[grandpabear]

How many of you buy into it when you purchase something and they say,"For X amount of dollars we can give you an extended warranty" ? And how many of you have wished that you did buy that extended warranty? I'm one of the latter. A little over 3 yrs. ago I paid $998.00 for a lcd 46" HD television and it has &*%# to bed already. I mean come on now, I'ts not like a car or power tool. It just sits there and is either on or off. I have some regular TVs in the house that are 3 times as old and cost 1/4 that and are still working just fine. What is going on with companies these days? Don't they have any pride in their products?

 

[KJS]

I never buy extended warranties. The reason stores are so eager to sell them is the odds of you ever getting anything out of them is quite low, so they're a fantastic profit center.

As for things not lasting long, I'm pretty sure great longevity isn't something the electronics industry is aiming for. After all, you could have the finest Betamax VCR that still works as well today as it did in 1978, but does that really matter when today its use would be as a door stop?

With how fast technology changes things are basically disposable -- even if they don't break down, they're still obsolete.

 

[3482jl]

I never buy extended warranties for anything.

 

[Marine Division Two]

90% of extended warranties are never needed,Its a gimmick !

 

[grandpabear]

90% of extended warranties are never needed,Its a gimmick !

Yeh, that's the way I've always thought about them. I just had to whine and rant. Thanks for listening, kinda. You know what I mean.

 

[brimic]

Nope won't do it either.

 

[303lithgow]

90% of extended warranties are never needed,Its a gimmick !

......and when they are needed seldom does the extended warranty cover it.

 

[lheins]

We don't normally buy them either, but 4 years ago we bought a 46" LCD and got the 4 yr extended warranty. We forgot we had it. Got a notice in the mail 2 weeks ago that our coverage was up Nov 1. Over a year ago the TV had gotten 2 lines down one side of the screen. I called to get info and found out panel is no longer available. They called with an authorization number and told us we could go and get a new TV that is similar in size and features. We picked one out today so we will pick it up tomorrow. We have to take our old one in to get it. We got an upgrade and no extra cost.

 

[Ruger Redhawk]

We used to but don't anymore. Extended warranties are a money maker for stores. I did take a extended warranty out on my new truck. It's a 2012 Toyota Tundra 4x4.If you don't use the extended warranty at the end of it they refund the total cost of it. If you have a transmission or engine go out, you might be glad you have it. On TV's and appliances we never used them and finally decided we aren't buying them anymore.

 

[Larry the Liberal]

You mean to tell me I can protect my $19 headphones with a $79 extended warranty? Where do I sign?

 

[dacaur]

Sometimes extended warranties are a joke, like a $4 warranty on a $25 item, but other times they actualy make sense, like a $50 warranty on a $500 item. Kinda like insurance on your car or house. The way I see it, If I couldn't afford to just go out and buy another one, (and dont think I could fix it if it broke), I'll get the warranty. On little things that I could probably fix or just replace, I dont bother with extended warranties, but on something big, you bet I do.

A little over a year ago we were in the market for a new TV with a budget of about $400. We fould lots of nice "name brand" 35-40" TV's in that price range ($375-$425). Then we went online to walmart.com and found a 47" LCD, with some brand I had never heard of (apex), for $350. Add a 3 year warranty for $50, and really, how can you lose (plus free site-to-store shipping)? For the price of a "good" brand 35-40", we got a no-name 47" with a 3 year replace it warranty..... Sounds good to me.... So far its been a great TV, more features than some of the "better" sets we looked at, and good picture quality.

As for crappy electronics, I hear ya... we have terrible luck on DVD players... We have tried cheap $30 units and a name brand $100 unit, none seem to last more than 6months to a year for us..... we know people that have used the same DVD player for 5 years, but we just arent that lucky.... We have resorted to keepimg them unplugged between uses and that seems to help

 

[gwnorth]

Never bought one, never will. Had I done so, I know I'd have been far further out of pocket on the extended warranty fees than on the few out of pocket replacements or repairs I've had to pay for.

It's like those ads for car repair warranties - my last 3 cars were driven an average of 7 years apiece and each for between 60K-100K miles, and all I ever paid for was regular maintenance and normal wear and tear items like breaks and tires and such. So what is all this talk of "sooner or later you're going to have a big repair bill" nonsense? Certainly not within the first 100K-150K miles with the average car or truck these days (assuming you do take care of it and not abuse the bejesus out of it).

And any consumer magazine will tell you that todays electronic goodies - from TVs to digital cameras to laptops to tablets and cell phones - are amongst the least problematic consumer devices ever manufactured (based on records of repairs under warranty and such statistics as available). The actual likelihood of you ever getting your money's worth out of an extended warranty is trivially small, which is exactly why those selling them push them so much at the checkout.

 

[James6591]

Not there.

 

[bwinters]

I virtually never buy an extended warranty.

 

[terry_p]

When we got our 5th wheel in 2007 we were offered an extended warranty carried by the mfg, that kicked in after the one year standard warranty, for over $3,000 for 5 years beginning in 2008, we refused. In 2010 Holiday Rambler the mfg went bankrupt and refused to honor all warranties. That is my opinion on extended warranties.

 

[Jtiv19]

I sell extended warranties for motorcycles and ATVs all the time. It usually adds up to another $500 to our profit margin. And more money in my pocket.

Some folks........

Ya just can't reach.

 

[TMD]

I spent 7 years in the car business, 5 of them as a sales manager. Extended service contracts was a cash cow for us. Generally if its gonna break it normally happens when its fairly new and still covered under the manufacturers warranty. As for those supposed lifetime warrantys, ain't worth the paper their written on if the company is no longer in business.

 

[CJS1945]

I never buy extended warranties, have saved enough money to buy a lot of replacement items if any should die.

 

[Argo]

i buy them on electronics. so far they've paid off for me (a tv about 8 years ago that [email protected] out shortly after the regular warranty expired. extended warranty saved my bacon). don't buy them on much of anything else. of course i also buy the bumper to bumper insurance when i rent a car. i've had too many little things happen (such as a rock kicked up to the windshield up in montana) that would have eaten up my own $500 deductible. i turned the car in, told them what happened, they said 'well, you bought the extra insurance" and i was on my way without paying a dime for the damage.

 

[bearcatter]

Both my wife's '02 RAV4 and my '05 xB were Toyota Certified used cars, bought three months apart. We bought extended warranties for $695 per car. They cover bumper to bumper except normal maintenance and appearance, with a $50 deductible. Even if we have an engine or transaxle self destruct, it's $50.

How it works for us, is that they have a seven year, 100.000 mile limit. We don't drive near the miles average people do. The wife's '02 has 81k, my '05 has 63k.

So far my xB has needed a turn signal/headlight control lever, $142 was covered. A sensor replaced for $86 covered. The wife's has had a similar sensor bill, and she recently needed a new ECU (the main computer). The warranty covered just under 900 bucks on that.

Considering the extended warranties are still good until 9/14 and 12/14, and they've already saved us what they cost, they were a good deal.