car/home warranties

[old2soon]

         I'm seeing a Lot od ads for after market warranties for home/auto. Anyone here have an aftermarket home/auto protection plan? If yes-would you mind sharing costs and benefits? Or should I just stay the heck away? I would E-mail them except when you E-mail a business once-well you Know!  I KNOW it is a big ask but if you'd like to share others here might also preciate it. 
         Notice NO politics-NO virus talk-JUST an honest curiosity based question. As always-T I A. RIDE SAFE.

[..]

Local radio consumer guy says to only buy a manufacturer warranty AND read it very closely BEFORE purchase.

[Jess from VA]

Insurance is all about selling more policies than payouts, to profit the seller.

There is insurance you must have (by law) vehicle, and must have by common sense (homeowners) (and if you have a mortgage, the mortgagor requires it and makes it part of the payment, to protect them, not you).  Most businesses need insurance for liability (and liability lawyers).

Insurance is also about risk assessment.  If you think your lifestyle is risky, you can add coverage.  Many can add balloon liability to existing policies for fairly reasonable rates (but you must make sure they cover the risks you are worried about).

People are now buying CCW coverage (for legal defense, if needed).  The deeper your pockets (the more you have to loose), the better idea this is.  But I have not done any research or study of this issue.  Since I have never shot anyone (and only showed a pistol a couple times, which was the minimum force necessary to defuse the situation), I assess my risk as low.  

These new policies offered to cover car and home appliance repairs seem to appeal to fear more than reason.  And, they must be considered in light of standard existing warranty (or any extended warranty you got or paid extra for) on your cars and appliances.  Do you need double coverage?  The guys that figure out the policy rates have determined they will collect more than they pay out, so why help them make a profit on you?

I do my homework and buy the best quality cars and appliances I can afford.  I take whatever warranty is free, and I never (ever) pay for extended warranty of any kind.  So I am mostly self insured, and over a lifetime, I have no regrets.

I've had a reasonably decent history of no or low cost repairs of cars and appliances, with a couple exceptions, and think if I had been carrying continuing insurance coverage for these things, the coverage costs would have far outstriped my actual out of pocket repair expenses.

Insurance is also a state of mind thing.  If you are a worrier, and coverage makes you worry less, then it may be worth it to you for that reason alone.  

I have a lifetime negative attitude about banks (not credit unions), insurance companies and all government.  I have a built in suspicion about all of them, and all they do, and all they charge me.  They've earned it.  None are your friends, they all want to take as much as they can get from you, so give them as little as you have to.  That's my plan and it works for me.

I've always lived a frugal life.  But when I retired, I got even more frugal, and I eliminated (or minimized) every regular payment (month, quarter, annual) possible.  Keep as much money as you can in your own pile, and pay out only what you have to.  I view this as part of my security plan for life.

 

[carolinarider09]

Some old information and a little new information.

Had a house appliance warrant program some 15 or so years ago.  Had an event with an appliance.  The technician who showed up did not impress me.  So I did not continue.

I have a service plan with my local HVAC dealer/installer.  It gives me a reduced cost for labor on repairs and maybe on parts.  However, several years ago, had a capacitor that was going bad (reading was about 50% or value and it was for the outdoor compressor), the part still cost me a bundle (several hundred as I remember).  

The service plan also calls for system checks every six months (which is when the found the bad capacitor ).  During one of these service checks the tech noted a low level of freon in the system.  Suspected an evaporator coil leak, had tech come out and check, verified leak, the coil was under warranty (10 years and this was the tenth year).  I don't remember the labor charge but had there not been an annual check, I would have missed the warranty.  So, some money was probably saved.

Do not have any auto service plans today.  I believe I had an extended warranty on one of my cars several years ago but not in the last five years.  Had extended warranty on my 2007 ST1300, still have it and no issues today.  

My wife drives a Subaru which, according to reports, is highly reliable automobile so, no extended or other warranty on it except for what the normal coverage would be.

The following is an opinion only, I have seen the advertisements for home warranties and given the reliability of todays appliances, I'd still not purchase one.  I think, after all was said and done, you could replace failed appliances with new ones if you took the cost of the home warranty and placed it in an account for that purpose.  

 

[sandy]

I get calls telling me my factory warranty is about to expire. my truck is 26 years old with 121K miles. I do not call them back.

[scooperhsd]

Never do them on your vehicle. (We have also got lots of calls about "your factory warrantee is about / has expired ").

On the home warrantees - often used when selling / buying a house to cover the old appliances. I have made it with these, but by the time I get everything replaced (or term renewal comes around), I cancel them.

[cookiedough]

skip both not worth it chances are against you big time overall you will recoupe your costs of the warranty policy itself.

I ONCE got suckered into a 7 year/100K bumper to bumper warranty on a new SUV I bought at stealer knowing upfront do NOT do it.  F&I guy convinced me to get it and got suckered into it for 1K total cost thinking I was going to keep the SUV a very long time.  Well, of course, the one and only time I have major head gasket issues and other major problems only at 26K well within factory warranty I got all those issues fixed under 3/36K warranty and decided to trade in the vehicle thinking is a lemon.   

come time to trade vehicle in to same stealership thinking since still under factory warranty by 1 year and about 12K miles would get most of my 1K I paid back after 2 years or so.  NOPE, of that 1K got little over 500 back is all since is prorated upon first get vehicle NOT after 3/36K warranty is up plus dealer keeps around 250 bucks (read fine print).

all ext. warranties IMO are junk and not worth a dime in more instances than not.  I will NEVER get suckered into another one ever again  Live and learn.

[Jess from VA]

Not car home-warranties, but still insurance..... what is up with Liberty Mutual? 

Does anybody else get so sick of particular commercials that you'd sooner go to jail than buy their product?

They run adds all day every day, and they are all so idiotic.  So many adds that cost so much money, that they must be fleecing their customers to pay for them all.

Only buy what you need..... like this is some amazingly new idea.  Wow, I would have never thought of that.  

And even though I always am extremely careful around motorcycles in my truck, if I ever see Progressive Flo out riding, I'm gonna run her over.  And if I ever see the Allstate mayhem guy in my neighborhood, I'm gonna run him over too.  They got my attention all right, but not my business.

On the other hand, I like the Farmers' commercials, weird situations that are true stories.  I did a lot of claims work in my life, so I can relate.  We know a thing or two, because we've see a thing or two.  

[F6Dave]

For one thing, I'd never buy an aftermarket warranty on a vehicle.  While it's pretty likely Honda or GM or Ford will be around seven years from now, I wouldn't be as confident in a warranty company I never heard of.  And if you show up at a far away dealer on a trip, they might not even honor it.

Years ago I read that manufacturers pay out about 17 cents in claims for each dollar they collect on extended warranties.  But I bought one for a Honda and a Kawasaki anyway, and one was included with another used Honda.  I figured that since they were inexpensive at under $400 (not anymore), and included unlimited mileage, they might not be a bad deal for a guy like me who rides 15-20K miles a year.  At least I'd have affordable peace of mind.

I didn't even get peace of mind.  Instead I learned I could fix my bikes better than some dealers.  Those three bikes were under warranty for nearly 20 years and 200,000 miles combined, and I had a total of two claims.  A dealer replaced the battery because he thought that was causing the problem I later diagnosed as a dirty starter switch, and another dealer replaced a radiator cap for a leak that was later resolved by bending the tangs on the radiator opening.  The warranty would have covered the rear wheel bearing on my '98 Valkyrie, but I would have had to trailer it 40 miles, so I just got an $18 bearing at NAPA and replaced it myself.

Whatever you do, shop around.  It's common for extended warranties to get marked up by 100%.  It's why the finance guys at dealerships push them so hard.  For instance, there's a Ford dealer in Minnesota that sells the factory ESP warranty online for their cost plus $100.  I priced it on their website and it was half of my dealer's price.