Pick up a copy of Motorhome magazine, a copy of the FMCA magazine, etc. Read the letters to the guys who fix the problems that most peole can't get reimbursed/fixed. Over half the complaints are about warranties that these companies don't honor.
not worth the hassle or the $. I would put the money away, like was said, and use it when needed.
ONE exception. The stupid Norcold thing. I did my second year service JUST in the nick of time. the last week I had (of the 2nd year), I took the rig to one of their Norcold service authorized places (rip off I thought) and they 'SAID" they did the work. I'm not so sure they really did, the guy didn't even know I had the gas shut off, and claims he was able to light the frig pilot anyway. I doubt it highly.
However, for $40 I got the 3rd year parts warranty. Norcold sent me a letter confirming it.
Why do I care? On my trip to alaska last year, the cooling coils on my 1 1/2 year old Norcold SNAPPED. Dumped the coolant (ammonia, yummm) into the rig. Smell was ghastly. Couldn't even call to get a replacement until we got near Fairbanks, and it would take 9 days for them to TRUCK the new one (which cost as much as the frig///nearly $1,000) to Anchorage. Went 11 days without a frig. Thanks to all the BF'ers and others who carried all our refrig/freezer stuff and my meds. (Thanks George and Sue Boley!)
I am glad I did not have to pay for that new coil unit. I've also had to replace the door unit once, and have a broken nub holding one of the shelves again. Not sure it's worth the bother. it's the tiny shelf on top. there wasn't but 2 small jars in it, but it was laying on top of the shelf under it when I opened the door. Also happened on the Alaska trip
After my experiences with that Norcold Frig, I would want it covered by warranty if at all possible. They're just too unreliable. I've seen others with problems here. The warranty for that one item seems to be worth it.
Warranties that cover the lamps on flat screen LCD tv's for 4 years are also a good bet, because they will prob. have to be replaced in 2 and cost $200 or more, plus labor (if you use the set like a home set...all the time). If you go through 2 of bulbs you got your money back, and then some.
They are the ONLY 2 things I would buy an extended warranty for. They are profit centers for companies, and they don't like to pay. But I've gotten my warranty money out of my BF. Luck of the draw I guess. My generator had a bad main circuit board within a year. We won't even go into the leak that cost a partial set of cabintry.
And I dont' do anything with my rig that others don't do to thiers, so I don't know what happened to me this time. I LIKE MY WARRANTY. I will either miss my warranty when it's over, OR everything will be like new.
<grin>
Only partly tongue in cheek. One thing I can say is that I have had ZERO trouble in obtaining warranty service for almost any part. From Born free, or from others, like in anchorage, Corpus Christi, TX, etc. I have had exceptionally good results getting my warranty honored. Carefree of Colorado didn't really want to fix my awning after their people messed it up, but they did.
But that frig. Ouch. Oh, last time I called Norcold, and gave them the serial number for that frig, the lady on the phone read the service history for a moment, then said, "Wow"...I laughed. She was impressed with how much history that frig has with them.
All I can say is that I am owed about ten years of perfectly trouble free RVing now.
Trish