Extended warranty is it worth it?

[Botabill]

It seems every company/retailer is trying squeeze an extra buck out of you with these add on warranties (polite description). Never bought one and never wish I had. If a product can't out last the facotry warranty by many years I'd never buy that companies product again.

 

[Botabill]

Never say never. I said no to the Toyota salesman, then out of curiosity asked for the parts cost of the master cylinder which controls much of the vehicle stability control system. $2500 at that time. So for $900 I bought a bumper to bumper 100,000 mile extended warranty on a new 2004 4-Runner. Standard warranty was 50,000 miles. At 60,000 the front differential was replaced for the $50 deductible. Then the transmission. Then a couple of wheel bearings and a broken plastic cowling. Then a brake cylinder and a shorted $3500 computer. Then an air conditioner repair on the other side of the continent. Then struts and shocks. Then I traded it at 101,000 on a new SUV from a different manufacturer, and needless to say bought the warranty. Not quite as dramatic for my wife's last two cars, but any modern vehicle with their very expensive electronics parts seems ripe for a multi-thousand dollar hit. You have to bargain for a decent price on those warranties among competing dealers. These expenses may not be life threatening but they can cut pretty deep. I'd rather be hit for the cost of unused insurance bought with the expensive tractor or car than be hit with the same cost for a repair that shouldn't have happened.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll never buy a Toyota.

 

[ray66v]

This is an insurance policy.

They offer these because they make out on the deal, so the odds are against you.

Just like every so often, someone in Vegas and wins, once in a while, someone comes out ahead with an extended warranty. However, the majority do not.

If your so afraid your going to have a catastrophic failure, you can't sleep at night, buy a warranty.

If you care about saving money, don't.

 

[buck12]

Funny extended warranty story: Bought my daughter a soccer goal for $150 and the young cashier at the sporting goods store asked if I wanted the extended coverage for $19.99. When I told him no thanks his reply was that I would be out the cost of the goal if the net tore. He continued to hound me about the coverage until I told him this was a kid's toy not an investment. Apparently the cashiers at this store get a good commission for selling extended warranties.

By the way I never buy extended warranties and to date I am far ahead.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I dont agree with that. Yes some companies do try that aproach but I for one dont. I do offer it to the customer and leave it at that. If they decide they want it or want to know more about it then we go into details. I for one get the warranty on all new tractors i get BUT i also use my tractors for income. I put anywhere from 2200 to 3500 hrs a year on my tractors so the warranty has paid off for me in the past. Now someone who doesnt put that many hrs on a tractor prob doesnt need it. It boils down to what your doing with the tractor and what kind of hrs your putting on it.

For JLSmith to not buy an extended Warranty would be less than smart. For a Massey Ferguson Dealer that sells the Warranty to not be able to tell his customers that he doesn't buy the product himself would lose him so much money in commisssions. He makes money by buying it. The rest of us not being dealers come from a different world.
Also putting 2900 to 3500 hours per year on a tractor, like JL says he does, puts him in another world from the rest of us that may do 100 to 200 or less a year.
I've bought 11 Kubotas (no Massey Fergusons) in almost seven years and rarely put over 100 hours on any of them. I'd be foolish to buy an extended warranty. Mine are under warranty and all have been as long as I owned them.
JL and I are probably the far ends apart in this picture. Probably most of you are somewhere in between me (the customer and Kubota owner) and JL (The Dealer and abnormal user of Massey Ferguson tractors). Those closer to JL should buy it and those closer to me shouldn't.
Get all the information, consider the repair history of your brand and decide what best applies to your situation. Course the toughest one is to determine your mental state of what keeps you from sleeping at night.

 

[funwithahoe]

IF you want to be skinny do what skinny people do. If you want to be wealthy do what wealthy people do - They don't buy "insurance" for something that they have a great deal of control over (not complete control but how you use a quality piece of equipment greatly determines how long it will last).

I know there are exceptions and antecdotes of how a warranty saved the day but in life you sometimes take risks and the SUM of those decisions over years and years make the difference between increasing wealth or not.

Insurance is a MUST for catastrophic events but if you can't afford to fix your 'Bota maybe you shouldn't have it - In the end for most of us a 'Bota is a luxury item. We could live in the city or most of the projects we do don't NEED to be done. There are lots of tractors for sale that will do a really good job for a fraction of the price.

Anyways my 2 cents. Some people get passionate about their tires - I am passionate about financial decisions!