Extended Warranty

[Josiegirl13]

I just purchased a 2019 Winnebago Outlook 27d and am looking for any recommendations for extended warranties. Good, bad, ugly.

Thanks!

[Jim_HiTek]

Find the service contract (that's what they are, as only the manufacturer can offer an extended warranty despite what the salesperson says, that's a sales gimmick calling it a warranty, it's definitely not) you like the best, take the money you'd pay for it and put it in the bank in a separate account. Set up an auto deposit from your regular account to funnel money into that repair account every month without fail.

Now, when you do have a problem out of the regular warranty, you can rest assured that you'll be reimbursed for your expenses fixing it. That doesn't often happen with a service contract.

You'll be self insured with someone you can trust...yourself.

[Goodspike]

Mine came with one from the dealer for "free" and I tried to negotiate a lower price to not have it. That didn't go anywhere.

About the only advantage I can see to such contracts, other than if your breakage events are above average, is the warranty company might have better contacts to get the work done on the road than you would.

I wonder if anyone here has had any experience with that?

[Jim_HiTek]

Originally Posted by Goodspike

Mine came with one from the dealer for "free" and I tried to negotiate a lower price to not have it. That didn't go anywhere.

About the only advantage I can see to such contracts, other than if your breakage events are above average, is the warranty company might have better contacts to get the work done on the road than you would.

I wonder if anyone here has had any experience with that?

I was the service manager for a national chain that sold service contracts and if a salesperson tried that trick they'd be fired immediately. In Washington State, it's illegal. Or was back then. What you can do is call your SC (Service Contract) provider, the company actually carrying the SC, and ask for a refund. It is common industry practice to refund the unused portion of SC's. And rarely causes a commotion...but...they often drag their feet with issuing the check.

If that doesn't work, than submit a complaint with your state Attorney General. Forcing someone to buy something they don't want has never been legal as far as I know. Most states have complaint forms online to fill out. And most states do follow up with the company. Even if it's just to let them know they are watching.

[rk911]

based on letters in the RV magazines a service contract seems to be one of the most common complaints if not the most common complaint. lots of gotchas. if you're determined to but one four pieces of advice:

- look for one that explicity lists what is not covered. that's where most of the gotchas occur.

- read it thoroughly before purchasing.

- negotiate price and don't be afraid to walk. many folks on the forums report being able to purchase one for 50%, or even lower, of retail.

- be sure there is an escape clause enabling you to cancel and receive a pro-rated cash (not 'store' credit) refund.

but give some thought to self-insuring. we took the $ we would have used to buy a service contract and instead used it to establish a maintenance and repair fund. to that we added $X each month. after 34-years we are way ahead.

[be happy]

I had Good Sam Extended Warranty for many years on and past rig. I had it on my tow vehicle and my 5th wheel. I used it very successfully on my TV when it needed all the front end steering items replaced. Saved over $2,000. I have never had to use it on my camper however. When I got my present one as it was older the cost of the warranty was way to much.

I would go with GSEW again if I had to. They are not repair shop specific which is good. Folks will say put the monthly premium into a separate account for repairs. Thats great if you can do it, I am not the kind of person.

[AJMike]

I have had both good and bad experiences with the GSESP They paid me something like $20 for a $450 starter replacement (they told me the shop was charging way too much for both the service and the starter) but also paid fully for a replacement air conditioner (minus the deductible).

I would be more willing to pay for an Extended Service Plan if I were buying a used RV or if the model I was considering had a questionable service history. That is I would be more inclined to buy one if I thought the quality control of the manufacturer was below average and less inclined if it were above average.

I respect the idea of doing your own insurance but then you also have to consider that you might have to replace a $20,000 engine or repair a $5,000 transmission, and then self insuring does not seem quite so economical, at least to me.

[1237dmctlc]

Originally Posted by Jim_HiTek

I was the service manager for a national chain that sold service contracts and if a salesperson tried that trick they'd be fired immediately. In Washington State, it's illegal. Or was back then. What you can do is call your SC (Service Contract) provider, the company actually carrying the SC, and ask for a refund. It is common industry practice to refund the unused portion of SC's. And rarely causes a commotion...but...they often drag their feet with issuing the check.

If that doesn't work, than submit a complaint with your state Attorney General. Forcing someone to buy something they don't want has never been legal as far as I know. Most states have complaint forms online to fill out. And most states do follow up with the company. Even if it's just to let them know they are watching.

So in May this year I traded in my 2018 Class A Georgetown for 2018 Class A Forza 38W DP. I had extended warranty/service plan from AGWS but never needed them and it was all canceled through my CI dealer in Kingston, NH.. I was told they had to do the cancelling after I called AGWS directly to cancel them. Sent CI my info on the new rig received nice refund about 6 wks later. I have Portfolio now and my currently MH is back at the dealer for a leveler/stabilizer not retracting completely without help...also for another issue. I'm hoping to gear this week it was approved and will be repaired shortly as we have a month to go before we're supposed to head to Pigeon Forge for a few weeks. I checked with other companies but was told I could only buy them from a dealer. So called dealer and found Cornerstone to be about $3000 more for the same exclusionary contract. AGWS dealer really didn't want to talk unless I bought the rig there. I heard pros and Cons about Good Sam so stayed with Portfolio. Had no issues getting tech support when the problem started tech knew his stuff. I called several others , too but didn't like there reviews. I'd like to know if anyone ever bought into Winnebagos. I didn't know they offered it until a short while ago. Never heard anyone saying they had it or how much it cost.

[Journey39n]

I have had a Good Sam Extended Warranty since my RV was new. The first 4 years were very cheap, after that cost went up. I considered it to be peace-of-mind, more than anything.

Yes, I have used it on occasion over 10 years, refer twice, a/c once, engine work a couple times, alternator replacement, slide seals, hydraulic lines for the levelers, radiator work once. None of the items by themselves were that huge of an expense, but over 10 years, it was the peace of mind, knowing that my deductible was all I was was going to pay.

It has been easy to use, reimbursements have been quick, and I have had no issues finding shops or mobile repair guys to accept it. Just my experience, others may have different stories.

But, and here's the big but, over 10 years, I have put more money into the policy than I would have spent on repairs directly. Not a tremendous amount more, but definitely more. In my opinion, since the RV is our home, the peace of mind has been well worth it.

[rprochnow]

Extended warranties are insurance polices, protecting owners from large repair expenses during the period of the warranty.

The odds are the average owner will save money by not purchasing the extended warranty, since there's a profit margin built into the sales price.

Despite that, for vehicles (our Tesla EVs and our new 21VD), we've purchased extended warranties, to protect us from major expenses, even though the odds are we would have saved $$$ in the long term by not purchasing the plan.

[1237dmctlc]

Originally Posted by rprochnow

Extended warranties are insurance polices, protecting owners from large repair expenses during the period of the warranty.

The odds are the average owner will save money by not purchasing the extended warranty, since there's a profit margin built into the sales price.

Despite that, for vehicles (our Tesla EVs and our new 21VD), we've purchased extended warranties, to protect us from major expenses, even though the odds are we would have saved $$$ in the long term by not purchasing the plan.

We have done it for years and its paid off. Does provide a piece of mind that takes the stress off you I think. My daughter bought a used Ford Escape a few years old a few yrs. ago. Last summer she had issues luckily I told her to buy the extended warranty. Turned out it required a new engine. Don't recall what happened to the old one but they gave her a rental for about the 6 weeks it took to diagnose the problem, get approved to replace it, order then install. Cost $100 deductible. Now thats nice but also rare. My point is its usually they're for cars when you need it. As for RVs, I'll find out hopefully this week as my DP is waiting for approval for some repairs.
Thanks

[AJMike]

Extended service plans tend to be expensive and have a lot of profit built into them. The dealer tried to sell us one with our new RV and, after telling us how good a plan it was, told us that it was "only" $8000. I think I actually laughed when they told us, and declined the add-on.

I did go home and check the website for the plan and saw a "Dealers" link. When I followed it I saw an explanation about how much profit it can add to a sale, and that explains the high price of the plan. When we returned to do some paperwork at the dealer for the new RV I was told that because I was a veteran there was a 50% discount so the plan was only $4000. Told them no thank you and was told they had found a special "coupon" that was good for another $1000 discount and, at $3000 I thought it might be worth getting.

In summary, two comments. First, there is so much profit in some of these plans that you can bargain and get better prices. Second, if the cost is low enough they can provide peace of mind and might be worth getting, depending upon how much you use your RV and how good the plan is. We use ours a lot, usually going somewhere every 3 weeks or so, so I think having one is probably worth it provided the cost is low enough. It makes it easy to decide to keep the RV when it starts to get older.

Good Sam and others sell after-sale plans which may be worth checking out. But you should also check to see if your favorite repair shop (if you have one) accepts the plan. Not all do and if they don't you might not want it at all.

[AZ Okies]

Ugly, ugly, ugly. Don’t waste your money. Bumper to bumper doesn’t EVER include what you will have go wrong. We know. Bought a used 2019 View this time and no warranty. Been over a year and nothing expensive has gone wrong. Just little stuff. Not worth the money.

[1237dmctlc]

Originally Posted by AZ Okies

Ugly, ugly, ugly. Don’t waste your money. Bumper to bumper doesn’t EVER include what you will have go wrong. We know. Bought a used 2019 View this time and no warranty. Been over a year and nothing expensive has gone wrong. Just little stuff. Not worth the money.

What is all boils down to is a Clint Eastwood's famous phrase "do you feel lucky........." well I'm not a gambling man or feel lucky but I do have a piece of mind with one in place plus the ability to make a call, in most instances, to have help come to me without me hopefully not spending hours hunting down a tech or a place to bring it to.. enjoy...

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by 1237dmctlc

What is all boils down to is a Clint Eastwood's famous phrase "do you feel lucky........." well I'm not a gambling man or feel lucky but I do have a piece of mind with one in place plus the ability to make a call, in most instances, to have help come to me without me hopefully not spending hours hunting down a tech or a place to bring it to.. enjoy...

I agree.

The Good Sam ESP we bought when we bought a used Class B 7 years ago probably broke about even. They ended up replacing our Air Conditioning unit and all it cost me was the deductible. They paid very little for a new starter when the one we had failed, but that was probably due to the fact that we had the problem in a small town with a greedy repair shop. Still, I did have peace of mind knowing that I was not going to be nailed for a very large amount if things started failing.

We now have a 2018 Winnebago Fuse that we bought new and I got one of those service contracts after I got them to reduce the price to a reasonable amount. No need for it yet but there is the peace of mind.