I am considering buying an extended warranty for my locator/gps because I had some trouble with it last summer which was covered under the orginal warranty. Do you think that the extended warranty's are a good deal or would it be better to just pay the bill if something else goes wrong with it ??????

Fred

its a gamble, if it breaks and it is covered and the bill is more than the cost of the extended warrantee then its good
if it never breaks, then you paid money for nothing

does the warrantee cover replacement, for how long and for what price ?

I'm not sure if it covers replacement but the warranty is for 2 years and it's $180.00

If the unit is a Lowrance or Eagle and you buy the extended warranty and you have trouble in the next 2 years Lowrance will not work on it anyway. They will offer a trade in for a few bucks and not sure how extended warranty will work with that deal.

I think you need to find out if that extended warrantee covers replacing the unit be for you decide.

I recently emailed LEI Extras, Inc. - see http://www.lei-extras.com, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lowrance Electronics, specifically in regard to the coverage in their two year extended warranty available for Lowrance products.

Excerpts from their response are as follows:

“The extended warranty is available for any unit that is purchased from an authorized Lowrance dealer. We do not offer any type warranty to items purchased from online auctions including a manufactures warranty.”

“The warranty is explained on the last few pages of any owners manual. The one year manufacturer's warranty is the same as the extended warranty. If a unit was not repairable then a compatible unit would be sent in its place.”

As an example, here’s an excerpt from the warranty page of the manual for the Lowrance X-135

“Any such defect, malfunction, or non-conformity which occurs within one year from your original purchase date will either be repaired without charge or be replaced with a new product identical or reasonably equivalent to this product, at our option, within a reasonable time after our receipt of the product. If such defect, malfunction, or non-conformity remains after a reasonable number of attempts to repair by us, you may elect to obtain without charge a replacement of the product or a refund for the product.”

Lots of people want to sell an extended warranty with their equipment- electronics, appliances, cars, etc. It's an insurance policy, with the cost based on the average cost-of-repairs the manufacturer expects for the extension period, plus a generous profit margin. Extended warranties are a money maker for the seller or they wouldn't be offered.

If you can afford to be self-insured, then in the long run you'll come out ahead if you never buy an extended warranty on anything. If you can't afford to be self-insured, these extended warranties are a way to protect yourself. I've almost never bought an extended warranty and the great majority of products I've bought have not failed during the normal or extended warranty periods, so I've come out ahead. On the two products where I did, the warranties cost more than all the repairs done during the warranty periods.

If you buy an extended warranty, it's best to buy one offered by the manufacturer, not a third party. Sometimes, that choice isn't available.

I have had great experience with some vendors doing goodwill repairs after warranty expiration, Lowrance among them (they recently replaced a unit 18 months after the warranty expired- no cost to me).

I was given a chance to buy a 2 more years (I think) extended warranty on my MaxxumPro80US.......I ended up not doing it spending the on a 7" Color instead of B/W Sonar/GPS. Will I come out ahead at the end of the day???? No one knows.......hopefully I will but if you ask if I can turn back time, what would I do? Maybe the same route....but thats just me


cheap 2 cents

I have bought I tems with a Visa card and it will double the warranty or it did at one time. If something is covered for 2 years Visa will give an x-tra year and make it a 3 year warranty.

I am considering buying an extended warranty for my locator/gps because I had some trouble with it last summer which was covered under the original warranty. Do you think that the extended warranty's are a good deal or would it be better to just pay the bill if something else goes wrong with it ??????

Fred

Vexilar now offers a 4 year extended warranty on new units for $20, at the point of sale...$30 latter on up to the first year after the purchase if you wait.

It is a real deal if you utilize it at the time of purchase in the store and also get a new store credit card discount, pays for itself on the spot and then some.

A four year full warranty on marine electronics is a darn smart buy at $20.