Do you generally buy extended warranty or protection plan for car, household appliances, computers, phones and other such expensive items? Are they worth it? How do you decide whether to buy or not? .
I can't recall buying it for laptop, phone, fridge, dish washer kind of things. Did take it for one car as I wanted to get that maintained only at the dealer and they had a good deal on extended warranty package.
I only buy the extended AppleCare for my laptop. Any problem that arises will happen exactly one day after the warranty ends.
We usually buy a protection plan or extended warranty for most of the items except only if buying a new item is cheap than the extended warranty. For the past 10 plus years, we are managing rental properties and have seen one or the other issues keep come like controls not working, the leak in the washing machine, water not draining, and so on. Even the small repair costs so much in those cases I feel it's worth having an extended warranty or insurance. Just a simple call takes care of everything and it will take care of all the parts, repairs, labor costs. Auto extended warranty is a must, music system in my car had gone twice and luckily due to warranty it covered. Usually, we try to bundle at least 2 Appliances together while buying so that it brings down the warranty cost. And we recycle all the electronics/appliances as soon as the warranty ends. Also, Lowe's has this good option if you haven't used the extended warranty you will get refund. I keep laptops only if I don't get the model I like even after the warranty extends.
I never buy extended warranties, I use my credit card to extended the manufacturers warranties, some cards extend by one year some cards extend by 2 years Using Chase’s Extended Warranty Benefit to Get a New Phone Some cards match warranties up to a certain length. The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card will match warranty lengths of two years or less. For warranties between two and five years, Amex will cover two additional years. Other cards extend warranties by a set amount. The Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Freedom (No longer open to new applicants) and Chase Freedom Unlimited provide an additional year of coverage for warranties that are three years or less. The Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard and Citi Prestige go a bit further and provide up to 24-month extended warranties with the caveat that total coverage won’t exceed 84 months from purchase date. Checkout the articles about extended warranties for automobiles Not Just the Scams: All Extended Auto Warranties Are a Bad Deal Should You Get an Extended Warranty for Your Car? Dave Ramsy's view on Extended warranty for cars Just Say If you are in US spend the money on Product Reviews and Ratings - Consumer Reports membership to research the product you are going to buy so that you get your moneys worth. Sample Consumers Report rating for dish washers Top Dishwasher Reviews | Best Dishwasher – Consumer Reports If you are buying a new automobile use this tool Choose Your Make & Model to find out a good price for your automobile.
I never buy extended warranty. Most warranties are good for a few years when cars/ appliances are newer. If I were managing rental properties like @Flyhigher mentioned, I would be more inclined to buy warranty but not just for us. I do buy flight insurance when traveling with the kids.
Never bought extended warranties or protection plans. But we have a home warranty that covers main appliances because I have a older home. We used it once last year and felt was worth it, so kept it for this year.
I always buy the extended warranty from Best Buy/Lowe’s. I’ve had to use it multiple times too(twice for the refrigerator, once for the dw and once for the dryer). I also have a home warranty and they’ve weaseled out of paying for an a/c and two water heater replacements because of frivolous reasons. We just canceled the home warranty. Btw, I’ve noticed that fancier the appliance, the more the need for the extended warranty. It suddenly has problems just outside the regular warranty period.
Any home appliance, I buy with a 5-year warranty unless it is cheaper to buy. It worked well for me. I used it twice for my fridge, once for the dishwasher and cloth washer. Lowe's gave me a great deal for buying so many appliances together by discounting a 5-year warranty for all appliances together thinking all of them are not going to fail. I feel I have a better knowledge about the manufacturers than Lowe's. Almost all of them work for a year when a factory warranty is in place and they show up in its true colors only after 12 months. Moreover, when new appliances are promoted heavily, the customer reviews come much later. You hear a lot of stories from the service technician about what happens to a particular brand. Only for my dishwasher, he said, "It is a great choice" when I told him, "I missed smart washers by a few months".
