The Ins & Outs Of RV Extended Warranties
This blog post has been on my “list” for a while and I’ve resisted writing it mostly because I wasn’t sure of my own conclusions. Discussions on extended warranties are akin to opening a can of Sicilian worms in an Italian bait shop. It’s a MESSY topic with lots of very heated opinions on each side of the fence. After 5 months of thinking, testing (yes, actual real-life testing) and experience I’m going to be honest and tell you there is no absolute answer. Extended warranties are not for everyone. They can be a waste of money, they can be supremely helpful and they can also be everything in between. Our situation is that we currently have an extended warranty, it has worked and paid out for us (we’re ahead on our money), but I’m still not sure it’s worth it (I know, I’m a walking contradiction).
So what I am going to do in this post is give you the tools to decide for yourself on whether you need one including how to negotiate the best policy, traps to be wary of and what to plan for with claims. So, take a big breath, sit down in your comfy chair and here it goes:
1/ To Buy Or Self-Insure -> That Is The Question
The truth is for most items you buy in your lifetime extended warranties are simply not worth the money. They are often overpriced for the protection you get and you rarely get your money’s worth. In fact that’s the very reason they are so very lucrative for the people who sell them to you!
The only situation where this question becomes “iffy” is when you’re dealing with a very expensive item (like an RV) where the cost of repairs can be really, really high. At this point it becomes a grey area. For many people simply putting money aside every month for repairs and using that “self-insurance bucket” when something comes up will put them ahead on $$ for the lifetime of their RV. For others the financial worry of a major breakage is too much to bear and buying a warranty for “peace of mind” makes their RV life alot smoother. You’ll have to decide, based on your own financial situation, age of your RV, $$ value of your big ticket items and risk tolerance whether self-insurance will work for you.
2/ An After-Market Warranty Is More Like Insurance
If you decide to buy an extended warranty one key thing to understand up-front is that, unless it’s manufacturer-provided, it’s really more like insurance. Manufacturer-backed warranties (e.g. the one you’d get with a brand new RV) are more like “true” warranties in that they pretty much just fix anything that goes wrong. After-market warranties are different. When you buy an after-market warranty you’re basically trying to insure against some future breakage/failure on an item which is no longer supported by the manufacturer. These non-manufacturer warranties can be very specific and have lots of potentially tricky “outs”. You cannot treat an after-market warranty like a safe-house and think everything will just “get fixed”. You can also not treat an after-market warranty like a bank deposit and think you’ll get your money back. Know and understand that if you sign an after-market warranty it is a contract that you may never use and you need to abide by all the details to get your “insurance” to pay up. If you go into the process with this understanding you will be much happier with your decision in the long run.
3/ Not Every RV Warrants A Warranty
Even if you’re bought into the whole idea of an extended warranty not every RV owner should get one. Here are some of the cases I would not consider it:
- New RV Owner – New RVs typically have a “breaking in” period which will often require lots of trip to the shop. If you’re buying a brand new RV it should come with a manufacturer-backed warranty for at least a year, and that’s the warranty you should use before shopping for one on your own. If you’re buying a “new” used RV you may be able to negotiate a 1-year repair plan backed by the shop you bought it from to get you through the “break-in” period -> that’s what we did with our rig. In fact we got the shop to throw in a 1-year plan for free and spent the first 6 months getting free repairs on all our systems from the dealer. Well worth it and not a cent out of our own pocket.
- Older, Used RV Owner – Most RV owners will tell you that if things are going to break, they’ll do so in the first few years. Once your engine, appliances and other items are “broken in”, your chances of any kind of warranty-backed repair drops dramatically. Also as your RV gets older you are more likely to simply replace/upgrade things rather than repair them and these new items won’t be covered by the original warranty. Lastly as your rig ages policy costs go up and the cost-benefit of having a warranty goes down.
Personally I feel the best candidates for extended warranties are newer RV owners past their initial 1-year factory warranty who feel they still have some “breaking in” to do, or in-between owners (RV is a few years old, but not yet old enough) who need the insurance in case something comes up. It’s a cost-benefit decision and only you can make that assessment for you. In our case once our current 5-year warranty is done we’ll not be buying a new one.
4/ Dealer-Sold Warranties Are Big Money Makers -> For The Dealers
Many RV dealers will try to sell you an extended warranty when you buy your RV. Unless the warranty is backed by the dealership itself (which is extremely rare) and you plan to get all the repairs done at that very shop, I would never personally sign up to one of these things. Dealer-sold warranties are typically much more expensive (often twice the price) and less comprehensive than any warranty you can get externally. Avoid the trap and shop around on your own.
5/ Key Items To Negotiate In An Extended Warranty Policy
Assuming you’ve decided to go-ahead on a warranty purchase start looking around and getting quotes on policies. Get several quotes and then get a copy (and read) each of the contracts before you sign. You want to treat an extended warranty like insurance which means you should look to get all your “big ticket” items covered (the ones you can’t afford to fix on your own), but you ALSO need to be aware of the fine-print and “outs”. In my mind the 2 most important “must have” items in an extended warranty are:
- Exclusionary Policy – Extended warranties come as either “inclusionary” or “exclusionary” policies. Inclusionary are the most common kind (also the cheapest) and will only cover the specific items listed on the contract…in other words if it is not on contract it is not covered. This sounds great in principle, but can be a real “gotcha” if some non-covered part you didn’t even know about causes your claim to be denied. Exclusionary policies are the other way around. They only list items which are NOT covered on the policy…..by contract everything else IS covered. Since RVs are extremely complicated machines with thousands of interacting parts many of which I don’t even know the name of, my recommendation is to go for an exclusionary policy. They are more expensive, but they are much more comprehensive policies, much simpler to understand with alot less potential “outs”.
- Consequential Damage – One of the biggest potential bummers in a warranty claim can be denial of a big ticket item due to damage from a non-covered part. Imagine a non-covered part (say some type of gasket) blows and damages a big, expensive covered part (say, your transmission). Unless you have consequential damage the warranty company can legally deny your claim. This is a situation you never want to be in. Even if you decide to buy an inclusionary policy, make sure consequential damage is part of the policy.
These are my personal “must have” up-front items. Working from this baseline, look for the following clauses too:
- Understand Transfer and Cancellation Policies – Make sure that you can transfer or get out of the policy if you sell the RV or decide you don’t like it.
- Know Who’s Backing the Warranty – Most of the folks you get quotes from will be brokers (i.e. companies who sell you products from other companies) and not the actual people managing your warranty and claims. So, make sure you find out who that is. You’ll want to be sure the claims company is a reputable one and the underwriter is a solid, A-rated insurance firm.
- Make Sure You Can Use Any Repair Center – If you’re travelling around you don’t want to get stuck somewhere the warranty isn’t accepted. Make sure they’ll accept any repair center nationwide.
- Call Around & Check Reputation – Call some RV shops nationwide and ask them if they’ve worked with this company before and what the claims process was like. If they’ve got a bad rep or are not well known that’s not a good sign.
- Check On Full-Time RV Coverage – If you’re a fulltime RVer make sure the warranty you buy is valid for full-time use of the RV. Some are not, or require a surcharge for that purpose.
- Understand Term Limits, Deductibles And Claim Procedures – If you’re getting a 60,000 mile policy does that 60K start from today, or from the day you bought your RV? Also what are your deductibles and how difficult is it to make a claim?
There are many more details, but those are probably the most important ones. Just make sure you read all the fine print so you know the potential “gotchas” up-front.
6/ Keep Ontop Of Maintenance & Contract Details
Once you’ve bought a warranty make sure you stay ontop of maintenance and any other contract “gotchas”. Most warranties will deny claims if you do not follow manufacturer-recommended maintenance guidelines, or let your parts rust, or do not change out worn parts. If your fridge fails, the last thing you want is to get denied because you didn’t do your yearly fridge service. Stay ontop of it and keep your records in order.
7/ If You Make A Claim, Follow Policy Procedure (And Prepare For Time & Hoops!)
We’ve used our extended warranty twice since we bought it, and although it’s worked and paid up both times, neither experience was painless. No matter who you use, make sure you understand the proper procedure to make a claim. Extended warranty companies require the damage to be assessed up-front (sometimes they’ll even send their own inspector) and will then need to approve the repair before any work is done. Ontop of that warranty companies will often only approve a certain labor rate and number of hours for repair (based on national averages and internal guidelines). This is where things can get really gritty. Assuming you’ve been ontop of your maintenance and there are no other “gotchas” in your contract you might still end up arguing with the warranty company on how much they’ll pay for the repair….so you’ve got to prepare for time, patience and some back and forth!
As an example our first repair was in CA and the shop labor rate was above what the warranty would accept. We managed to negotiate the shop down, but it took a couple of days of back and forth. Our second repair was in OR. This time the warranty company wanted to send an inspector (2 days), wait for his report to be approved (another day) and then, even though we passed inspection and the labor rate was OK, they would only reimburse 2.7 hours on what the shop deemed to be a 5 hour job. In the end we managed to negotiate a compromise, but it was still alot of painful hoops to jump through. Bottom line, if you make a claim expect to spend some time on it.
8/ And Our Solution Was….?
So, given all that who did we get our policy with? I got quotes from several companies including Good Sam’s, GoRVWarranty and Wholesale Warranties. Good Sam’s did not offer an exclusionary policy so I decided against them up-front. GoRVWarranty and WholesaleWarranties (both brokers) offered similar contracts at vastly different prices. My research on GoRV dug up some questionable practices** and alot of folks who were unhappy with the company (poor after-sales service) so I negotiated a hefty sum off WholesaleWarranties and stuck with them. My finally policy was for 60 months/60,000 miles, $100 deductible with CSI/Allegiance, underwritten by American Bankers Insurance (A.M. Best “A” rating) and costs us ~$1.5 per day. It’s an exclusionary policy with consequential damage and free tire plan thrown in. So far I’ve been very happy with WholesaleWarranties. They are easy to deal with and (more importantly) they’ve “gone to bat” for us against the warranty company each time we’ve had a claim. I’m still not sure the warranty is worth it (we could have managed each of our past 2 claims faster and easier with money put aside), but only time will tell.
That’s it folks. If you haven’t already fallen asleep I’d love to hear your experience and thoughts on extended warranties. Feel free to comment away below!
** UPDATE: As of Nov 13th, 2012 Go RV Network, the parent company of Go RV Warranty filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the West Texas District court. Definitely happy we avoided them as a broker.
Hi Nina and Paul,
Our Norcold 1200RLIM refrigerator gave it up, released its ammonia, and is now serving as an ICE box. We ordered a replacement cooling unit and are contemplating buying a 10 year warranty on it offered by the online company that sold us the cooling unit-www.rvcoolingunits.com. Do you have any advice for or against?
Thanks. Kathie
It’s a darn good question. I guess I would first try and understand if you can buy the policy later (i.e. can you buy it once the initial year policy from the manufacturer has expired)? Anytime you can delay a warranty purchase I would do it. That gives you a year to try the product and see if you like how it works and are going to stick with it -> for example you may decide you’re not happy with the way the cooling unit works, or you may decide to replace your entire fridge with a residential fridge next time it breaks in which case a longer warranty on the cooling unit makes no sense. If you can work it for a year before buying an extended warranty, then do it.
Another question to ask is if will the extended warranty will cover labor and service in an RV? If it won’t then consider those costs and whether the extended warranty makes sense in $$ terms based on what it would cost to repair the cooling unit.
Just some things to think about….
Nina
Very timely post for us, thanks for the insight!
Lisa
Glad it’s helpful! good luck with your new purchase.
Nina
1. The Monaco dealer where I bought my coach, offered us a 5 year extended 50k mile, $200 deductable, for $4,400. I ended up buying the same warranty from DeMartini RV for $2,200. Dealers will sell the extended warranty without buying a coach from them.
2. Be sure that the repair shop that you use is very well versed in negotiating with extended warranty companies. Also, be sure that the repair shop goes in with a high estimate. The warranty company will never consider paying more than the first estimate, no matter what the outcome.
3. A lot of the repairs on motorhomes are unique due to the complexity of a motorhome. There rarely will ever be a fixed price for your repair, so plug in several days to negotiate with everyone involved.
4. I have found it is easier to wait for the big claim and just pay the small claims out of my pocket. Life is too short to spend time haggling with an insurance company. I want to be back on the road.
GREAT tips Luke! Cheers very much for sharing your experience.
Nina
Excellant information. Hubby and I have been discussing the pros and cons of a warranty. We have heard plenty of horror stories about these companies finding reasons not to cover. Thanks for this timely post.
So happy I can help. It’s a complicated and heated topic for sure. No. Absolute right answers here I’m afraid.
Nina
Very thorough. We have X-tra Ride only because it cost me a $50 transfer fee from prior owner. Currently at a park that has RV repair service and they market X-tra Ride. Talked to the owner about having my “annual” done (no maint issues at all) as a preemptive move and he said in marketing X-tra Ride for 5 yrs. never had a problem on a covered item, regardless of having the annual done or not. More stuff to ponder.
I would advise reading the fine print on the contract on that one. All the extended warranty contracts I’ve looked at stipulate that maintenance has to be followed. You can do the maintenance yourself, but you need to keep a record (e.g. receipts). I’d be surprised if the X-tra Ride doesn’t also require that detail. Possibly the person selling them has never personally handled a claim on a big ticket item? Just my thoughts anyhow…
Nina
I think it also depends on how “handy” you or your spouse can be. My hubby can handle lots of repairs himself, including redoing some that were paid for elsewhere. Even if you can’t do repairs yourself, it often makes a big difference if you have a pretty good idea what is wrong before you take your rig in.
Very good point Mary Ann. If you’re handy that certainly comes into play, and might alter how you feel about an extended warranty. Some folks will still buy it as insurance for the big ticket items, but for smaller items they handle everything themselves.
Nina
we never had an extended warranty on our 5th wheel… but we have on other products….for peace of mind I am a big believer and over the years I feel I have come out ahead….great informative posting…
Interesting that you never bought one for your 5th wheel. It’s definitely a grey area, but i feel extended warranties make more sense for expensive items (I.e. where repairs can be really pricey) as opposed to inexpensive items (where it’s often cheaper and easier to replace rather than repair). Since you like warranties, i’m just curious why you never considered one for the home?
Nina
You did an excellent job on this post. Many people have lots of questions and you hit all the areas that seem to be questioned the most.
I have an extended warranty, and like you have come out ahead already, with two years left on my policy. If they give me a choice to renew it, I will. I like the coverage and peace of mind it gives.
Two things I’ve found, if buying new, you should wait until the original warranties on the RV expires, no sense in having paid for a year of warranty coverage that is already covered.
Secondly, it is not uncommon for the repairing dealer to charge an extra fee for processing the warranty claim. I had a repair done on my dash computer and I was charged and extra $25 warranty processing fee. Not a big deal but something to be aware of.
Good feedback and tips. Thanks for sharing.
Nina
@Nina…I don’t think we were ever offered one for our RV. and I never thought about getting one somewhere else even if it were available……I honestly don’t remember…they always fixed everything when we needed it…and for all the items in it they were under warranty and I am not sure we were offered extended for those either…and luckily we never had to test anything…basically in the 10 years we have had the same 5th wheel we have only had minor problems and they were fixed ..the only thing big in the rv that needed anything was the frig with all of the recalls..we were reimbursed for a new one… ..we did get an extended warranty for our truck though and we ended up ahead on that..and have it for our truck now…I am a big believer in getting insurance too and hope you never have to use it…I will check with Tom to make sure I am accurate on this…you know what happens to all those grey cells when they start getting old…:)
OK…thanks for the feedback. Nina
Fantastic post, and one for sure we’ll be pointing our readers towards in the future.
We’ve never really had to come up against this question ourselves. Our first RV was so minimalist, that there was really nothing to warranty. Our second came with a virtually lifetime warranty. And now our 1961 vintage bus conversion is so old and unique that I doubt any warranty company would touch it anyway 🙂 We factored that into our purchase offer, and have set aside funds to handle repairs and upgrades, which we’re having fun doing on our own so far.
I think you summarized it perfectly for the type of rigs you’ve had. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Nina
As rookies we fit nicely into the No 4 category 🙁 and we paid too much money. However, it became very handy when we had hydraulic and slide issues. But we are still not ahead in the game. Once it expires we probably just self insure ourselves for going through claim is quite a hassle.
Great post.
I think many people end up in that catagory so don’t beat yourself up too much. I’m glad you’ve been able to use the warranty even if it was overpriced!
Nina
Great post! We have always covered our RV’s with extended warranties and like you have been $$ ahead. But for us not enough to make much difference had we invest or saved the same amount we paid for the warranty. – Anyway, great review of the issues. Thanks.
Totally agree with your conclusions. That’s been our experience so far too. Nina
I have had a number of extended warrenties….one comes to mind was on my tow vehicle that was a Dodge diesel. I paid $1800 for it and was denied twice on service even though the items were covered. But, as you said, one was a gasket failure that lead to a major failure. I have since decided that with our MH we will maintain a $5k kitty and hope for the best as out MH is a 2002 and the warrenty cost are way out there. Thank you for your wonderful blog.
I’ve heard that same warranty story many times, unfortunately. Getting coverage denied is a common occurance. Self-insuring is definitely a viable option and makes even more sense with an older MH.
Nina
Great post and discussion! We just purchased a used 2013 RV and trying to decide if we should go the extended warranty route. This is our second used RV and I was able to do most of the repairs on the first one. So, after reading all the comments putting aside a repair reserve account makes the most sense. Thanks!
Have full coverage on my 2010 5th wheel but had bad experience with running over debris that fell off moving vehicle that caused extreme rocking & jolting to RV resulting in washer/dryer vibrating so violently in spin cycle first time we used it after this accident, that it blew the washer and inverter. RV ins. wouldn’t cover anything because no “external damage to RV” proving “collision”. Looking at extended warranties as future option, looked at Good Sam but saw under Exclusions: Any damage or failure resulting from Acts of god, power surges, collision, impact, upset, road damage. So this same damage we experienced would also not be covered? The salesperson said they would just repair or replace these items and not ask or question the cause…but that’s not what the policy says. What do you say?
That’s a tough one to answer. If the contract says it doesn’t cover road damaged items, then I guess it depends on whether the assessor that comes out (if one comes out) is able to tell the issue was caused by road damage or not? Not a clear-cut answer, I know, but the best I can give.
Nina
Reading my own comment, need to point out that I am exploring extended warranties for FUTURE coverage (not the current damage) to take care of damage not covered by my currrent RV insurance that covers comp & collision…but rejected damage from the above accident.
Thanks for the very useful info. After reading your blog and RVdreams blog we are going with Wholesale Warranties.net instead of the MPP Execu-Care that the dealer sells ($900 more) will see if they will throw in the wheel/tire protection on the ITASCA Navion we just bought.
Excellent! Hope the new warranty works out for you.
Nina
Excellent advise. I have my contract for a new Forest River Forester with the 7 yr warranty included for $3,900 waiting for me to sign from Camping World. I now will wait till after the first year and shop around now to see what fits for us. I did not realize there were other companies I could price shop for. I will be giving Wholesale warranty a call. Very grateful for your help.
Sounds like plan. Make sure the Forrester you’re buying has a 1 year manufacturer warranty on it (most new rigs do), but otherwise I think shopping around after that year is done is an excellent idea.
Nina
Thanks Nina
one more question. Should I get the Good Sam warranty or the wholesale warranties? It does come with a one year but you get the warranty for less when you purchase it when rv is new.
Thanks
Lisa
I’d get a quote from both places & compare the costs & terms.
Nina
As “Newbies” in RVing, I’m hoping this is not a childish note/question. We are preparing to purchase a 2004 Delmar 40′ diesel pusher Mountainaire. 65K miles. Loaded, from friends. They are selling for health reasons. We are strongly considering Wholesale Warranties like you did. Are you still pleased with them? My biggest concern is a breakdown on the road & how well they respond . Absolutely hate being stuck on the road.
So far so good. I have to admit we have not had any warranty repairs done in over a year, so can’t really comment further on the contract we signed. If shopping today however, I’d use them again.
Nina
Hi,
Are you still pleased with Wholesale Warranties?
Yes, still pleased with them, but admittedly we’ve had no major claims since I wrote this post. I still think they’re one of the better options out there.
Nina
We just bought a new Holiday Rambler Ambassador 2013 we love it. My husband is the handy type. We still have the year warranty, but we love to travel off the beaten trail and are worried about there being a Monaco dealer close. We are going to Moab in two weeks my husband thinks we need to get a warranty before we leave. What do you think?
gail
I honestly don’t think you’ll have an issue finding an authorized repair location if you need it, but that’s just my guess. If your husband is that worried, why not call Monaco and find out what services they have in the Moab area…just in case? That way, you can go feeling comfortable that there is an option nearby in case you need it.
Nina
We live in Australia and just purchased a 2004 Motorhome in the USA which we will pick up in May.
We intend to travel full time for a number of years in 6 month intervals.
Not knowing anything about the aftermarket warranty in the USA but feeling we need some sort of protection what would be your recommendation.
Rudi
Honestly my best advice would be to give the guys at Wholesale Warranties a call and see what they say. I’d look for a similar kind of warranty to what we got.
Nina
We’ve been thinking about and getting quotes for an extended warranty. Had Good Sam for our 2010 Cougar 5th wheel, but never needed them (had a repair but it was less than the deductible). We’ve gotten quotes from both Good Sam and Wholesale Warranties, and between trying to decide whether to get another extended warranty, and who to go with, we’re getting headaches. I figure you’ve done your (and our) homework. I think we’ll go with WW and see if they won’t throw in the tires. I like your professional approach to making your choice, so I’ll go with yours. My headache is already waning. LOL Thanks
Well I have to admit even writing the article gave me a bit of a headache 🙂 Warranties are not an easy thing to sort out. Glad I could ease the pain for you a bit. Good luck with everything!
Nina
Would stay away from good Sam. Lots of fine print. Bill horner
If you buy a new Forest River, pay the extra 150.00 to get the additional year of factory warranty (2 yrs) dealer will not tell you that but it is in the paperwork
Wow! Thanks for all the great input everyone! In 2000 we bought a ’92 Bounder with 40+K miles and got the extended warranty, which indeed did pay for itself, not without hassle, but it was well worth it. Now we are in the process of acquiring a 2000 36′ Dolphin with ~40K miles and of course had pressure to buy the dealer-offered two-year warranty backed by Allstate. We pick the unit up two days from now and are waffling over the decision. Lots of what-ifs and what-fors. So I’ll be spending tomorrow talking to providers. I’d feel a lot better if I could talk to the previous owner and get some (hopefully) honest assessment of the rig. Thank you again.
We have a contract with Good Sam and I agree that it probably is not worth the money and I am thinking about not renewing it this year. The consequential damage thing gives them too many way out. We have had two incidents, one was caused by a air hose that had a leak and caused the unit to miss and overhear. The exhaust manifold had to be replaced. They not only would not cover the hoses but the labor time is always less than the repair facility charges. Out of a $2300 bill they paid less than three hundred. I don’t need this type of insurance
So sorry to hear that. Sadly that’s a common occurance. We had Good Sam’s for a while and found the same thing. Too many easy “outs” for them not to pay.
Nina
We went with your suggestion for an extended warranty for our 5th wheel, and we’re so glad we did. The inspector was professional and fair when he came to check the RV. We’ve had a blown tire, and although it wasn’t new, they replaced the full cost. We feel very confident that we did the right thing. Thanks again for writing the article.
Very happy it worked out for you. Cheers for reporting back.
Nina
This has been VERY helpful information as we consider purchasing an extended warranty. Thanks for taking the time to enlighten and educate us!
Great article! Have just put a downpayment on 2003 Isata Sport Sedan. Will be going solo and worry about breakdowns and repairs. Will contact Wholesale Warranties for info. You should get a commission! 🙂
I believe that if you mention we sent you, we’ll get a small “gift” 🙂
Nina
Has anyone ever heard of RepairCare? We are buying a 2004 Winnebago Minnie from MHS in Alvarado, Tx. Repair Care is the extended warranty that they sell. I can’t seem to find much about it online. Any help? Carol
I’ve never heard of it, sorry. I’d advise reading the terms of the warranty very carefully, and also understanding how/where it can be used.
Nina
How do I contact Wholesale Warranties?
I put a link in the blog, but here it is again:
http://www.wholesalewarranties.com
Nina
what is your name so I can mention you and you receive your gift. you can send it to my email robin.phelps@airgas.com also if companies don’t do a pre-check how to they know if it was broken or not before you got the warranty??
Wheelingit or Nina Fussing will do the job for the referral (thanks so much for asking). Or, you can click the referral link on my sidebar.
As for your second question it’s a good one! It’s been a few years since we bought our warranty, but I hear some warranties require a physical inspection now. Also immediate claims are often dismissed (they’ll send out an inspector before repair to check the validity of the claim).
Nina
How did you negotiate a better price with WW? Just trow a number at them an let them say yes or no.
Thanks
John
I got competing insurance quotes from 2 other services & came back to them for a match or better.
Nina
Is it true there are also different ways deductibles can work? I am just starting the research, but I have heard that a deductible can be either per visit to repair shop or per “issue”. In other words if you bring in your RV for two different repairs, you could be charged two deductibles unless your plan is under per visit? Do you know anything about this?
This is true to my understanding. Our deductible is per visit. So, even if there are several warranty issues we only pay the deductible once if we get them all fixed at the same place.
Nina
at the same place and all issues at the same time right? If one thing breaks down in Jan. and another issue comes up in February, you’d have the deductible each time. Difficult to accumulate issues and have them repaired at the same time. However, we are very happy with your insurance recommendation. They’ve been excellent.
Yes, exactly. All repairs have to be done at the same place at the same time in order to pay the deductible just once. If you go to different spots or have repairs (even of the same item) at different times you pay the deductible each time. At least that’s how our warranty has worked. Other plans may differ.
Nina
Reading your blog has been immensely helpful in making a decision about warranties. We are picking up a 2008 Travel Supreme in a few days and I have been mulling over the pros and cons.
Would you mind sharing what other services you got quotes from before going back to WW. I think WW is the way to go for us considering this will be our first 5th wheel RV. My husband is a pretty handy guy, but there are so many components. Thanks for enlightening me.
We got quotes from both the other guys mentioned in the post Good Sam’s and GoRVWarranty. GoRVWarranty filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy a few months later so I’m very happy we didn’t chose them. Wholesale Warranty is still in business and they’re still my first choice for warranties.
Nina
Enjoyed reading several of your irv2 forum posts, especially on ACA. Always find your comments to be intelligently crafted.
Regarding Wholesale Warranties, I spoke with them recently to get a quote on the “most comprehensive policy they offer, regardless of price”. The contract for the policy is labeled as “Exclusionary”, which sounds good, until you read the 1st ‘exclusion’. It states “Any items not listed or included under the ‘What Is Covered’ section” So much for being an exclusionary policy. They also no longer appear to offer consequential damages, as they further exclude “damage to a covered part by a non-covered part, and damage to a non-covered part by a covered part”. I know this has got to be new policy language since you purchased yours. The only reason I mention this is because several folks appear to rely on your posts and recommendations without doing their own analysis (which is a testament to the thorough nature of your research and clear articulation of your findings), but things do change.
Again, always enjoy reading your stuff! Maybe we will meet down the road somewhere. Happy travels.
What a disappointment! So it seems a true exclusionary policy with consequential damage can no longer be bought from them. Were you able to find anyone else that offers one? I’ll see if there’s any chatter on the RV forums about this too.
Nina
I have been in contact with Wholesale Warranties just this week and asked about this. They do still offer a contract with consequential damage coverage, but it must be bid and written by an underwriter. It is also very expensive. It was that last word that made me stop pursuing it.
Thanks fir the feedback Donna. Seems consequential damage is really not much of an option anymore. I can’t imagine we’ll renew our current warranty after it expires.
Nina
Leaving early next week…. Had initially ignored the warranty option but stopped by the dealership where we bought the used (2011) travel trailer and they gave us the info again (no pressure per se but you can hear in their voices that they strongly “suggest” it; commission obviously). We have a bare bones trailer however, we do have a slide
You have to decide if the cost of the warranty is worth the potential cost of repair should something go wrong. Also the other things I mentioned in the article…Can you use the warranty anywhere? Does it cover consequential damage?
For big rigs like ours we have some major pieces such as engines and transmissions that can cost many $$ to repair so the warranty costs are a little easier to justify. I’m not too familiar with the potential failures in trailers so you’ll have to look into it and decided for yourself.
Hope that helps you decide.
Nina
We recently purchased, (2 days ago) a 2015 Itasca Navion. From reading your blog and the responses, I have the feeling most believe if your going to buy a warranty, buy it after the new warranty expires?? Needless to say, our negotiations with the dealer went very well, until the extended warranty came up. At that point we felt pressured, and probably made the mistake of signing an overpriced contract. The key here was the dealer telling us we had to sign up right then. Huge red flag should have went up….live and learn. We were told we could cancel at any time for a $50 fee. Looking at paying the $50 and canceling before the policy even takes effect. Haven’t even picked the RV up from dealer yet, warranty buyers remorse?? Thanks for your post..I appreciate everyone’s imput.
If you’re buying new there should be a manufacturers warranty on the rig, at least for the first year. But before you cancel I’d look in detail at the terms and perhaps compare it in pricing to an after-market warranty (that you would buy after the first year). If it’s a good warranty that can be used anywhere and has the kind of coverage you want it may still be worth keeping. If it can only be used at the dealer and/or doesn’t cover what you need and/or is terribly overpriced then I’d dump it.
Nina
Thanks Nina….One additional question. Is there a differance in pricing if we purchase an extended warranty on a new RV at the time of purchase versus waiting a year when the new warranty expires??
Sorry, don’t know the answer to that. I’d recommend you price it out w/ some of the after-market warranty guys and see what the result is.
Nina
After reading all of the post I was wondering if anyone one here has an older RV.
I just purchased a 2000 RV and I only found three companies that would insure it.
They are Nationwide Auto & Truck Warranties, United States Warranty Corporation and Southeast Financial.
Southeast Financial seemed to offer the best being a 2 year or 30000 miles.
But being a newbie in the RV world I don’t know if any of these companies are reliable.
So what are your thoughts.
Thanks
Joe
Purchased a new 2015 Winnebago Travato Class B a week ago. Our dealer quoted us an extended warranty for 5 years/ 999,000 miles and told us it would begin immediately if we purchased it. They also told us if we waited and purchased the warranty a year from now it would double or triple in price. (!) Our problem with this is the fact that our Dodge ProMaster chassis has a 3 year/36,000 mfg. warranty and a 5 year/100,000 drive train warranty. The Winnebago has a 12 month/15,000 mile basic warranty and all the interior components like the air conditioner, refrigerator, generator, furnace & hot water heater all have their own factory warranties of usually 1-2 years. So the extended warranty would not be used until all the other warranties expire – so for 2-3 years we wouldn’t use it anyway. Is that correct? Our dealer wanted it signed & sealed right away, but we waited and did some checking. Why buy something that is double coverage for the first few years?
That’s the way I understand it, certainly. I can’t really see the point in getting an extra warranty for something that is already covered by the manufacturer, especially on a new rig. My advice is to read into the details. Unless the warranty covers something significant that the manufacturer’s doesn’t I can’t see any reason to purchase it. I would just buy a warranty once the manufacturer’s expires.
Nina
Thanks for your reply and we will certainly check our Mfg. warranty details and compare against the extended warranty. I see they want their money right away even though they won’t be liable for any warranty payouts until several years go by and the mfg. warranties expire – that way they can use the money in the meantime. But why does the dealer tell us it will cost so much more if we wait? Doesn’t the term “extended” mean to “extend beyond the original product warranty”? They aren’t selling extended warranties that way – they want to sell them when you pick up your new RV and the start date is your day of delivery as well. That’s just wrong. Dealers make a lot on extended warranties and it shows.
Thanks again!
I think we all know why they want you to buy now. For the same reason this is done with many other items we buy. They don’t want to take a chance that you’ll go online and do a little research. They know if you do that research, you won’t be back to sign that extended warranty. I think it’s the biggest legal scam around. Red flags go up when someone says you can only buy this at a lower price today. Why? Are they closing the business tomorrow?
Thank you all for posting your experience with extended warranty. We just purchased our first new RV this week. We had a great experience with the sales person. (if we got ripped off, we sure don’t feel like it. 🙂 ) The finance person on the hand was another story; he was really pushing the extended warranty and made us feel like we were fools not to take it. Fortunately we told him that we’d get back to him and did some research and found this site, so THANK YOU ALL. We are not getting the extended warranty for now since we have the 1 yr manufacture warranty and will look into it next year to see if it’s right for us. Thanks everyone.
We purchased a 2010 keystone 39 foot fifth wheel from my mo when dad passed he purchased it new and never used it just sat in storage for 4 years for me the extended warranty was o my a $50 transfer and we have used it 3 times however now that it expires next month I’m not sure if we should buy an extended warranty or self insure. For only having taken the trailer out three times everyttime it has been back to shop for big repairs. Poor quality on keystones part I think. Any thoughts
Thank you thank you Nina and Paul for the initial conversation and then the updates by contributors over the years. I just got the hard sell at the dealership for a Route 66 policy for 7 years on a 24 foot new travel trailer, about 1900 dollars and I was shown a little plastic presentation card with bullet points about the policy and then asked to commit. I asked for an actual copy of the contract terms to read at home and you’d have thought I asked something unusual. I’ve decided without even wading through all the pages that did reluctantly get copied for me, to self insure possibly, but for sure not purchase before near the end of my one year dealer warranty. I’ve had a Class C previously, that was a complex rig, a travel trailer less complex. So the bottom line is at this point I’m not sure. What I do know is that there is a trusted RV repair shop near me and I intend to ask them how their experience has been with some of the different companies. The 2015 post about consequential damage inclusion into a policy now being expensive could just be the clincher: put money aside for future repairs, keep up with maintenance and don’t insure.
Good article. You had some good tips about how to choose an extended warranty.
Well, I regard the extended warranty as an insurance policy. You hope you never have to use it, but you are darn glad you have it if you need it.
Right now I am far ahead on mine (about 3x the purchase price). But does that make me happy? I don’t know. I am definitely happy to have had it when I needed it, but I sure would have been happier if I had never had to use it.
Some folks seem to feel they are a rip-off because they bought one and then never made a claim. I wonder how they feel about their other insurances – auto, homeowners, and, of course, life. I want to have these policies, but I do not look forward to using them.
I’m totally with you on this assessment. I view an extended warranty as insurance, no more. If I use it, great…if I don’t use it, even better.
Nina
My dealer has Easy Care Warranties, I have been on the web site to compare to Wholesale Warranties, I don’t see a lot of difference. Has anyone had any experience with them. I have had a quote from Wholesale Warranties and the salesman calls me back about once a month and seems very diligent in answering all of my questions. I did ask him about waiting a year until the manufacturers warranty expired, he quoted me on that, it will cost about $500 more and will only last for 6 years instead of 7. So, it looks like they got’cha on that one. Will be ordering my Heartland Big Horn 3670EL next week. Can’t wait.
I recently received a quote from Wholesale Warranties. Just as a reader remarked above, they no longer have a true exclusionary policy. Nor do their policies offer consequential damage. Also, I consider their marketing, including online brochures, to be deceptive. They claim to have exclusionary policies, but they don’t. What the call exclusionary actually have a long list of covered parts. At the end of the list, it says that all those parts are included as the exclusive exclusionary list. Deceptive use of double play. Anyone who hears they need to buy an exclusionary policy, and reads WW’s brochure, and the second page, with out clicking on the THIRD one down to actually see the agreement, will think they have one, when they don’t.
I’m dealing with that right now. Reading the contract was enlightening. The engine and transmission have good coverage, but I’m on a Ford so I’m still covered. Numbers 8 and 9 excludes anything that was not factory installed. For Class As that would include all chassis stability we added and any solar applications. I’ve a 2013 Newmar Bay Star with only 3500 miles but I’m fulltiming now. Today I cancelled my Good Sam Policy–4 claims the past year, all denied. It’s become much too complicated.
Bummer! Our warranty is coming up within a year and I’m not clear we’ll be renewing after that. It’s served us well, but the coach is starting to get to the age where we’ll likely choose to replace/upgrade stuff as it happens rather than repairing it (repair is what warranties always do). Also exclusionary warranties, such as the one we currently have are almost impossible to get anymore and that really does change things. With a “regular” inclusionary warranty it’s so much easier for the company to reject your claim.
I’ll be looking in detail at what’s available when we get to that point, and we may end up with a warranty that just covers the major aspects of the coach, but we may also go without.
Nina
Hi there
Does anyway have any positive or negative experience with Canadian extended warranty policies. I am about to buy a “gently used” 2014 Roadtrek CS Adventurous and the dealer is trying to sell me the “ultimate” First Canadian Protection Plan for $6225 CDN. I don’t intend to use my van anywhere close to fulltime.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
We are from Australia and on Our 3rd Year Touring the USA in 6-8 Month Intervalls. Our RV is a 16 year Old Safari Trek with 68.000 miles. Last year we took out a warranty through coach net for 3 years 30000 miles at a cost of $3300.
We used this warranty 5 times so far.
Mayor repair in the parking brake system $ 1450
Fridge repair $ 285
Hot water boiler repair $ 439
Broken awning Spring $ $ 234
Air conditioning repair and high pressure hose on hydraulic lifter $ 847
Our excess each time was $ 100
We never had a problem with the company paying up and considering that this warranty runs for another 2 years or 20000 miles I am very glad I took it out as by now I almost recovered my costs. This warranty can also be transferred to a new owner in case I sell the RV.
I highly recommend coachnet. Very easy and frindly to deal with and no hassle.
I wrote an article in my blog about extended warranties. You might want to take a look at it. BTW I follow your blog.
Mel
The article that I wrote was called “Extended Warranties are they Worth it”.
Here is the link https://rvbloggers.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/rant-2/
Awesome thread – kudos Nina and RV friends! Indeed, WW continues to offer exclusionary warranty protection – approximately a 10 percent premium.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya7OpOmCvYA&feature=youtu.be
Excluded items include:
AWNING MATERIAL, FRAME, STRUCTURAL DAMAGE,
ADJUSTMENTS, ALIGNMENTS, BEDDING, BOWED WALLS OR CEILINGS, BUMPERS, CABINETRY; CABLE, CARPET, SATELLITE AND TELEPHONE WIRING; CAULKING OR GROUTING, CEILINGS, COSMETIC DAMAGE, DELAMINATION, DISCOLORATION OF ANY
MATERIAL, COUNTERTOPS, DOORS, CARPET, FLOORING (WOOD, HARD SURFACE AND RESILIENT), FURNITURE, GLASS, GLAZING, GLUING COMPOUNDS, KNOBS OR DIALS, HAZARDOUS WASTE REMOVAL, LOOSE FASTENERS OR CONNECTIONS, LOUVERS,
MAINTENANCE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES, MICROWAVE OR OVEN MEAT PROBES OR ROTISSERIES, RACKS, SHELVES, BASKETS OR BUCKETS, NON-FACTORY INSTALLED AUDIO SYSTEMS AND DISC PLAYERS, NON-FACTORY OR NON-DEALER INSTALLED COMPONENTS, ROOFING MATERIALS, SEALANTS, SHEET METAL, SIDING, SHOP SUPPLIES, SQUEAKING, WHEELS/RIMS, UPHOLSTERY, CANVAS, WARPING OR UNEVEN FLOORS, RAMPS, VANITIES, VENTS, WALLS, GLASS, WASHERS, WATER LEAK
REPAIRS (OTHER THAN PLUMBING), WEATHER STRIPPING, WHEEL BALANCING, WIND NOISES, RETRACTABLE SCREENS, WINDOW SHADES, TREATMENTS AND DRAPERIES, WINDOWS, WOOD FRAMING, WOODWORK AND MILLWORK.
FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING PARTS: BATTERY, BATTERY CABLES, BRAKE PADS AND SHOES, BRAKE ROTORS AND DRUMS (UNLESS IN CONNECTION WITH A COVERED PART FAILURE), BRIGHT METAL PARTS, CARBURETOR, CELLULAR PHONES, COOLANTS
AND FLUIDS (UNLESS IN CONNECTION WITH A COVERED PART FAILURE), DISTRIBUTOR CAP, DISTRIBUTOR ROTOR, DRIVE BELTS, EGR VALVE, EXHAUST PIPES, CATALYTIC CONVERTER, MUFFLER, RESONATORS, FILTERS, WATER PURIFICATION FILTERS, WATER SEPARATORS, FREIGHT, GLOW PLUGS, HOSES OR LINES NOT SPECIFICALLY LISTED IN THE SCHEDULE OF COVERAGES SECTION, INFRARED SYSTEMS, LIGHT BULBS, SEALED BEAMS, LENSES; MANUAL CLUTCH ASSEMBLY, MANUAL CLUTCH HYDRAULICS,
LINKAGE AND PEDAL, METAL OR PLASTIC TRIM, PAINT AND COSMETIC REPAIRS, PERSONAL COMPUTERS, RATTLES, RUBBER MOLDINGS, WEATHER STRIPS, SAFETY RESTRAINT SYSTEMS (AIR BAGS AND SEATBELTS), SHOCK ABSORBERS, SPARK PLUGS,
SPARK PLUG WIRES, STORAGE, ENGINE THERMOSTAT, TUNE UP, WIPER ARMS AND WIPER BLADES.
Also excluded are common sense items:
Any losses resulting from collision or upset, road hazards, fire, arson, earthquake, windstorm, ice, hail, flood, contact with animal, breakage of glass, acts of war, rebellion, or revolution, corrosion, rust, deterioration, and condensation. Cosmetic damage or cosmetic related repairs (scratches, nicks, dents or tears).
Lastly, the appx. 10 percent premium includes Consequential Loss Coverage, providing coverage for the repair of a Covered Part if the failure of the Covered Part was caused by the action or inaction of a non-covered part.
So if a non-covered part such as a fan belt or radiator hose ruptures and damages the engine, your engine repair costs would still be covered with the policy. Sorry for the long post – hope this helps clear up some of the confusion…
Happy trails, Michael
Cheers for the details Michael!
Nina
Michael, I am trying to figure out what is included if all that is excluded? I am a new babe in the woods on understanding our 2012 Fleetwood bounder motor home and all the ins and outs. Is this a good warranty or bad? My husband won’t be helping me much with this, I am on my own!
Holly
Sorry for missing your question Holly. While I haven’t filed any claims, my sense during the pre-sale process is that they are professionally run and know their business very well. They sent a master mechanic to thoroughly checkout the RV prior to writing the contract. When I asked the sales rep about how the insurance works, who I call, how everything works (reimbursement), various scenarios, etc, the rep answered thoroughly with details that bolstered my confidence. Hope that helps a bit.
Hi Nina! I’ve been following your blog for a couple of years now (feeling a bit like a stalker) and just made the leap to full-time a month ago.
In the process of researching extended warranties for my 10+ yo Gulf Stream Independence when I found your article in a Google search. Very happy to see you recommend Wholesale Warranties as they have topped my list. I understand why you don’t recommend extended warranties for older rigs but I’m willing to pay for the peace of mind…at least for now. If my understanding is correct, the policy can be transferred and/or cancelled at any time.
Your blogs have been tremendously helpful for me as I made decisions around selling my house, purging or storage (I chose purging and pawning off sentimental items on family), trip planning and places to go while traveling with a spoiled French Bulldog!
I’m starting from the PNW and looking forward to spending some time in the SW this winter. Who knows…maybe our paths will cross somewhere along the way.
Excellent! So glad the article was helpful. Best of luck with your fulltime travels and maybe we’ll see you down the road.
Nina
We bought a “Wholesale Warranty” for our new travel trailer in 2014. One of our leaf springs completely snapped apart and on the other side of axle the spring is bent. The other springs on the front axle are also bent. Wholesale will only pay for the completely broken piece and not the bent parts, which would effect the trailer greatly. Called the company and if the part is still together, they will not replace it even if it is damaged. Just giving my experience. I have photos showing the damage and they were sent to Wholesale.
Very sorry to hear this! I hope you don’t mind if I ask a few more questions. Did your warranty have consequential damage? Who was the underwriter?
I sure hope you manage to get it resolved.
Nina
There was nothing on paper about consequential damage and when I called to ask about that, they said that if it was still together, then they would not fix anything but the broken part. I have some photos if you are interested. Thanks for the concern. Jim
Bought the Good Sam’s Extended Warranty we had problems so we went to the repair shop gave them the Good Sam’s card with the number told them they needed to call and get approval which we thought they did Good Sam’s says they didn’t? They still say they called it was over a weekend which Good Sam’s is not open so Monday they say they talked to them and everything was ok. We paid the bill and headed home now Good Sam’s won’t pay saying we needed to wait for a adjuster to come out the following week to look at the motorhome can most people sit around for a week to wait on them? Good Sam’s is a scam!!
Wow, very sorry to hear that Good Sam failed so miserably. Candidly, whenever a company goes way overboard on marketing hype and pre-sales correspondence, I become very cautious. Certainly a solid, reputable company should not have to be sending me multiple emails every week. And when you read so many others RVers share a large number similar stories one begins to get a clear picture to stay clear of such companies. Hopefully you can get some measure of resolution – thank you for sharing your story and keep us appraised of further developments…
As previously stated I was very happy with the coachnet warranty and as we finished our America travel 6 month ago we sold the Rig to an English gentlemen who flown over from the UK to the states and inspected the RV.
The process went very well and I gave him the transfer form and all the papers related to the warranty.
Unfortunately ( for him) coachnet did invalidate the warranty because he did not send the paperwork back to them within the 30 days as required, therefore wasting over 15 months of cover remaining on the warranty. I thought it a bit unfair by the company to treat him that way and feel quite sorry for the buyer.
The lesson learned however is always read the small print.
At the present we are travelling in a motorhome through Europe and having a great time.
All the best to everyone
Rudi&cherryl
Thanks very much for reporting on that. I really like Coachnet, but I wasn’t aware of the strict 30 day limit for transfer of their policy. Very good to know.
Nina
Wow been checking out the costs of getting an extended warranty on a 2014 Win Tour42QD. WW is asking 10k for a 4 year Exclusionary with consequential. I am not sure at that price if it isn’t wiser to self insure. 10k can pay for a lot of repairs excluding something catastrophic.
AGwS is somewhat better with 8k + tax for a 6 year exclusionary but no consequential. They seem to rely on your comprehensive insurance to pick up any of that damage. I also have read a lot of bad things about them so not sure if I want to travel that road
I am really at a loss as good sams seems like a waste of time to. Does anyone know of another reputable warranty company? I wanted to get quote on a few before I circle around to see if I can get them to lower their prices.
The whole thing is making my head hurt lol. Wish I could afford a new Tour but hey going to be happy with this one provided everything checks out with the inspection.
Update Cornerstone policy with another dealer was 13k +tax for 4 year Exclusionary no consequential with 200 deductible. Things are going from bad to worse . Was also told Florida regulates the prices so there is no movement or negotiating. Not 100% sure on that but will investigate.
Not sure what to tell you RandGTeam. There’s no doubt $8-13K is a hefty investment for something you may or may not ever use. But it all depends on your level of comfort with risk, plus how comfortable you are with self-insuring. Another alternative is to try and see if there’s a narrower-type of warranty that covers the biggest ticket items (e.g. Engine, chassis, transmission etc.) but lets you self-insure for the rest? That may be a decent middle-ground?
We are actually getting to the end of our initial warranty purchase for our 2008 HR so we’re wavering with this same decision ourselves. We used our warranty 4 times during the course of the time we had it (for our microwave, our awning motor, and a few other items), so it certainly returned some useful $$ for us, but we’ve never needed it for any of our big ticket items, so it was simply a risk-coverage for that. I don’t regret buying it (and would absolutely do the same again today), but we may or may not get another now that our coach is 7-8 years older. It’s always a balance of risk versus comfort level. If we buy again we’re definitely going through Wholesale Warranty. I’ve been very happy with their support and service over the years, so I’m comfortable recommending them to others.
I hope you find the right solution for you!
Nina
I just had a terrible experience with First Extended Service Corporation aka “Portfolio”. They are a complete waste of money, I will NEVER buy from them again and suggest you stay FAR FAR AWAY. I bought my Jayco Jay Feather travel trailer from Richardson’s RV. The trailer was nearly brand new when I got it, the previous owner had if for less than 6 months, it still had the new trailer smell and the dealer completely serviced the trailer prior to handing me the keys. I drove the trailer less than 2k miles per year and hadn’t even reached year 3 of my 4 yr $1,300 warranty period when the torsion axle failed. The repair shop could not determine the cause. “Portfolio” failed in their communication with the repair shop and did not follow their prescribed procedures so I was forced to step in. From the first call I got the impression I was dealing with people determined to deny my claim. I called to ask what was taking so long and they said they had requested for me to provide my service records (this was a lie, they told the repair shop that they will be sending an inspector and never asked for any service records). I couldn’t provide my records to the customer service rep and within a few hours they had denied my claim for the axle. They said I needed to prove the bearings were serviced once per year to qualify, end of story, no other consideration would be given. Their customer service rep even seemed happy they denied my one and only claim. After that experience, I probably will never purchase extended coverage again, especially from “Portfolio” First Extended RIP OFF CORPORATION!!
Gosh, I’m so sorry to hear this Darrell. Many warranties require regular service records, and sometimes those service periods are excessive (I mean who actually services their wheel bearings once per year?? I literally don’t know anyone that does!). But they can then use that as an easy excuse to deny claims later on. It’s one of those devilish details that are sometimes hidden in the written details of the warranty, which can come to haunt you later. I’m so very sorry you found out the hard way, and I truly appreciate the warning about that company to others.
Thank you libertatemamo, I appreciate your comment and empathy. Yes, sometimes you have to learn things the hard way. One of the most frustrating things about it was the lack of consideration I was given. I understand the logic behind asking for service records but to have to replace an axle on a trailer as new as mine with such little use is absurd. Their style of communication and handling of my case just tells me they are not looking for long term relationships with their customers. Kindly, Darrel
I totally agree that requiring to see service on your axle when it’s basically brand new is ridiculous. This is something you’d absolutely expect to be covered by a warranty, so it’s incredibly frustrating that it isn’t. I hope it’s a quick fix despite the many $$$.
Nina
P.S. This is a long-shot, but since your trailer is so new would it be covered under a manufacturer’s warranty (Jayco)? Many RV/trailers get a year’s coverage from the manufacturer. Just another thought and avenue to look at…
Agreed Darrell, when a warranty company INVENTS crazy service intervals not specified by the manufacturer, you are indeed being ripped off. If possible, write/email the company and get written documentation with their official position (with their name and position). Then try escalating the issue to the supervisor, manager, etc. Advise management of your intention to share their level of service with BBB and consumer reviews and if necessary, follow through. Unfortunately, with your company they have DOZENS of terrible reviews – a reminder we should all do due diligence to search the internet prior to purchasing a warranty.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/auto_warranty/first_extended_service.html
Better luck in the future.
Thank you Michael, I appreciate the guidance. When I told “Portfolio’s” customer service person that I didn’t think my case had been properly considered and that I would like to know how to escalate or what might be the next steps he said, “sorry, the decision has been made” and refused to give me anymore information about it. Like he was almost happy about my claim being denied. I called Jayco and their customer service lady said they recommend to repack wheel bearings once per year or every 12k miles but I pointed out to her that it was no where to be found in the owners manual and she said “it’s written there somewhere” but I can tell you, the owners manual is 134 pages long and it isn’t in there. Not knocking the Jayco people, they seem to be very nice and try to be helpful, she just didn’t know where it was written. I will try to follow up on that. Regardless of any possible recommended axle service interval, given that my trailer is so new and so lightly used, axle failure should not have occurred. The RV repair facility was critical of “Portfolio’s” handling of my case but they’re not at all surprised, they see this sort of thing all the time they said. I will likely follow through as you suggested and also call Dexter, the axle manufacturer to discuss, but I’ve already opened up my wallet and ordered the new torsion axle. It might take about 3 weeks to get, hoping to have this all fixed in time for our Memorial Day trip. Kindly, Darrel
Thank you for clarifying you are referencing a TRAILER – my bad for missing that important point. I see several sites seem to suggest an annual repack, depending on wear and tear (heavy usage, submerged boat trailers, etc.) We appreciate you sharing your lessons learned and experiences with your questionable service company. Warm regards, Michael
Hi there Nina. My wife and I purchased a camper last year it’s a 2012 Shadow Cruiser travel trailer. We purchased and ext. warranty as this is our first camper. The dealership only offered us this company preseRVe. They have paid all of the claims so far which is great. We just took it in for 1.Outside shower has crack 2. Tongue Jack died upon dropping it off at the dealer 3. Locking Mechanism on a storage door 4. Cold water Valve needs replaced. Found out the warranty is covering all said items under one claim for the deductible of $100. We were also informed of a “Slide out issue”. They told me is had something to do with a joist coming lose, so they would have to fix that. They also stated that the warranty wouldn’t cover it, because it had to do with Structural. My warranty paper-just 1 paper, doesn’t disclose anything about not covering it. All it states is SLIDE OUT Covered…
So I guess my question for you and anyone else would be — Is this typical for a company not to cover this issue with the slide? We bought this used and I really just think it had issues that the previous owner knew about, but pointless now!
It really depends on the fine-print of the warranty. Were there no other paper details except that 1 page? Things like wear and tear, are not typically covered by warranty so if they determine that’s the cause you’re typically out of luck. But build issues on the other hand should be covered. Of course “slide out” could also mean just the slide out itself is covered but not the mechanism that drives it (details, details). I’d certainly challenge them on it and ask for supporting documentation on the warranty to prove the claim isn’t supported.
Nina
So happy to read your post about extended warranties. We just bought our first trailer and told the dealership we would think about the warranty. One question I have, is the warranty more expensive if we wait to buy it once the manufacturer warranty expires, or do we purchase now with the warranty going into effect once manufacturer warranty period expires ?
Warranty prices change each year your rig ages. Personally I’d buy it just before the one from your manufacturer expires (so, just before the year is up).
Nina
Hello Everyone….
We are this close to finding and then purchasing our first MT.. a DP Winnebago Forza. Thank you very much for your post in pushing forward my level of knowledge… Curious.. its 2018 and your extended warranty should be up… Did you renew and when.. what did you find?
Great post–you can tell how useful it is, given that some 5.5 years after you posted it, it’s still being viewed and generating comments. I called WholeSale Warranties as per your suggestion and got a quote, which was about $1,000 less than the warranty the dealer wanted to sell us. However, the policy they quoted is backed by Plateau Casualty Insurance Company, an AM Best A- rated insurance carrier, which is not as good as the one you got. I also can’t find many details on this insurance company own the web, which makes me rather apprehensive.
Another factor, is that we’re buying the RV new. It’s a Pleasure-Way and comes with Pleasure-Way’s warranty that covers the coach for 5 years or 60,000 miles, along with the RAM Promaster basic limited warranty of 3 years or 36,000 miles and powertrain limited warranty of 5 years or 60,000. It looks to me, that for the first three to five years, I’m pretty well covered by the manufacturers warranties (except the appliances), so I’m not sure whether I really need the 7 year extended warranty WholeSale Warranties is offering, which basically only gives me two years of additional coverage. I asked them about getting the extended warranty after I had the van for a couple of years, but was told that it’s not cost effective and that they can only cover for five years, not seven.
Do you have any suggestions about my predicament? Would you get an extended warranty under similar circumstances or would you stick with the manufacturers warranties and pay anything else out of pocket? I hope you can provide me with some feedback on this. I appreciate your attention.