Extended warranty (EW)

I've noticed EWs are often discussed here. It looks like the lame stream media is finally getting a clue.

Don?t buy the extended warranty ? ever

Reply to
CRNG
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I agree it's almost never a good idea to buy an extended warranty. But there are exceptions. A few years ago I bought a Kitchenaid double over on Ebay. It was a floor model, never used. But still, I was worried about any warranty issues, if KA would cover it, etc. SquareTrade had a 3 year warranty for like $75 or so and I bought it. Fortunately it's worked perfectly. I got a $3000 oven for $1300, so figured the $75 was worth it.

Reply to
trader4

Eh, I *didn't* buy an EW for my BMW 335i... but I think I would actually understand if someone did, just in case something major fails like the turbos.

That said, in 99.44% of the instances, you are absolutely right. An EW on a $1000 piece of consumer electronics that's going to be obsolete in

3 years anyway is silly.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

If you had been paying attention, you would know that the "lame stream media" has been telling us that for years.

Most times, when you hear someone advocating for those warranties, they are selling them.

Reply to
Dan Espen

Years ago, a friend of mine who had a temper and a bad habit of throwing the family's cordless phone against the wall after every four or five calls bought the extended warranty from Circuit City. I don't recall the exact number of phones the retailer replaced but it was more than 10 before they cut him off. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

In the case of hot water heaters, the manufacturer will encourage the plumbing companies that sell it's heaters to offer an extended warranty.

That's because they know that it's seldom that anything goes wrong with their heaters during that first three years, and so it's not exactly a "gamble" to warranty the heater for that extra time.

Reply to
nestork

I never buy warranties/insurance except for things I couldn't afford to replace (house) or which I legally must (car).

The crooked bastards are just out to make money out of me. Most stuff I can fix anyway,

A lot of stuff is not intended for repair, there are no parts available or they are stupid prices. F***g junk.

Reply to
harry

On Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:18:23 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:

Well...not always. Some years ago I bought a 21" KDS CRT monitor at Best Buy. It was close to 500 bucks. They offered a 3 year EW for $25. Replacement, not wait for it to be repaired. No-brainer to me. I bought it, and the monitor failed a month before the EW expired. Carried it in and it was replaced with a brand new Samsung. I did have to show the sales manager in the contract where it showed "immediate replacement." For the Samsung they now wanted $125 for the same warranty. I passed. About 4 years ago I bought a GE washer at Sears. My wife was set on that washer, but I didn't like the failure rate and tales of woe about going to the laundrymat while it was being fixed that I saw on the Sears reviews. Paid about $250 for an EW, with REPLACEMENT. The thing has gone past the warranty with no issues, so you can say I wasted the money. The way I look at it is I paid 22 cents a day for peace of mind about never going to the laundrymat. I bought a 2-year 24k bumper-to-bumper on a used Celebrity with 31k on the clock. Got that at "cost" due when I financed due to the salesman having unintentionally misled me that it was still under factory warranty. $550. I got more than that back with just a few issues. That EW retailed at $1100 - about 20% the cost of the car - and would have been a slight loser financially, but a winner with "peace of mind.." Note the huge markup. They ate that because I was going to walk. Now, just last week, I bought a 2003 Impala with 49k miles on it. The dealer offered a 5 year 60k powertrains warranty for $1504. It's a solid GM endorsed warranty that will be honored. Adds 19% to the cost of the car. I bought it. Won't bore you with what I know about that powertrains, but I know enough that I figure the 82 cents a day I'm paying is worth the "peace of mind" I'm buying with my main car. For small stuff EW's seldom work. I don't even listen to the pitch unless I'm spending about 5 bills. For big ticket items, or items you need replaced NOW, they can work well. The bottom line is "some" EW's work costwise. Some are stupidly priced. It's insurance. You shouldn't expect to collect on insurance. You have it for "peace of mind" or because it's legally required. If it's not legally required, and it doesn't provide "peace of mind," don't buy it.

Reply to
Vic Smith

I bought a mouse pad at Best Buy. The clerk offered me an extended warranty for only a quarter.

I passed.

Reply to
HeyBub

Why would a water heater extended warranty have anything to do with the first 3 years when it comes with a 6 or even 9 year warranty?

Reply to
clare

Labor?

Reply to
krw

The manufacturer's warranty usually only covers the item itself. The labor to install/replace it is not covered. Extended warranties sometimes cover both parts and labor. One has to read it to know what it actually covers. The labor often costs more than the item. For instant, the thermostat on the defrost coil of a refrigerator....... The part is $8, the house call is $75, as an example.....

Reply to
Robert

Another classic trick is they will try to sell you the 3 yr extended warranty on a product. It covers you for 3 yrs, but that's counting from today. The product typically has a one year warranty to begin with. So, people think they are buying 3 years, but in reality, they are buying only 2.

I just thought of another place an extended warranty makes sense. Dehumdifiers that get a lot of use. It seems everyone agrees that these just don't last these days. A friend of mine bought one a couple years ago and in trying to negotiate the price, the sales manager wanted to bundle in an extended warranty. I don't remember the details, but bundled in, it was a good deal. The unit failed during the warranty and they replaced it. He wound up having to pay another $40, because that model was no longer made and the ones they had were slightly larger. That's another example of what happens when you go to make a claim. But it was still a good deal, because the new one would have cost 2.5 times what the extended warranty plus the $40 cost. He just walked in with the old one and walked out with a new one.

Reply to
trader4

On Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:46:18 -0500, Vic Smith wrote in Re Re: Extended warranty (EW):

Ah, now when you are buying "peace of mind", the price is trivial. Good for you.

But then, to many people, a $1000 purchase is trivial and paying $250 for an EW is not needed. Good for them.

Reply to
VinnyB

I usually do not buy the extra warranty coverage. My usual thinking is that the manufacturer already offers a one-year (or more) warranty. So, in most cases, if the product fails in the first year, I can get it replaced under the manufacturer's warranty. After the first year, I think in terms of what the actual depreciated value of the product is at that point. Sometimes, the product is worth a lot less after a year or two -- especially items like computers. And, after subtracting what I paid for the extended warranty, it doesn't seem like there is too much value left that I would be actually insuring.

I did buy extended warranty coverage on a new washer/dryer combo and a new refrigerator that I put into a remodeled apartment that I rent out. I think it was a 3-year deal, and it included parts and labor. My thinking was that since it was in an apartment, if I had a problem or the tenants are careless and it breaks, I won't have to worry about the replacement cost, labor, etc. It's been about 3 years now, and I have had zero problems, so no need for the warranty -- oh well.

Thirteen months ago, I bought an LG Olympus Q Straight Talk cell phone at Wal-Mart for $179. I had a cheapo phone before that, so that seemed like a lot of money to me. I decided to get the 18-month extended warranty which cost me $39. The phone comes with a 1 year manufacturer's warranty for defects etc.. The extended warranty only added 6 months to the manufacturer's warranty. But the extended warranty also covers the replacement of the phone for the whole 18 months if it gets damaged due to accidental misuse -- gets wet, dropped and breaks, etc. I decided to get the coverage. Nothing happened to the phone so far, so I now have 5 months left on the $39 extended warranty coverage. Yesterday, I checked online at straighttalk.com and I can buy the same model LG phone, reconditioned with a

1-year warranty, for $19.95 with free shipping -- oh well (again).
Reply to
TomR

I never buy the EW or insurance on things either, except as you said, very expensive items such as a house and a car that is not too old.

I did have life insurance while I was young, but let it go now that the kids are gone and everything is payed for. I have enough in the 401k /IRA that if anything hapens to me, my wife can get along.

If the EWs were paying off, they would not be offered.

I bought a house that was about 20 years old a while back. They tried to sell me a home warrenty.. I looked at it and it did not seem to really cover much of anything. I think there was a deductiable on that also, but not sure now. I know that some things were old enough to wear out, so I offered the price of the house based on that. After about 2 years the heat pump did quit. Probably out of the warenty period anyway, so I put in a newer one that has a higher efficency rating.

Consumer reports (if you believe them) said the EW is a waste of money except laptop computers and one other thing I forgot what.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

And the refrigerator is upwards of $2000.

Many "extended warranties" only cover the parts too.

Reply to
clare

As many have said, appliance, TV, phone warranties etc. are a waste of money. An extended warranty on a costly item, a new car for example may be a good choice if you are the type that keeps it for a very long time. I typically keep a vehicle until it can no longer be repaired economically, typically 10 years or more, and trade or dispose of it when repairs exceed blue book. So an extended 100,000 mile, 10 year bumper to bumper warranty is worth the initial expenditure to me but only if its a manufacturer's warranty. Third party warranties on vehicles (or anything for that matter) are risky at best.

John

Reply to
John

Actually, the cost of a part like a defrost thermostat, a VERY likely failure, is about the same for a $300 or a $2000 fridge. Of course, if one doesn't know how to remove a screw, slip off the old therm, slip in the new one, and replace the screw, the $75 is a good deal.

My point was that the "labor" and "house call" may not be covered under the warranty. It's a good idea to check for "parts AND labor" and "carry-in" versus "house calls", if one is considering a warranty coverage.

For those of us that can use the internet to order parts, and have the knowledge to do the repair, a warranty may not be worth it.

On the other hand, things like laptop computers and HDTV sets which are fairly complex to replace the parts into, even if one knows exactly what's wrong, may give cause for buying a warranty.

It just depends ..... on who you are... and what you want to buy...

OHH !! And pay by credit card. Often that extends the warranty automatically by a year ..

Reply to
Robert

400 cell phones and $2000 laptops are worth putting extended FACTORY warranty on, $199 cell phones and $200 laptops are not.

Some stores will sell you a 2 or 5 year REPLACEMENT warranty which will give you a new equivalent device in replacement if your device fails. That can be a decent deal, depending on the device and the cost of the coverage. Again, not worth it on a $100 device that is likely to outlast the warranty - mabee worth while on a $500 or more device that is prone to failure - particularly if DAMAGE is also covered.

Reply to
clare

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