic: Extended Warranties -- Worth the Cost? (Read 623 times)

Halo · « **on:** May 07, 2007, 11:31:11 AM »

Have you ever gotten your money's worth from paying extra for an extended warranty?

If so, how?

I've bought some, declined many, but have to admit I can't remember ever getting my money's worth on an extended warranty. That's good testimony for the products, smart profit for the merchants, and money I could have saved.

Like most insurance, an extended warranty is only possible if enough people who won't need it pay enough to cover the costs of the comparatively few people who will need it.

Particularly if you add up the costs of ALL the extended warranties you've purchased, have you ever received enough benefits from the extended warranties to cover your costs of paying extra for extended warranties?

Peace of mind -- it isn't priceless.

Sting138 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 07, 2007, 11:39:30 AM »

I bought an 84 Chevy with extended warranty and at 38,000 miles the engine took a dump. I paid $700.00 for the extended warranty and the new short block cost 1800.00 with labor back then so I guess I got my money out of it!.

Maverick · « **Reply #2 on:** May 07, 2007, 11:42:53 AM »

I never got my money's worth out of a car related warrantee. I did make out OK on one for an RV. A couple months after I got the warrantee the fridge went out. A rebuilt cooling unit cost over $900.00 so the $300. I spent on the warrantee worked out well there. I may do it again on the current rig since it's been a little house of horrors with problems so far. I have until July to decide.

Golfer · « **Reply #3 on:** May 07, 2007, 11:46:24 AM »

Yes but it was more of an in-house deal. My father bought the extended warranty on his '00 Silverado which took it up to 100,000 miles. I bought it from him at 99,750 or so. We decided he'd take it to a dealership to have them find every tiny little thing wrong with it. When we got the laundry list of nothing real major except a minor item requiring replacement of a universal joint

and some items related to the 4WD system we took it back to the dealership where he bought it and just bought a shiny new '05 Silverado at the time.

They fixed everything under the warranty free of charge and even threw in an oil change because they noticed that he was entitled to a free one he never collected after originally purchasing the truck 5 years before. I'm still running the original brakes from 2000 and they're not even halfway worn yet. It's amazing!

The warranty is expired and at 115,000+ miles I have a great running truck that burns entirely too much $3.00+ gasoline

Back to the point in this case yes we did see the return on the investment with the warranty. Like you kind of said...piece of mind isn't priceless but I wouldn't want stuck with a big bill later when I could have paid a small one early on.

kamilyun · « **Reply #4 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:14:36 PM »

I bought one for my current vehicle. Usually comes with 3 year warranty, bought 2 extra years and they service everything for the total 5 years. That's all the standard oil changes, services, etc. for 5 years.

It only cost $2500 if I remember correctly. That's more than I'd spend per year on oil changes and standard service, but if one moderate repair was needed during the 4th or 5th years, it's worth it.

We got a 0% loan for the car, so I figured since we were paying no interest, just to pay the extra $ for the warranty.

It's a Murphy's Law thing: You buy it...nothing will break. You don't buy it, something major will happen right after the warranty expires

Chairboy · « **Reply #5 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:23:53 PM »

For cars, there's a consensus here so far in favor of extended warranties.

But electronics... I'm going to go for 'Not worth it' most of the time. Electronics usually fail right in the beginning or after a looooong life, in my experience. Plus, the state of technology advances fast enough that after 3-4 years, buying a flat out used replacement is usually a lot cheaper than the original extended warranty, and a better, subsequent version might be priced so competetively that you wouldn't even WANT to keep the same model as before.

For discussion....

Ripsnort · « **Reply #6 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:43:21 PM »

I've purchased 6 new vehicles and 2 new motorcycles since 1980 and never bought the extended warranty (and never needed them even if I had)

(4 Fords, 1 BMW, 1 Toyota and 2 Kawasaki's)

Toad · « **Reply #7 on:** May 07, 2007, 01:09:31 PM »

Bought one on a '99 Suburban; it slung a bolt through the differential housing at 41k miles. Rebuilding the rear axle was $2500; paid $650 for the warranty. (BTW, most of the dealers make at least 40% on extended warranty from their "list" price. Don't be afraid to negotiate that as part of the car deal. They originally wanted $1200 for the Suburban warranty.)

The Suburban warranty went up to 100K; my son drove it from 65K to 132K. He had a few covered repairs that easily totaled over $1000. Electric window motors and a transmission item IIRC.

I bought an extended 72k warranty on my wife's '02 Explorer. Paid 50% of the asking price for that one, I've got it all back twice over. Seems there's this little clutch pack in the rear axle that Ford hasn't got figured out yet. I've been through two of those since it ran out of warranty, @$800 per repair. There have been some minor things out of warranty as well but I'm glad I had it.

I also have an '03 F-250 Crew w/60K on it. No repairs to that dude at all, so far. No warranty on it either as I didn't think I'd be keeping it that long.

tedrbr · « **Reply #8 on:** May 07, 2007, 01:37:01 PM »

Extended Warranty on a Birth Certificate is always a good deal if you can get it.

DREDIOCK · « **Reply #9 on:** May 07, 2007, 01:42:06 PM »

I've only needed an extended warranty when I didnt get one

Typically if somethign breaks on me though.
It usually breaks on me either within a month after the warranty expiring (extended or not) or not at all

Terror · « **Reply #10 on:** May 07, 2007, 01:52:26 PM »

Just a note on the Dodge manufacturer extended warranties I've had:

If you never use the warrantee service, they will refund you the purchase price.

So if you get the "golden beebee" vehicle, that makes it through the warantee period with no problems, then you get your money back for the extended warrantee....

At least thats what my paperwork has said....

Terror

lasersailor184 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 07, 2007, 02:12:38 PM »

I got the replacement package for an X45 joystick. Replaced it in 2 months, and now it's still doing great several years later (though I don't use it as much).

Guppy35 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 07, 2007, 03:24:02 PM »

Just bought a car for my daughter and paid a little extra for the extended warranty. Whether she ever uses it or not, I think it was more for my peace of mind since she'll be out East at school with it, too far for me to do anything if i breaks.

Flatbar · « **Reply #13 on:** May 07, 2007, 03:56:41 PM »

Harley Davidson has a good extended service plan.

Recently I bought a '01 Fatboy that had 17k miles. I bought the extended < 5yr > service plan that includes all the bells and whistles, car rental, hotel, 100mile towing as well as a complete drive train and major component coverage with a $50 deductable per incident.

The other owners I talked to that have this coverage and have had to use it all are glad they spent the extra cash for it.

Hitting the road this summer with a bit of peace of mind.

Mickey1992 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 07, 2007, 04:21:27 PM »

The Mrs. bought me a game for my Wii and got talked into buying the $3 extended warranty......for a game on CD. Sucker. I laughed.

I never buy them, except I did for my HDTV I got last year. We get lots of power outages and I figured with my luck a power surge would fry it. No problems yet except I had a tech do some fine tuning because of a partially blurry image.....no charge.