What to Do About Extended Warranties on Appliances

Consider some facts about appliances and about warranties on them. Consider also the hype that the appliance salesman puts before you. Then, consider the possibility of saving money on future repairs.

You go into an appliance store to buy a gas range for your own kitchen. The salesman tells you how it works, its newest features which the competitor does not yet offer and how well-made the stove is. He convinces you to buy it because it is so satisfactory and so perfectly constructed. As you begin filling out the new owner registration papers, the salesman then becomes the devil’s advocate.

The guy who told you how reliable the gas range is now begins to talk about the time in the future when it is not reliable, when the back burner will not light correctly or when the oven does not get as hot as it is supposed to get. He suggests that you will be more secure if you have a warranty that extends beyond the one-year warranty which comes with the range. He quotes the first year’s cost of such an extended warranty, a small-sounding figure that is so small that you would not even notice the tiny expenditure.

If you step back and consider what the salesman is doing, you will notice that he seems to be talking out of both sides of his mouth, with a different message from each side. He said the gas range is reliable and trouble-free. Then, when you agree to buy it, he says that it may have some type of breakdown after the first year of usage.

Extended warranties, those which cover breakdowns after the original warranty expires, can extend long into the life of the product purchased. However, each year the warranty costs more due to the greater probability of something going wrong with the product as it ages. Perhaps the first year of an extended warranty costs around $50 or less. However, later years’ warranties cost more each year.

If you decide to buy the gas range without the extended warranty, the best practice is to use it as much as possible during the first year. If there is some defect in the appliance, you are more likely to notice it during the first year if you use the product a lot. The product comes with a one-year warranty. The probabilities are favorable to you, the likelihood of noticing a flaw in the product during the first year while it is under the manufacturer’s warranty.

In the meantime, put aside the amount of the second year’s extended warranty. If you set aside the cost of the extended warranty each year, you will have enough money saved to buy a new gas range within the reasonable lifetime of the one you purchased. Instead of buying a warranty, buy a new range when the first one becomes ready for replacement.

Be your own judge when buying products and especially when the extended warranty is offered. Take the time to figure the total costs of the extended warranty over a specific number of years. Then, take your stand against someone who wants you to become an impulse buyer of an extended contract or service agreement or whatever other name the salesman uses for an extended warranty.