[bhbuster]

I was curious as to what people think about extended warranties.

I just picked up my Husqvarna at Sears on clearance well below the cheapest price I can find on the internet. I was not intending on buying a tractor that day, I was there looking at stoves and saw these two tractors on clearance. I decided to go back the next day and pick one of them up. Then it started... The sales rep started to paint a doomsday picture if I did not spend another $550 to $780 on their warranty (3yr & 5yr). I skipped the warranty much to their dismay. I walked away with a new tractor for just under $1900 total that day.

My Murray that I am retiring finally had to have some work after 8 years. My parents 12 year old Craftsman finally had to have a idle pulley changed after 12 years. Of course blades, belts, batteries, etc have been changed over the years. Keeping them out of the rain probably helped.

I'm sure time will tell if I made the right choice.

 

[BillB]

The only time I buy the extended warranty is when I buy something that is a new technology that is unproven, ... so almost never. I figure if they are willing to offer an extended warranty, then the odds have to be better than average that it will last at least that long anyway. It's all about the odds, and the house always wins.

Bill

 

[mbrun]

:ditto: on the house aways wins.

Extended warranties are priced so that the seller makes money. Sure, there are a few customers that get some or all of their money back out of the warranty, but those are statistically far between.

I have purchased maybe (4) extended warranties in my life. Never needed service during the warranty period, so the house won.

I have been offered extended warranty on many, many dozens of products and turned it down. Could have taken advantage of the an extended warranty perhaps once. In the end...the buyer wins.

Take care of you tractor and perform regular maintainance. You will find you have money left in your pocket at the end of the extended warranty period.

BTW, many extended warranties have limits to them that limits the insurer's exposure to no more then the price you paid for the original product.

Congrats on the new tractor.

 

[john9001]

Extended warranties are priced too high, i have never bought one and have never needed one. I would rather put that money toward preventive maintenance instead.

 

[JMoe]

Yeah, I'd skip it for this type of machine.

Unrelated, but the only time I kicked myself for not getting one is in regards to my 2008 Hyundai (I bought used in 2009). I've put ~$1200 into it in 6mo and that's just 2 wheel bearings and a coil! They of course pushed an extended warranty when I bought it, but I turned it down as usual.

 

[BushBoneYard]

A couple weeks back I got a notice for extended coverage from Sears. The 3 years of coverage was insane, a thousand something dollars. The best part was that price included "non technical phone support". Yikes.

For $20 a year I get highly technical advice within minutes on tractors, appliances, computers, campers....you name it from MTF. I think any gremlins will show within the first 2 years of the factory warranty anyway.

 

[D-Dogg]

The failure items on must LTs and GTs are the engine and the transmission. Sure, someone will tweak a deck or frame occasionally.

So, if you can buy a replacement engine for $600 or less, or pay that for an extended warranty, which do you think is the better deal?

 

[APinNY]

As stated above, the majority of the time the store or manufacturer is the only beneficiary of an extended warranty. Their profit goes up immensely by selling them. If you are one of the unlucky purchasers who gets a lemon, the warranty can be useful but for most folks it is just another insurance policy. I have never bought one but am considering it for the new Jeep I just purchased. It has a plethora of technology, all of which will probably cost a small fortune to repair after the bumper-to-bumper is expired.

 

[HydroHarold]

If you can do your own regular maintenance, have enough money to cover the minor/major parts, have the know-how to do major repairs AND the tools, time and place to do them, then skip the "extended policy".

IF you fall into the "hands off" ownership catagory and have most of your work done by paid mechanics or dealers and would not be able to come up with the big money lump for an early major failure... BUY THE INSURANCE! (And in the meantime during the insurance period, invest in a tech manual and read up for when your extended plan expires AND read every post regarding your machine right here on MTF.)

Just like life insurance, extended warranties are a crap shoot. Unlike life insurance, with a warranty you will still reap some benefit of convenience from all the money you laid out for the policy.

 

[Ken in NJ]

I haven't bought an extended warranty on ANYTHING that I've bought new in the past 20 years. I figure it's worth a roll of the dice and take my chances with the $$ in my pocket.

But that's just me, I'm living life on the edge at times. :Stop:

Salesmen and dealerships LOVE to sell the extended warranties. It's a big profit item from what I understand. Your salesmen was just trying to add to the sale profit. IMHO.

 

[PA318Guy]

The only extended warranties I buy are for my 4 wheel drive vehicles! They have saved my butt a couple of times. There is little maintenance I can't do on a GT and I maintain my equipment very well so I don't see much need in them.

 

[buffy12590]

Extended warranties have their place and should be considered in certain circumstances. If the cost of the warranty is less than the average cost of repair and it is something you can't repair I would consider it. For example a $450 digital camera has an extended warranty for $50 for a period of five years and covers everything except loss. If you drop it in the water, run over it or any other problem, your covered. The cost vs repair warrants purchasing the extended warranty. A new washer $700 with electronic control panel, extended warranty is $140.00 for a five year period. Again the cost of repair vs warranty says purchase it. The repair charge for a washer just to look at it and smile is $60. The 2010 Honda with extended warranty cost $1500 for an eight year period. Yes the intial cost is high but over 8 years the costs for catalytic converter, bearings, transmission etc. Are they worth the cost vs repair. You don't have to take a dealers warranty or the manufactures but look for a third party for the coverage. You decide what you can spend now vs later, what you can repair vs shop charges.
,

 

[rscurtis]

I priced the extended warranty on my GR 2110 just before it was two years old. It was over $1000!. Needless to say, I passed on that. When I had my rental business, I had a new IH4300 truck with a Holmes steel roll-off body. I purchased a 7 year/50,000 mile extended warranty on the engine, engine electronics, and the Allison transmission. It was right around $1000, a bargain compared to the Kubota. I never needed it, but it saved the next owner (it was transferable) several expensive repairs. Even a simple dealer repair on an MD truck is going to cost at least $500.

 

[wizzo]

I tend to skip the extended warranties also.

 

[bhbuster]

Thanks for the interest and responses.

I thought this might make a good discussion for anyone in the market for a new tractor and will have to decide if an extended warranty is for them. In my case it was not for me. I am betting that the Kawasaki engine is an excellent motor with a low failure rate and that the Tuff Torq tranny will hold up since I will only be mowing and toting my *cough*290lbs around...

 

[7sleeper]

I have bought an extended warrantie quite a few times. For example for my mother in law. She needed a new washing machine and lives 400 kilometers ~ 250 miles away. The warranty included pic up and was some thing like 60€. That would pay only for the gas for me to get there and back. In that situation I believe it is a viable choice.
Same when I bought my car. It was something like 400€ for 4 years. It's cheap compared to having a mechanic look at the car.

7

 

[Pocketraisins]

I dont know about small engine warrantees, but I learned a long time ago if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

A friend purchased a used Dodge Shelby and since it was almost new he bought the extended "bumper to bumper" warantee. Two years later plus the interest and money he paid for the warantee the car stopped running.

After waiting over a month for them to tell him his car was repaired and ready, he called them. When he told me they werent going to replace the engine under warantee I asked him why. He stated they told him, and I quote "Sir, we cannot honor the warantee. You had a fire in your cylinder chamber and it burned a hole through the top of the cylinder. Since you had a fire in the combustion chamber, it is not covered in the warantee". mg:

I said to him, "Dude. Your car RUNS by having a fire in the combustion chamber.
mg::fing20:Thats why they call it an internal combustion engine! Take it to court and make them honor it and get some money for missing work too!". He said it wasnt worth it and paid for a second hand motor to be put in it out of pocket. To tis day I cant see why he didnt just take it to court or at least push the issue. It was like buying new tires with warantee and them not honoring the warantee because they touched the ground like they are supposed to do.

To this day, I hear about his favorite car and cant help want to do this to him....:00000060::00000061::bonk::duh::duh::duh::duh::duh::duh::duh:

 

[Walt 2002]

On very rare occasion I have bought an extended warranty. Mostly years ago when VCRs were not reliable and we were going thu them regularly. Most of the time when the salesman puts on the pressure I tell them, "No thanks, if the thing doesn't last any better than that I will buy a new one of a different brand". That usually quiets them.

Walt Conner

 

[buffy12590]

Another item to remember is many credit card companies will extend the original warantee to double the original, up to 1 year. If you have 90 days manufature you get 90 more from the card company. So by paying with a credit card you get that bonus. I bought one of my cars using a credit card. The dealer wasn't happy but I got 4 years warantee and 1% cash back on $17,000. Not a bad deal however I can't get the dealers to do that much anymore, last time the max was $5000.