New fifth wheel trailer question

[PrincessShmoo]

Not so much about camping AT Disney World, but I hope someone can give a little guidance.

We're set to sign the final papers next week for our new trailer.

There are several add-ons that have been proposed and I'm unsure as to the real necessity of them. Things like outer surface protection, and interior working parts protection.

Are these things like the extended warranties that are generally offered on appliance/car purchases? For the most part I've read that those sorts of things aren't typically necessary, but I don't know if that's also true for those plans for the trailer.

 

[Flametamr]

I can't say for sure but they sound like extended warranties. Are you experienced with campers in general ? Are you handy with fixing stuff a few years down the road ? Campers are notorious for leaking which if you're unlucky can be a nightmare. My old one leaked and got worse as it aged. So I traded up to my 5'ver. The new one came with a 2 year warranty. Industry standard is only one year. In the first year an air conditioner went out. In the second year I have had two slide motors replaced so far. We don't camp a lot and I didn't buy the extended warranty but kind of wish I had now. You will have to decide if it's worth it for what it covers and for how long. My dealer offered a 5 year plan but the first two are covered by the manufacturer so it was a rip off. There are other companies that offer such plans outside of the dealer. You may want to shop around before you sign.

 

[Teamubr]

I agree with Flametamr,

These sound like money grabs for things you'll never use, or the come with conditions or rules that you can never maintain. My DW fell for the lifetime paint protection on her car. One of the requirements was you had to bring the car back in every 3 months for them to "reapply" the treatment... for the life of the car. Naturally, they only had Monday-Friday 8-3 hours and they took the car for 2 hours each time. If you missed a "treatment", it voided everything.

My DW kept it up for 2 years, but finally caved and quit.

It sounds like you have a pretty good idea on this one. From what you described, I'd pass.

j

 

[peg110]

I agree with the others.... While extended warranties are nice when you need them, you are banking on needing to use it and they are banking on you not needing to use it (or not meeting the crazy criteria that they have).

I am not saying that you would never use the extended warranty, but if you think about all those things you have had that you COULD have gotten the extended warranty (or that you even did) and how often you might have (or actually have) used them.....

Will things break and you have issues? It's possible, but I think if it's a quality product, you will be fine (and should save your money for an actual emergency). If it's going to break, often times it happens within the Manufacturers warranty anyway.

If you google "Extended Warranty" or similar. (I googled "Should I get the RV Protection" ) you will get TONS of results mostly against Extended warranties but some for it. Really it comes down to a choice. Me? I will 99.99% of the time "DECLINE" them unless the cost (and terms) are outstanding.

 

[dmaxphil]

Every RV dealership that has a finance department offers all these things to drive profits. Extended warranties have their place and can be great if you plan on keeping the camper past its manufacturers warranty. The other stuff, paint/fab, etc is a joke.

Extended warranties are based on purchase price. $10-20k, $30-40k, etc. Dealer cost on a 7 year warranty, on a $30k vehicle is in the $600-1000 range. They will normally sell for up to $3600. Very profitable. If you decide on a warranty, make sure you get an "exclusionary" policy. Or one that provides a list of items that are not covered. XtraRide is one of the better warranties, but there are really bad ones too. Good luck.

Another secret, if you have good credit, is that the finance guy is marking up your rate by 1.5% usually. The dealer gets paid 1% of the finance amount for every .25% they mark up your rate. For example, dealer submits your app on a $30,000 loan and a bank comes back at 3.5%. Dealership will mark that up to 5% and get paid 6% of $30k or $1800. These numbers can get huge with larger purchases (motorhomes). Point in all this is, rate is normally negotiable.

 

[peg110]

rate is normally negotiable.

Yep! That's why when going to be "Vehicles" I do in with my financing already set. Typically my credit union ends up with the BEST rate compared to the dealers. PLUS, I don't like that the dealers will submit the credit app to multiple banks (thus creating multiple hits on my credit report) to try and get approval or better rates. I know it's only supposed to impact your Credit report for the 1 "Incident" (i.e. shopping for a car) but the reality, for us, is that each and every credit pull, even though it's for the same vehicle, show up on the credit report and have an impact.

Seems like this thread could merge nicely into the "Games Dealers Plays" thread!