 |
|
|
|
Floridastorm
Orlando
Senior Member
Joined: 12/08/2011
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
 Offline
|
Since Cruise America gives the option of purchasing Power Train and Coach extended service agreements along with the purchase of the motor home, I am wondering if any Cruise America owners were able to get them on their own without going through Cruise America? Many of the extended service agreements will not apply to units that are over 100,000 miles. I guess that CA has agreements with companies to cover their units regardless of mileage. If there are companies out there that would cover mileage over 100,000 and would sell to a private individual I would appreciate knowing about it. ![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/huh.gif "huh")
|
Hoerschel
Colorado Springs
New Member
Joined: 12/08/2019
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
FLORIDASTORM: I would echo many others on this forum who passed up extended service warranties in favor of self-insuring toward future repairs. Seems rare that anyone in this group ever had any of the major mechanical issues the warranties are supposed to cover. Those who purchased warranties and thehn tried to use them often complained about caveats in the small print that rendered the 'coverage' virtually useless. YMMV...
|
eldel
Northern Colorado
New Member
Joined: 09/18/2007
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
I bought an extended warranty on a new TT about 12 years ago. It was for 4 years. In that time I tried to use it 6 (if memory serves) times. Only once did they part with actual money and that took months - fortunately I hadn't planned on using it during that period. They didn't cover call outs, the unit had to go to an 'approved' repairer - a list of which was 'not available' and they would not necessarily cover the complete cost. Treat it like medical insurance but with less chance of personal suffering.
I wouldn't go so far as to say they are a scam, quite - but they don't exist to pay money out.
In our situation (ex-rental units) the appliances and everything else are as simple as possible to enhance the lifespan. There's very little to go wrong {edit to add - as long as you keep up with basic maintenance}. My personal response to the offer of the extended warranty was to glance at the fine print, chuckle, and politely refuse.
* This post was
edited 01/26/21 09:21am by eldel *
|
Floridastorm
Orlando
Senior Member
Joined: 12/08/2011
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
I am hoping that you folks are right. I could self insure. But replacing an engine, transmission, generator, refrigerator can set you back a whole bunch. But then again it's $4,000 for the service plans which I would have to exceed in repairs in order to break even. So, guess I will think about this a little more.
|
TwistedGray
Monterey Bay, CA
Full Member
Joined: 11/16/2020
View Profile
Offline
|
Floridastorm wrote:I am hoping that you folks are right. I could self insure. But replacing an engine, transmission, generator, refrigerator can set you back a whole bunch. But then again it's $4,000 for the service plans which I would have to exceed in repairs in order to break even. So, guess I will think about this a little more.
It is also your time and heart ticks sitting on a phone call with an insurance agency who has a reputation of making things extremely difficult on the policy holder. Do you want to put yourself through that?
What's the likelihood that those big ticket items are going to break down before your extended warranty period is up? One in ten, one in a hundred, ...
Is it worth the stress and uncertainties working with the company on repairs, or would you rather bank the $4k and fix things when they come up immediately without concern if the company is going to pay out? $4k can fix a lot of things!
|
|
|
FunTwoDrv
NC
Senior Member
Joined: 11/16/2010
View Profile
Offline
|
For what it’s worth, I look at these insurance plans as they have statistics that say your repair will not equal, or exceed, the police price...and you’re betting it will.
Gary
|
IAMICHABOD
Sunny So Cal
Senior Member
Joined: 12/12/2011
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
So far the information and opinions on the extended insurance have been straightforward and honest.
So I will add this,of the more than 130 members here on this thread there have been no reports of any CA units that have had an engine,transmission or generator failure.
I did find on 2 occasions that El Monte RV did honor their warranty This One and Here
They both happened in the Warranty period that was given to them when they bought the unit,not an extended warranty.
FWIW, my sales contact at El Monte told me, when I asked about drive train extended warranties, that they used to offer them, through the same company that CA uses. The reason they stopped, and just went with offering their own 12/12 power train warranty, is that he wasn't aware of any case in which the extended warranty company actually paid on a claim - which, of course, made for unhappy customers.
2006 TIOGA 26Q CHEVY 6.0 WORKHORSE VORTEC
Former El Monte RV Rental
Buying A Rental Class C
Chevrolet Based Class C
|
eldel
Northern Colorado
New Member
Joined: 09/18/2007
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
As a follow-up - a quick google search gave me this helpful link which seems to validate the advice I was given - the 6.8 V10 is a long-term hauler as long as you look after it.
With an annual oil change I fully expect the powertrain to outlast my usage of the vehice.
|
SJ-Chris
San Jose, Ca
Full Member
Joined: 09/24/2017
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
IAMICHABOD wrote:So far the information and opinions on the extended insurance have been straightforward and honest.
So I will add this,of the more than 130 members here on this thread there have been no reports of any CA units that have had an engine,transmission or generator failure.
I did find on 2 occasions that El Monte RV did honor their warranty This One and Here
They both happened in the Warranty period that was given to them when they bought the unit,not an extended warranty.
FWIW, my sales contact at El Monte told me, when I asked about drive train extended warranties, that they used to offer them, through the same company that CA uses. The reason they stopped, and just went with offering their own 12/12 power train warranty, is that he wasn't aware of any case in which the extended warranty company actually paid on a claim - which, of course, made for unhappy customers.
I have two 28a Majestics from Cruise America. I use them a lot and will likely put 100,000 miles on them over the next 5 years. When I bought the first one, they offered me a 5-year 100,000 mile warranty on the Powertrain (engine, transmission, drive axle, water pump). It cost $1700 (or $1800, I can't remember). My thinking was, "Well, the unit already has 120,000 miles on it...I'm betting that over the next 100,000 miles *something* is going to happen that will be covered and it will cost MORE than $1700". Another important thing....with how I'm using the RVs, there is a good chance that in 5 year's time I will actually put on 100,000 miles. That last part I think is KEY. If you are like most RV owners, you will probably put only 2000-5000 miles per year on your RV. Then, maybe the warranty isn't as worthwhile because the chances of failure definitely goes down. But in my case, I felt it was worthwhile for the above reasons AND the peace of mind.
Now.......with all that being said, I did learn something. On this CA RV with the warranty my exhaust manifold started leaking after about 15000 miles. If you've had that happen before, you know the familiar and LOUD rumble sound... It is common for BOLTS to rust/corrode and break off (there are 10 bolts that hold the manifold together). When I read the fine print, and called the warranty company, and asked my mechanic to investigate, I noticed in the warranty it specifically says it doesn't cover anything related to bolts breaking! Ugh. That meant this repair wasn't covered. In order to do the repair, my mechanic had to pull the engine so they could get at all the bolts to tap them and get them all out (several had broken off). As long as he was doing all that, I had him change out EVERYTHING that made sense as long as he had the engine pulled. A long list of things, that hopefully now I won't have to worry about for years to come. The total bill was over $8000. I took it in stride and don't let these things get me down. But it was unfortunate that it wasn't covered under the warranty.
And all that being said....I still am glad I have the warranty that I bought. I've got another 4 years and ~80000 miles and I'm betting there will be something else that ends up breaking and hopefully when it does it will be covered.
-Chris
* This post was
edited 01/29/21 05:17pm by SJ-Chris *
San Jose, CA
Own two 2015 Thor Majestic 28a Class C RVs
|
IAMICHABOD
Sunny So Cal
Senior Member
Joined: 12/12/2011
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
SJ-Chris wrote:
I have two 28a Majestics from Cruise America. there is a good chance that in 5 year's time I will actually put on 100,000 miles. That last part I think is KEY.
-Chris
Chris good luck with that warranty.
* This post was
edited 01/29/21 06:11pm by IAMICHABOD *
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
