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We just bought new appliances for our new house - GE Fridge and gas oven and LG washer and gas dryer. Upper-middle end stuff. The salesman offered an extended warranty, even a discount since we were buying 4 appliances. Justification was the everything is computerized and more expensive to repair.
I've never bought one and never regretted not buying one. I'm just wondering if the 'rules' have changed.
I second the no. Extended warranty is just throwing money away. If you really worry about it, take that money you'd have spent on the warranty and save it. Then you have it if you need any repairs and if you don't need any repairs, you have extra money.
Who did u buy the appliances from? Mom and Pop, or big box? Mom and Pop will likely stand behind their product. Big box, not so much.
I had never bought an extended warranty on anything, but when I bought a kitchen full of appliances (Lowes), the discounts kept adding up, so I used $400 to buy an extended warranty.
Since then....two years.....I had to have a panel replaced on the washer (LG), a gasket on the dishwasher (Kitchen Aid) and a door (electronics) replaced on a Electrolux refrigerator.
It was a sort of hassle to get things "started" (Lowes originally held the warranty, then sold it to a third party--plus the appliances were billed through my builder so I was technically "not the purchaser"), but once I got hooked up with the local repair company (a fairly decent outfit) I was off and sailing.
Much to my amazement, I am WAY ahead having purchased the warranty.
Depends on who offers the extended warranty and the cost and complexity of the device. For instance, when I bought a new car in 2010, I took a look at the electronics modules, shopped around and found that I could buy an extension of the factory warranty to 8 years 100,000 miles for $800 on a $32,000 car. Right after the 3 year regular warranty expired, the start module died - out-of-warranty replacement cost $2,000, extended warranty cost, $25. I did have to shop around, the initial dealer wanted $2,500 for the warranty. Since all Toyota dealers across the country sell a factory warranty, good at any Toyota dealer, I used a car-specific forum on the internet to find out who offered a deal.
So I applied the same thing to the refrigerator purchase at a local (non-big-box) appliance store. $3,000 for a fridge with a ton of electronics? Extended warranty for $80 that includes in-home replacement? Sure. Extended warranty for the $850 top load washer and dryer set? Not worth it. I deliberately bought a set without all the electronics.
Depends on what it cost and what it is IMO. I usually don't buy them, but did for our dishwasher since it was a $1,300 Kenmore model made by Kitchenaid. I hated paying that much for a dishwasher, and knew I would not replace it with another expensive one if it broke within 5 yrs. So for about $120 we had the service man out 4 times the first 2 years because the dispenser would fail to open. He also ordered us a new control panel since the plastic buttons cracked on the original. So now I have an extra panel for when/if it fails.
I also bought one for our double oven, a $3,300 Kitchenaid we got at a huge discount as a floor model. No way I would ever buy it at retail. I only bought the warranty because the sales guy gave me a 3 yr one for free - he discounted the oven price by the cost of it, so I went ahead and paid the ~$100 difference for the 5 yr warranty. Once I got it home and read the manuals, I realized the expensive electronics and the elements were already covered by a 5 yr warranty. Oh well, I still got the oven for 50% off retail and it is now fully covered for 5 years. There have been a few doors that shattered reported online, so it is good insurance.
My work is even offering as an employee benefit the home warranty plans now. I was tempted to get it, since it was only like $30 a month, but decided not to bother. The fine print in those warranty service agreements is often quite limited.
It isn't only the cost but from what I understand, the warranty company will fight you for every repair. A quote of mine is "Insurance companies aren't in the business to pay out claims, they are in the business of collecting premiums. Sometimes they have to pay claims in order to collect premiums".
Electronics are so inexpensive these days, why are they so pricy when it comes to repair parts? Sounds very much like planned scamming.
Things are not made to last like they used to. With more bells & whistles, that means more things can go wrong. And they are also made more cheaply-by cheap labor in China or some other third world country. So you have your choice, not buy the extended warranty and hopes nothing happens, and if it does, your two choices are forking over $$$$ to have it repaired or replace it. Or paying for the extended warranty which gives you a little piece of mind.
For me, it depends on the appliance. For my refridge-I wouldn't buy one. But, I did for our dishwasher and I am glad we did-because it wouldn't turn on. Without any electronic knowledge, I diagnosed it myself thinking it was a control panel that died. Turns out, I was right and it saved me $300 because I had the extended warranty.
Cat
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