Community poll forum: Are extended warranties worth it?

Bottom Line,
It all depends on how compute savvy you are; a newbie should purchase one. I am an advanced computer user, and I still buy them. I know that they are for three years, about $135.00 for full coverage (not abuse) and if my machine "goes down". I want to be able to walk it right into Best Buy and know that I am going to have the faulty reparts replaced with no "out of pocket expense". Yeah, I believe in them; a person should do their home-work first and make sure it's a reasonable amount.
ps: For computer officiandos, computers are only good for three years anyway. We all like to buy a new one when a new operating systems comes out.

Sometimes, the terms on an extended warranty are better from a third party company. And sometimes you can get a better deal on the factory warranty after you buy the car, but while it's still under warranty. But the big thing to keep in mind is that they are negotiable.

Before you buy the car, shop for an extended warranty elsewhere. Get the best price you can, and find out the terms. Also, look up the terms for the dealer warranty. Then, when the dealer tries to sell you one, tell him that you are interested, and you would like to know if he can beat the price you found. Then stress anything that appears weaker on the dealer's warranty and tell him that you are looking for a lower price, not a higher one. If the dealer is still making money, you will get it for a lower price.

When I'm buying consumer electronics that aren't very expensive, say less than $300 or perhaps $500, I don't buy the warranty. Larger items such as my HD TV and my Maytag stacked front loading washer/dryer each of which cost two to three times $500, I got them. Plus if the item is refurbished, I like buying refurbished items, then I will usually take out an extended warranty.

I haven't needed the warranty with the HP HD TV, yet. I did need it with the Maytag washer/dryer. Only after some bean counter at Sears added up the four service calls that they'd already made on the washer/dryer did they come out and replace ALL the circuit boards. I expect that Maytag solved the problems with hardware revisions in the boards. The Sears guy hasn't been back in the years since which is good as the three years of extended warranty on top of Maytag's one year warranty has expired.

If you do get an extended warranty make sure that it starts when your manufacturer's warranty expires. There's no sense having two warranties.

Will not cover a thin, plastic release button that broke for compact flash card.

I had a Canon color printer that I used at outdoor shows around the country and so I bought the exteneded warranty from Best Buy for the ease of getting repairs where ever I was. About 2 years later the motherboard went on the printer, so I took it back to Best Buy. Not only did I get a brand new printer, but the price had dropped and they refunded me the price difference. It came to $15 more than the warranty cost!
My wife got an Emachine from them and with 6 months left on the warranty, it died. They replaced the motherboard and power supply in it. Because we lived 4 hours drive from the nearest store, they even shipped it backed to us for free. From this experience I also learned to pay a bit more for "home service" and save myself the trouble of having to drive back to the store for repairs.

I don't buy extended warranties because I figure that paying to fix it is not going to break me. If it were to I might buy the extended warranty. I figure that the sellers of the extended warranties are in it to make money, so in the long run buying extended warranties is going to cost me more than fixing the occasional something if it needs to be fixed.

all appliances,tv's and such, have an initial burn in period. Generally, if they fail it is within the year warranty you get with most stuff. Then if the extension provides for in-home service its not a bad idea when its a bulky or expensive item not easily returned for service.Otherwise, I'm a NO!

I don't think that the price of the item has anything to do with the warranty. I bought a 1991 Dodge Daytona with a turbo. Paid $800 for the extended warrenty. Everything that went wrong was not covered under the warranty. It's not the price but the warranty itself that you need to look at.

I usually don't buy them unless I feel the warranty is not long enough for the item, for instance, if I buy an electrical item and the warranty is only for 30 days, then I may buy an extended warranty for it.
Just in case something burns out in the first 30 days, But if the warranty is for a year or two then I most likely won't buy the extended warranty for it.
I feel that after it makes it through the first 30-90 days then it should last or the warranty will take care of most problems.

When I bought my first dishwasher I reluctantly bought an extended warrenty. That was from Highland Electronics, which went out of business a year or two later. That was the last one I bought. Consumer Reports generally has advised against them except for certain items such as laptops. I have never had a serious problem with the appliances or electronics I have bought. They may fail to work after 10 years or so, but then I just replace them. I did have a cat who got her claw stuck in the top speaker cover of an Allison Four (now I'm really showing my age). She ended-up shredding the woofer with her other front paw trying to get her claw out of the plastic cover which came out of the top. Maybe if I'd gotten the speakers new and had an extended warrenty Allison would've replaced the woofer for free instead of charging me $50. My receiver, turntable and speakers are all over 30 years old. The only extra expense was replacing the woofers (I had to replace a second woofer when the surround dried-out.). The cassette deck is 12+. I replaced my CD player after 15 years when it failed.

This past month I dropped my digital camera onto a cement floor. The flash wouldn't work and I thought maybe I should've gotten an extended warranty. I was able to take off the top cover and saw that the switch that was supposed to activate another switch when the flash popped-up wasn't moving it much so I just moved the switch so it turned on the other switch. Luckily it works fine again. This camera cost me $400. If and when I get a DSLR, I may get an extended warranty. Especially if I have to spend as much as $1500 just for the body.

To summarize: Extended warranties are pretty much pure profit which is why the salespeople have to push them so hard.

Most of the time these warranties are just a scam and a last ditch effort to stick it to the consumer before they make it out the door, however, there are times and certain products that I would, without a doubt want a warranty for just as I would expect one for my new car. It completely depends on the product you're purchasing, you're knowledge of repairing it, if it does break down or needs replacement and the cost of the item. If any of those are things you would have difficulty dealing with if they became a reality, then you should very seriously consider buying the warranty. I would consider it a no brainer myself. It's the same as the people who buy health insurance. They don't sit around waiting to get sick although, it sure is comforting to know if something were to happen, their insurance is there to fall back on and help out, calm their worries some. You should have the same attitude with anything you purchase that's of any value to you in your life. You must ask yourself, ''I wonder what I would do if something happened to it.'' So that you can properly prepare for the future. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. It's why we buy insurance and that's essentially what a warranty is. Warranties, like life, are conditional and optional so if you do buy one, read the fine print to see what it actually does cover. Some don't cover as much as the salesman will claim it does. Try to be an educated consumer, not one who always says ''No'' to warranties automatically, thinking they're a rip off when in actuality, some are very beneficial to the consumer.

Cyndi Cash
Garland,TX

My son's ipod was out of manuf. warranty and had went defective. Extended warranty co. sent him a gift card for the entire purchase price plus tax. I also had one on a used vehicle I purchased that paid for itself three times over in repair cost's that I saved.

You know, if it's really cheap, I don't buy the extended warranty. Then again, I get most of my stuff free from parents, neighbors, friends, etc. I am a lucky boy.

First, manuafacturers should stand by their products. Their normal warranties should be sufficient to protect the consumer from bad manufacturing. Standard warranties are part of my selection process.

Second, a large percentage of the extended warranties on higher-dollar items can be as much as half the purchase price of the item. On some of the computers I've purchased that had good warranties to begin with, it would have been time to upgrade to a new computer by the time the extended warranty kicked in.

Third, I've found that most manufacturing defects show up during the life of the initial, free, warranty. If anything goes wrong during the extended warranty period, it's usually caused by dropping it, backing the car over it, the kids accidentally hitting it with a baseball bat, etc. Most of the extended warranties that I've looked at don't cover that kind of damage.

I always read the extended warranty info before deciding, and only once did I feel there was benefit to the additional coverage. In that case I bought an extended warranty for a car stereo amplifier that I gave to my teenage son as a birthday present. He destroys his stuff so fast that I felt the coverage was worthwhile. He used the amp for a short while, then joined the military and the amp is sitting in a box on a shelf.

I have a relative that works in one of the big, chain electronic/appliance stores. He explained that the stores push those so strongly because the mark-up in price of the policy is phenomenal, yielding the store major profits. Why do you think they're so adamant about pushing this on you?

I've noticed plenty of contributors to this discussion think that retailers only offer extended warranties as a rip-off to make a profit.

Truthfully, warranties are profitable for the retailers, but only moderately so.

Consider the cost of repair or replacement, and the likelihood of use. The typical extended warranty will be needed around one time in four or five. Generally the cost for that warranty can be anywhere from 10-25%. A lot of profits are gained for the warranty company when the careless consumer loses, forgets about, or underestimates the coverage. This amounts to about HALF of warranties that would be used. If you think I'm exaggerating, consider the percentage of registered voters who actually do.

The typical retailer is able to earn about 30 to 40% margin on a typical extended warranty.

But this is not the real reason retailers offer the warranty. When you buy your product and leave, the retailer has no way to know if you'll EVER return. If you buy the warranty, on a product which was probably not manufactured by them, they know that if you have a problem, that will give them an opportunity to provide you with the BEST SERVICE they can offer.

In other words, if you use the warranty, and you're happy with the results, you'll be a customer for life!

If you don't buy the warranty, you're probably shopping for a price tag, more than the product itself, and you will never show any loyalty to that retailer. They know this, even if you don't.

Even Walmart offers extended warranties. They are well aware that their shoppers are only looking for a ridiculously low price. Those consumers will never be loyal to Walmart if someone else comes along who can offer a cheaper retail price. Truthfully, how many people really go to Walmart for their outstanding service? If you raised your hand, you're lying, unless you've bought the warranty.

By the way, I work in retail, but not for Walmart.