While we are off the road for a spell, Mark has some motor home repair projects planned. He had noticed that our coolant tank was leaking while we were traveling on the west coast. We had just hoped that it would make the very long drive across the country so we could get it fixed while we weren't traveling.
We were also racing against another deadline. This fall is the seven year anniversary of our motor home purchase. We bought our used motor home at a dealership in Memphis, Tennessee. We feel blessed that two newbies like us made such a good selection that has served us well these seven years. We had never bought a warranty before in our lives. But seven years ago we decided that since we were going to live in this vehicle and because it has so many expensive parts, we would buy one. We saw good reviews for a company called "Wholesale Warranty" and we paid $4,935 for a warranty that would fix most things.
The fine print in the contract says that it doesn't cover things like window blinds or belts and hoses. But we bought it for the peace of mind that it would help us when big things happen. For example, it did cover the air conditioning compressor this summer. But it didn't cover the serpentine belt (or its installation) that broke when that compressor locked up. It does not cover the expensive towing that was needed to get it to the RV repair shop, but we pay an annual fee to another company that does take care of that.
Probably the biggest problem with our warranty was the limit on the amount they would pay for labor on repairs. When we signed the contract, their $80 per hour limit seemed like plenty. Now we know that diesel repair shops charge twice that amount. The latest was $165 per hour, so we end up paying over half the labor charges ourselves. Another limitation of the warranty is that it doesn't pay for the shipping charges to get replacement parts to the repair facility. So we found that overnight charges for getting emergency parts will cost us dearly. We learned to wait for cheaper shipping options since we had to pay that bill.
Over the course of seven years, we found that any warranty work had to be done by a certified repair shop. So even though Mark could fix things more cheaply, they wouldn't pay for the parts if he fixed it himself. Also, the certified repair shop had to agree to do the extra paperwork that the warranty company requires. Some shops refuse to mess with warranty companies, so that can limit your repair possibilities. Any work done has to be pre-approved by the warranty company, so that will add a day or two to any repairs. Because we had many items taken care of a year ago in Alabama, the company even sent out an adjuster to confirm that they all were needed. That added another bit of wait time, but the adjuster agreed with our list of things to fix.
If you are handy--like Mark--sometimes the warranty work can cost you money. We have a $50 deductible, so we always have to pay that first. If a repair is small, we found it is cheaper to do it ourselves. In the case of this radiator repair, Mark probably could have done it himself. The part was only $98, and that would have saved us all the labor charges that we had to pay half. Doing it himself would have also saved us the ridiculous "shop fees" of $111 that diesel repair places like to charge (and that warranties refuse to pay). So our part of the bill for the radiator turned out to be $586, while Mark could have fixed it himself for only $98 out of pocket. Of course, he would have done all the labor himself. But right now we have more time than money. So we took a picture of our new pretty radiator reservoir tank after the expensive installation.
Our warranty was good for seven years or 75,000 miles, whichever came first. Because we are slow travelers, the seven years came first. As it was sitting at a Freightliner shop to get its final warranty work done, we crunched the numbers. It cost us $4,935 to purchase the warranty seven years ago. During those seven years, we had six different claims. Wholesale Warranties paid a total of $6,811 for those claims. We paid $1,402 to cover the rest of those repair bills. So the warranty company definitely lost money on us. But we also recognize that sometimes we paid more than if Mark had fixed it himself. In the course of those seven years, Mark fixed lots of things himself. For example, when we were in Canada in 2019, he ordered and installed and paid for the controller board for the transfer switch himself because it was faster to do so.
So in summary, would we recommend buying an RV warranty? We are glad that we bought that warranty for our new-to-us motor home seven years ago. When this one expired, we didn't buy another one because we assumed it would be cost prohibitive to purchase one for an eight-year-old motor home. Mark is also a lot smarter about how to fix things on a motor home than he was seven years ago when we were a bit overwhelmed with this beast of a vehicle. For seven years we did travel with the peace of mind that if any of the big things broke down, we would have help with the bill. As we continue wandering down the road, we'll be on our own to cover those repair bills. Wish us luck! We have come to love our home on wheels that has taken us to so many beautiful places in the last seven years.
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