Extended Warranties... Are They Worth It?

[Battenkiller]

I recently got a Task Force splitter from Lowes. Warranty is for 2 years. I can add another year for $40, or 2 more years for $60. I fully expect this thing to die of abuse before the two years are up. If it dies after that point I'm SOL.

I never bought an extended warranty in my life, but this seems like it may be worth it.

Opinions?

 

[DanCorcoran]

If it dies of abuse, it won't be covered under any warranty...

 

[stee6043]

What Dan said. I'd read the fine print before paying a dime for any "extended warranty". It likely excludes every mode of failure except for a clearly identifiable manufacturing defect in a very limited area of the machine somehow not subjected to normal wear and tear....

 

[Jags]

What Dan said. I'd read the fine print before paying a dime for any "extended warranty". It likely excludes every mode of failure except for a clearly identifiable manufacturing defect in a very limited area of the machine somehow not subjected to normal wear and tear....

And only if it happens on the third Sunday of the month with a full moon.

Read the fine print. Most of those are such a PIA to deal with, that you won't. But it may also depend on whether or not your dealing with Lowes or Task Force.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, mine is around 20 years old and I've never had one problem yet. I would not have purchased an extended warranty with it anyway.

 

[DanCorcoran]

"But it may also depend on whether or not your dealing with Lowes or Task Force. "

If it's like most products, you're dealing with a third-party insurer who makes money by not paying out claims. They don't have to rely on repeat business, either, since it's Lowes or Task Force that is their customer, not you.

There's a reason that auto and homeowner insurance companies are regulated...

 

[Jags]

"But it may also depend on whether or not your dealing with Lowes or Task Force. "

If it's like most products, you're dealing with a third-party insurer who makes money by not paying out claims. They don't have to rely on repeat business, either, since it's Lowes or Task Force that is their customer, not you.

There's a reason that auto and homeowner insurance companies are regulated...

Very good point.

 

[burr]

Lowes will let you hang.

 

[Thistle]

The only time I purchased the extended warranty on anything recent was this PC in April 2008.3yrs for $129 all parts/labor covered.In early July the motherboard was toast,BestBuy had to send it in for replacement & reinstall.Took 2 weeks before it was back.They said 'If our Insurance company dont authorize the repairs (right at $400 for the motherboard & labor),we'll give you a new tower of comparable price & features."

Must not have been any squabbles,cause they did the repairs,plus added another 9 months on my original warranty. :coolsmile:

 

[southbound]

I do get the extended warranty on stuff I think will be worth it.. Just bought a camcorder for my wife did I buy the warranty no why because if it fail the newer ones will be better.....

I did buy one with bestbuy for my monitor and 2 months before it went out my monitor died and they fixed it.. I also have a 15 year old canister vac from sears it is a Kenmore and they have fixed it more then once for me...

I'm just saying that sometimes I think they are worth it....

 

[Battenkiller]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

Today was the last day to add the coverage, and in the end, I wimped out and bought the blasted thing for $40. I plan on really using the hell out of this splitter, and the Task Force warranty only covers manufacturers defects. Might as well not be any warranty at all. The outdoor guy at Lowes said only things like hoses and hydraulic fluid wouldn't be covered. Motor, pump, switches, welds, ram, cylinder, etc. would all be covered, even in the case of wear. If I do have a problem with them, I'll at least get the satisfaction of venting 275 pounds of self-righteous BK fury at the unsuspecting salesperson who has the misfortune to tell me it won't be covered. That's got to be worth 40 bucks right there. :coolgrin:

 

[southbound]

I was trying to remember this earlier... I wanted to put a beer tap in the house..So I run out and buy a new fridge and get the extra warranty.. got the thing in the house and as I drilled a hole in it for the tap I looked up at my wife and said"I think I just voided the warranty" lol..........

 

[mayhem]

The one time I bought an extended wrranty was on a 27" tv I bought in 1988. I was a teenager and was very excited about my fancy new TV and wanted to get the extra year's worth of protection. Well sure enough, the sucker waited until 25 months of ownership had passed and then it blew itself out.

Extended warrantiea are rarely worth buying.

 

[DanCorcoran]

Extended warranties are like Lotto tickets: sure some people win, but on average, the company running things stays in business by paying out a lot less than they take in.

 

[mainstation]

I like extended warranties on stuff I know I cannot possibly fix or buy replacement parts for....stuff like my front load washing machine, dryer, fridge and oven. My front load warranty extended for another 5 years was less of an expense than just one phone call to the repair man and he has been here 2x in the last 3 1/2 years. Also when we bought our current house the previous owner had purchased an extended warranty on his Lennox HiEff Oil Furnace. Well this fall we had a routine service/maintenance call and we were told the heat exchanger was shot and needed to be replaced asap. Well it just happened to be covered under warranty and saved us the $1100.00 part and the $200.00 labour.
Other stuff like chainsaws and small engine stuff I can usually fix and rarely buy the extended warranty.

 

[John_M]

Battenkiller, I hope the extended warranty has "Seals and Gaskets" coverage. Many extended warranties do not provide this coverage. As others have suggested, read the small print. ;-)

 

[gpcollen1]

I don't buy extended warranties - EVER. The only product I needed the warranties on have had issues in the first year under the manufacturers warranty.

 

[Intheswamp]

HARBOR FREIGHT

Yelp, the good ol' china tool shop has one of the best extended warranties in the business They basically have a "if it breaks we'll replace it one time for you" warranty...with pretty much no questions asked. Just keep your receipt and warranty paper in a safe place. Check it out next time you're at HF. We had two HF floor jacks at the tire shop that we had a 2-year warranty on. Just before the warranty expired we hauled them back to HF...one had a bad wheel, the other had acquired too much play in the spider gear. These jacks had been *used up*. No questions asked...they gave us new jacks. It did cost of $10 each....for a new extended warranty on the new jacks. ;-)

Ed

 

[muncybob]

To me an extended warranty is like me saying "I bet it'll fail" and them saying "We bet it won't".
With that said I did buy one only once...ever. That was on a Dyson cleaner...wife talked me into it, she's a clean freak and with the dogs we have always had she runs that thing hard every day. They have had to repair something on an almost annual basis so in this cae it was worth it...but we won't be extending it again as the annual cost is now rediculous, I can buy a new one with another new warranty and basically break even over the same time frame.

 

[firefighterjake]

Very rarely do I buy an extended warranty . . . from what I've read most consumer magazines suggest that most EWs are not worth the extra cost and as Muncybob mentioned it seems if something is going to crap out it is either during the warrantee period or well after.

 

[firefighterjake]

Very rarely do I buy an extended warranty . . . from what I've read most consumer magazines suggest that most EWs are not worth the extra cost