Home/Appliance extended warranty
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Does anyone have such a program?
About 3 years ago, our 5 year old refrigerator died (they couldn't replace the ice maker). The entire unit was replaced at zero cost to me under warranty.
My current warranty is expiring soon, and I got a letter asking me to renew.
Refrigerators are fussy, fussy things. To replace my unit would cost more than 4X the cost of the warranty extension for 3 years.
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I’ve never bought them. The failure rate of equipment normally follows a bathtub curve shape, so generally if it doesn’t fail quickly after purchase, the chance of it failing within 3-n years is fairly low, for some value of n. Of course, as your case shows, it’s still non-zero.
I’ve also always figured that anything they’re so keen to sell me can’t be that good a deal. Until it is.
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I wouldn't renew, and agree with the doctor that overall appliances will fail very infrequently. Overall the money saved by not taking out the warranties will likely make up for it. That being said, we did sign up for a home warranty package when we bought the house, which covers most major appliances, etc and is about 60 bucks a month.
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Depends on how expensive the unit is. If it's a $1200 frig, no. If it's a $4,000 frig, yes.
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@george-k said in Home/Appliance extended warranty:
@jolly google “42 inch built-in refrigerator.”
Yeah…
Is that what you have?
Our house has the space for a 40" but we currently have their 36" model, which does the job for now. We are looking to replace it in the next few years, but the prices once you go beyond that 36" standard really goes from 2 grand up to like 8 grand, it's crazy.
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With insurance - the odds are always against you. It’s like a casino, the math has to work in the insurance company’s favor for it to be a viable business.
The reason you buy the insurance is because you wouldn’t be able to eat the loss (think huge medical bills, or car repair bills).
If you can eat the loss, the odds are that you’ll be better off not buying.
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Full disclaimer - I work for an insurance company, and we have some freaking terrible years, but we have been in business since 1835. Even Vegas hasn't lasted that long.
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This is the 3rd(!) refrigerator we've had in 11 years.
The first was installed when we bought the condo. It died within a month of purchase, and replaced under warranty.
It did well, until 2018. The ice-maker died. After 4 service calls (covered under extended warranty), they had to replace the entire ice-maker. However, parts were not available, and the contract states that after a certain amount of time (4 weeks, I believe) if they can't repair, they replace.
So it was replaced.
It's been OK since 2018, but the warranty is set to expire, and given my track record, I'm gun-shy.
I asked the last repair guy, "What's the best refrigerator to buy?"
He said, "The one your mother had."
It's stupid expensive.
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My position has shifted a little on this over the years. Yes, it’s more expensive for the insurance over the years than it is for the refrigerator, but typically not orders of magnitude more expensive, and if it gives you peace of mind then I would go with the insurance.
