Extended RV Warranties

[Jim Skiff]

It was brought to my attention by a member that some RV Extended Warranty companies are not delivering on their promises. I spoke with several dealers and converters who do not believe in them.

What is the experience of membership with RV Extended Warranties?

Jim

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

No Personal Experience, but then again I have an old bus, way out of any warranty.

I believe in some Extended Warranty plans, but not all of them. Bus warranty probably not ? But you never know.

Gary S.

[merle&louise]

I, like Gary, have not had any personal experiences with extended warranties. However, my brother-in-law purchased one 3 years ago and he said that he liked it. He felt that he saved money. I have some reservations about that.

From what I have read on the internet forums; RVNet, POG, etc. they are not worth the paper they are written on. It is buying an insurance policy to cover potential repairs. You can bet your sweet bippie the insurance company is coming out on top and you are going to get the short end of the stick. Book it!

The insurance companies have acctuairies (probably spelled wrong) that calculate the likelyhood of a "covered" repair occuring in a given time period. The cumulative premiums charged by the insurance company will cover the average total of all expenses plus a nice profit for the insurance company. The consumer is going to lose; the insurance company is NOT going to do you any favors - trust me!

Can you tell that I don't like insurance companies!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The best insurance is to maintain the coach to the highest degree possible. When you buy insurance you and the insurance company are betting against one another, and the odds favor the insurance company. They not only have your money, but they write the rules and make the decisions.

[truk4u]

I have had extended warranties on the plastic side and they aren't worth the paper they're written on!

[JIM KELLER]

Jim, Is that Movie Star Margaret ?

[Gary Carmichael]

Jim, I have an extended warranty plan. Good Sam extended service plan from Affinity Brokerage, Inc. I have not needed to use it, so could not say one way or the other what problems if any would be involved. Just thought that I would try it for 3 yrs, some repair cost can run in the thousands of dollars even with regular service.

[Steve Bennett]

We do not sell warranties ourselves. We recommend the Good Sam CSP program to our customers that want/need a warranty. The warranties are not inexpensive, and typically a consumer will not have covered repairs that exceed the cost of the policy. If a customer is financing their purchase, and are on a tight/fixed budget they can provide peace of mind as the monthly cost is nominal. For most people, I believe it is worth the risk to not have the warranty, stay on top of the maintenance, and do repairs as needed. Just be aware that sometimes expensive failures can, and do occur, so be prepared. We would definitely recommend doing some research prior to purchasing a service contract. I would also recommend checking with your preferred repair facility to make sure they work with that provider. You will find that some shops will require the coach owner to pay for the repair themselves, and then collect from the contract company.

[dale farley]

I had an extended warranty from one of the independent companies on an American Dream that was supposed to cover almost everything on it. I blew a tire and wiped out an air bag. They wouldn't pay for the air bag because it was damaged by the tire. They said they would have paid if it had just died on its own. I think if they don't have a rule to "get out of paying a claim", they will make up one when the time comes.

[Kenneth Brewer]

Which company, please.

[merle&louise]

I had an extended warranty from one of the independent companies on an American Eagle that was supposed to cover almost everything on it. I blew a tire and wiped out an air bag. They wouldn't pay because the air bag was damaged by the tire. They said they would have paid if it had just died on its own. I think if they don't have a rule to "get out of paying a claim", they will make up one when the time comes.

I agree, not all insurance companies are like that...... just most of 'em!

[Coloradobus]

If you are financing a coach, don't wrap the Extended Warrany cost into the coach payment because you end up with interest paying more than the warranty policy costs. We don't use them or want them. Odds are the failure of an item will be in the fine print they don't cover it. Gary C has an extended warranty posted above and hasn't need it yet The Good Sam company has his money. Its just extra profit for whoever is providing the warranty service.
Go to Best Buy or another electronics retail company and they badger the customer to buy into their Warranty program. If it wasn't profitable for them, they wouldn't sell them. my 2 cents

[dale farley]

My negative experience was with Good Sam CSP.

[Gary Carmichael]

Dale ,send me a PM on this subject, Thanks Gary

[Gary Carmichael]

Just a note, A couple years ago I had my CC at a dealership for service and to sale, while on the lot vandals cut the fence and trashed 5 coach's mine was one of them, That's when I found out that dealerships do not cover coaches that are on consignment, my Ins had to pay! just food for thought.

[Ray Davis]

There was an article last year, I think in the FMCA magazine. It was even scarier, it indicated that as you've mentioned dealerships do not insure consignment coaches, AND it also indicated that it's very possible that YOUR insurance will not cover your coach when on a consignment lot. Something about not being in your control ....

Ray

[Steve Bennett]

Many of the RV insurance companies now offer specific policies to cover coaches while on consignment. We have just filled out 2 questionnaires from customers for their insurance. We are the only consignment company I am aware of that also has a policy that will cover non-owned coaches. It is an expensive policy, and they are difficult to get as you are insuring something you do not have a monitory interest in.

[Ray Davis]

Glad to hear that on both fronts. The FMCA article was scary. Perhaps due to having consignment lots now they've offered these policies. But, I think as you've indicated, they are not your "regular" bus policy. Double glad to hear that you went the extra mile to get the policy to cover the coaches at your site! Woohoo!

[Larry W]

There is really no such thing as an extended warranty, it is an insurance policy, some times called an service contract. Put the money you would pay for the insurance away and over the years I think most will have money left at the end of the term. Even if you pay for some repairs that might be covered. I was a new car dealer for almost 20 years and saw many after market insurance firms use some really wild ideas to get out of paying a claim. Most of them use other firms to administer the claims. I think they get a bonus for rejecting claims. While in the car business we sold a lot of the car makers policies which were backed by the factory. We did it as a servcie to our customers because it was in Fairbanks, Alaska. The exteme weather there is tough on cars. Every dealer in town had the highest warranty cost per unit in the nation. My thought on RV extended warranty. Save your money.

[merle&louise]

Great post Larry; it's good to hear from someone who has first hand experience with many of these type of policies. Thanks for a great post!

[sticks]

Have any Liberty owners taken up the Liberty service contracts they offered 6-7 months ago? You recall it was a VERY STIFF $12,000 or $13,000 large. Still can't wrap my mind around that figure. Sounds more like a hospital bill than an annual service charge.

[edsaylor]

Back when I had my car dealerships, extended warranties were one of the best profit centers. Few customers will have "covered repairs" during the warranty period that exceed the cost of the warranty. The warranty companies study very carefully what their probable failure cost will be, and charge more than that to cover their expense, plus what they pay to sell the warranty, plus make a very good profit. I never buy extended warranties as you will come out cheaper in the long run without one, most of the time. Also, usually everything is covered EXCEPT what needs repair.