Extended warranties?

[Gru]

We just purchased a new 2024 GD Imagine 2600RB, what are your opinions on buying an additional extended warranty for our trailer? I am more than handy when it comes to repairs, and I have heard very good things about GD's support, what are your thoughts...?

 

[Bungy]

We just purchased a new 2024 GD Imagine 2600RB, what are your opinions on buying an additional extended warranty for our trailer? I am more than handy when it comes to repairs, and I have heard very good things about GD's support, what are your thoughts...?

Repairs are one thing but what about the appliances when they fail (and they will). We have had 2 AC’s (one is a heat pump), two toilets and the convection micro replaced under the extended warranty. The price of the heat pump alone was more than the warranty.

 

[NB Canada]

We just purchased a new 2024 GD Imagine 2600RB, what are your opinions on buying an additional extended warranty for our trailer? I am more than handy when it comes to repairs, and I have heard very good things about GD's support, what are your thoughts...?

Well for starters they generally are very expensive
You didn’t state the price in your post
The next issue is service. The interwebs are full of stories of trailers at dealers for months waiting on repairs. Is this something that you are prepared to do or just fix it yourself
Unlike the post above I don’t agree stuff will eventually fail. My current trailer is 5 years old and my last was 7 and neither had a major failure
Imo it is a hard no

 

[sande005]

In my case, 2 RV's over 12 years. Nothing ever happened where an extended warranty would apply. Work was either expected maintenance, manufacturer warranty, improvements, things I broke myself, or small items where the 70 mile drive to the dealer was enough to make me do it myself. I am many thousands ahead in saved costs by not buying an extended warranty. Or at least that money saved helped cover the costs of the other things I noted above.

 

[Snowgoose]

I'm with NB and Sande on this. I feel like they prey on fear... "What will you do if you have an issue while you are out on the road? If you love your family you will buy up some extra security coverage.". My answer is I will deal with it. If it breaks too much I will sell it and move on. So far, knock on wood, we have not encountered the nightmare scenarios people put out there.

 

[Riverbug]

I'm in the "no" column when it comes to extended warranties. There is little to nothing I would take to a dealership and believe they would do a better job at fixing/replacing an item better than I would do it myself. After doing that in my early years of RVing, I've learned it's not worth the hassle of dealing with them. Just my $.02.

 

[Wileykid]

No column here also. Put that money aside in an account and use it yourself, you will come out ahead. You said you are handy, dealers are not well known for quality work, and once any appliance is out of warranty, do the repair yourself, plenty of help here if you need.

A number of people here will forgo warranty work by the dealer, unless it is something major, and do it themselves.

I have had to do some repairs myself, and both GD and Dexter has sent me the new parts under warranty. Dexter will even pay your labor, although it is only $20 an hour.

 

[goducks14]

If you're handy as you say then Youtube is your best friend. The biggest worry IMO these days is the Schwintek slide mechanisms. It's not hard to fix as many owners do their own repairs. Everything else is for the most part plug n play when they fail.
I've owned 2 RV's in the last 12 years and only had one semi major failure. That was Norcold fridge that quit working 1.5 years into service. I removed it and went 12V compressor. That was 4.5 years ago.

Not to say you won't have something go wrong but most items are fixable/replaceable by the owner vs hitching up and dragging the RV to a dealer only to have it sit there for weeks at best or months at worst. And usually during camping season because thats when they're in use and prone to failure.

Extended warrantees most times require maintenance schedules that need to be documented which means the dealer may or may not need to to those services. Thats another expense on top of the EW price.

Most problems occur during the 1st one or two years of which evrythings usually covered by the manufacturer or supplier warranty.

 

[Soundsailor]

Add another "no" here, we haven't had any issues that would have been covered under an extended warranty. Save your dollars, in the end, you'll find fixing it yourself more satisfying.

 

[Gru]

Thank you all for your advice. I have decided to heed your posts and will not be buying one. The dealer we went through is a small stand-alone shop about 1.5 hours from our house. The "fine print" on so many of those warranties often slide in "must be inspected x times a year by dealer". I am not going to drag her 3 hours round trip, plus inspection time, plus shop fees, to be in compliance. We will keep a chunk of change in our savings acct. for a worse case scenario.

 

[Second Chance]

Many discussions on the forum about this (you can use the search function). Here's my take:

My wife found a very good description of extended service plans a while back (they are not warranties, but rather insurance policies with lots of fine print). They are another form of legalized gambling. The company is betting that nothing breaks that would cause them to pay out more than you paid for the policy; you're betting it will. As in all forms of legalized gambling, the house usually wins. Otherwise, these companies wouldn't be in business or make a profit.

Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard have commented on these plans many times, too. The standard seems to be that 80% of extended service plan revenue goes toward commissions and marketing. Only 20% goes toward paying for actual repairs, which means most people are getting a really bad deal. We prefer to set money aside regularly (earning interest) and pay for repairs as they come up.

Rob

 

[Hoopy Frood]

FWIW, I've always figured the companies that provide these warranties are still in business, which means they pay out much less than they take in, which, in their view is the whole idea. But to me, it also means they are going to scrutinize any claims to avoid paying out.

 

[jeririgged223]

We just purchased a new 2024 GD Imagine 2600RB, what are your opinions on buying an additional extended warranty for our trailer? I am more than handy when it comes to repairs, and I have heard very good things about GD's support, what are your thoughts...?

Have an extended warranty with tire warranty. Cost me $2800. Year ago, on a long trip away from home, for two days in a row, we started blowing tires. 3 days, 3 repairs on site, 7 tires, a couple of lost sensor replacements, destroyed hydraulic line to a stabilizer jack later we submitted a bill for $4400 and got every dime minus our $100 deductible back. So I'm a YES........

 

[RickMcK]

We just purchased a new 2024 GD Imagine 2600RB, what are your opinions on buying an additional extended warranty for our trailer? I am more than handy when it comes to repairs, and I have heard very good things about GD's support, what are your thoughts...?

The prior comments are quite correct. Refregerators, A/C's, water heaters, etc. But, that being said, the pricing is very negotiable. On the extended warranty we have, our local repair shops (non-dealers) as well as mobile technicians, only work on extended warranties. I have had repairs done right in front of my house. But, I have found 2 mobile techs in the area who are approved by Grand Design. Normally, I have to pay for the service, and then submit to Grand design for reimbursement. Normally takes about 3-4 weeks to get repaid, but well worth the effort instead of taking the fifth wheel to the dealer which is 104 miles away.

 

[Dale G]

I am always cautious with extended warranties, but I have taken one out on all three of my campers and each one has paid for themselves, and then some. I have also started getting them on my vehicles because of all of the electronics and computers. Since I keep my vehicles way past the factory warranty it just makes good sense to me. I also make sure I get the ones that can transfer to a new owner. It does make it easier to sell a used car if it still has a warranty. All of the times I have had to use the extended warranty it has never cost me more than $100 per occurrence. I say if you have the money for the premium, it is worth the pease of mind. Just be sure to do your homework and make a wise choice. Our local RV dealership has a great company they use and I have been satisfied with them.

 

[IBEW Sparky]

Well you already made your choice but I'll throw this out there... and it depends on what your warranty covers and what your paying for it. When I purchased my 2019 337RLS the dealership offered what was called a Forever Warranty. The cost was $149 the first year and $99 each year after for as long as I want to keep it. Yes I have to take it to the dealership for a warranty inspection once a year within a month of my purchase date anniversary. I also get my PA State inspection done at this time. They check out a lot of things while it's there. They don't cover wheels, suspension, brakes, or the leveling system....but they cover just about every thing else. So far I've had the water heater circuit board replaced, the double door refrigerator replaced, the convection microwave oven replaced, the two interior steps replaced, and I'm about to have the main awning fabric replaced in April. They also sent me a whole new Nautilus Panel when some valves failed.
I'd say I'm way ahead of the game.
On a side note I also have the Good Sam Tire & Wheel Protection Plan, they cover your RV and your tow vehicle or towed vehicle. The 1st plan was a 3 year plan for $179 total cost...I had 2 tires replaced under that plan at an average cost of around $250 per tire. I just renewed it in August for 5 years for $299...And had a tire blow out in November for which I was reimbursed $273. I'm a firm believer in certain types of warranty plans.

Thank you all for your advice. I have decided to heed your posts and will not be buying one. The dealer we went through is a small stand-alone shop about 1.5 hours from our house. The "fine print" on so many of those warranties often slide in "must be inspected x times a year by dealer". I am not going to drag her 3 hours round trip, plus inspection time, plus shop fees, to be in compliance. We will keep a chunk of change in our savings acct. for a worse case scenario

 

[north channel novels]

We bought the extended warranty when we bought our 2018 Reflection 230RL. We do a lot of travel, continent wide, and our slideout is cycled almost daily. While Grand Design said they'd been tested to last something like 10,000 cycles ... ours didn't.
The day we returned from an 11,000 kilometre trip from Ontario to California and back in 2022, we emptied all of our travelling goodies and went to close the slide, and some hidden (expensive) goodies broke. I had to push in one end, while my wife ran the other in under power.
Cost of Warranty: $2500 and change.
Repair slideout: $2500+/_
We broke even.

 

[bobmerriken]

We just purchased a new 2024 GD Imagine 2600RB, what are your opinions on buying an additional extended warranty for our trailer? I am more than handy when it comes to repairs, and I have heard very good things about GD's support, what are your thoughts...?

I am in the "yes" column. I kept my last truck camper for almost 20 years. My camper before that, probably 15 years. So I tend to keep my units for a long time.

I would also describe myself as handy and I do a lot of the work myself on my vehicles and my Grand Design trailer. My wife and I own a 2021 Grand Design 260RD fifth wheel. Unfortunately, the Schwintek/Lippert slide-out rack on our unit has failed twice and has been replaced under the extended warranty. Having researched the process to first diagnose the problem and replace the slide-out rack, this is not something that I would be comfortable with doing myself in my driveway. I could probably do it but what if I ran into problems and had my camper all apart in the driveway. Not a good situation. Plus, I am not getting any younger.

Yes. The camper was with my dealer a long time before they replaced the rack the first time. The service department was backed up and it took some time for them to get to my unit. I did notice when I was at the dealer to drop off the unit and to pick it up the first time that the dealer was working on other units with slide-out problems.

The second time the rack was replaced the turn around time was much better but the dealer still had the trailer for awhile. In going over my unit, the technician was able to find the broken part and show it to me, as I had been unable to find the problem in my search. The broken "shoe" was relatively hidden and hard to see unless you knew what you were looking for. When I picked up the trailer the technician that worked on my slide-out said that they see a lot of units with slide-out problems.

I am not sure that the repair times would improve if you were paying out of pocket for the repairs. The delay seemed to be more a product of the backlog of units needing work and the availability of shop space and a qualified workforce.

 

[terryriddle]

We just purchased a new 2024 GD Imagine 2600RB, what are your opinions on buying an additional extended warranty for our trailer? I am more than handy when it comes to repairs, and I have heard very good things about GD's support, what are your thoughts...?

I bought a seven-year warranty on my 260RD. One of the fans behind the frig went out and to fix the frig had to be removed. While the fan was 136 dollars, labor to take it out and put it back in was around $800.

One has to keep in mind the cost of a frig, AC unit, or micro. The cost to replace my frig would be close to two thousand dollars for the unit and labor. The warranty was worth the price. I can call them and get a mobile unit to my site. The company is CornerStone RV and for $2,998 I got full coverage for seven years (Ultimate Coverage)..up to $1000 for towing, seals/gaskets, audio, appliances, etc. I have needed them twice and it was worth it. It is administered out of Hickory, NC

 

[Dragfam1127]

We just purchased a new 2024 GD Imagine 2600RB, what are your opinions on buying an additional extended warranty for our trailer? I am more than handy when it comes to repairs, and I have heard very good things about GD's support, what are your thoughts...?

I personally wouldn’t buy it if you’re a decent diy’r. One reason is down time waiting for repairs. Second what the total cost of the extended warranty including deductible? Compare that to a repair cost that your camper insurance doesn’t cover. Not to mention the headaches of dealing with the service to see what covered. I prefer to do it myself plus I expand my knowledge. Just my 2cts.