Is An RV Extended Warranty Worth the Money?

Whenever you go to buy pretty much anything from electronics to an RV, the seller is almost always going to try and push an extended warranty on you. These warranty’s allow the dealer or seller to make more money on the sale. Personally, I have yet to make full use of any extended warranty that I have ever purchased. They almost always have exclusions for many of the most common issues you will encounter. In other words, they hate to have to pay you. The same holds true for RV owners who purchase them. The average person does not ask enough questions nor do they read the fine print before buying. If you did, you probably would not of purchased it in the first place.

Owning an RV can be a very pleasant experience until something goes wrong or breaks after the manufacturer’s warranty is done. Repairs on an RV can be very expensive, especially now with a shortage of some parts. If you are going to think about an extended warranty, be sure to do your homework. That bargain warranty that you thought was a good deal might not be a deal at all.
An RV extended warranty is supposed to cover most of the repairs that happen after the manufacturer’s warranty expires.

When you sign on the dotted line, you are usually hoping that you are going to be covered for almost anything that might happen. You might want to think again. We are finding that warranty companies are not wanting to pay for anything anymore. If they do pay, the process is unbearably slow. Often times the things that you thought were covered in the policy are likely listed in the fine print as exclusions. That is why you must read the entire contract before signing. If the price is too good to be true, it most likely will not fit your needs.

There are certain things that all extended warranty’s will not cover. No warranty will cover things like collision issues and physical damage to your RV. So if you accidentally back your RV into a sign and damage the body, this will not be covered under any warranty. They also usually will not cover things like Windows, flooring or awning’s. Items such as these are considered as basic maintenance and are excluded from most warranty contracts. We will again urge you to read the entire contract, even if the salesperson is rushing you to sign right now. He might not want you to read the entire contract. Take your time, do not let them rush you. Take as much time as you need.

With all the above said, your RV is a very complicated machine that has a ton of moving parts and lots of electrical components. There are a million things that could go wrong at any time. At least 3 out of 10 vehicles could need a major repair within the first 2 years. At some point in time, every RV on the road will eventually have a major breakdown of some sort. With or without the warranty, you need to have the resources saved to address these breakdown’s.

In summary, if you decide to buy that extended warranty, be sure it covers what you need it to cover. The best warranties will be a lot more expensive than one that has a lot of exclusions. From our standpoint, warranty companies are making it more and more difficult to collect on because of the price increases that are affecting most parts. So even if you have a “great warranty company”, you might find it hard to collect on that warranty. You might even have an issue finding an RV repair company that will even