Extended warrantys ??????

[kjmn]

Buy or not to buy??? I recently purchased a Lowrance x27,It performed very well all last season but my warranty will soon be expiring trying to decide if I should spend the extra $129 for two more years.How many of you spend the extra bucks?????

[stinkycat]

I never have. Most of the time it is so over priced that it does not make sense to me. Thats my .02$ oops! I forgot we are in an economic downturn so I can only give you my .01$.

[VaGuy]

I did. $179 for two years for something that cost $1800 gives me some piece of mind. The flat rate fee is $300 plus shipping for the 10.4"
units.
Maybe not for the 5" screem models, but for the 7" and above I
believe is is worth consideration.

[ffishman]

Me personnally, I don't believe in them, if you buy a NEW product. Odds are, if it is going to fail, it will fail in its first year of use. Every year after the 1st is money in the bank. After a while if it fails, then, its time to buy a new one. Now, lets say you buy a refurbished, anything, locator, lap top etc, then I would take out the extra warranty.

[Backwater Eddy]

Marine Electronics is my one exception to an extended warranty policy, I like the plans as it settles the argument that it will be taken care of on the spot and put me back in business that day.

For most other situations I can pass on the extended warranty as there are often too many exclusions to truly make them pay.

[stinkycat]

Just thinking.... if a guy took the money that he would spend on all the extended warrantees that he was offered ie....... vehicles, appliances, electronics, boats, everything... and put that money in to an account that earns a little interest then you would eventually be self insured and be way a head. Wouldn't you?

[elmo]

I buy items like that with my Visa credit card. Visa will extend the warranty 1 year. So you can get a 2 year on most anything I buy. If it has a 2 year warranty Visa bumps it up to 3 years. And I have used it to get items replaced.

[yarcraft91]

Just thinking.... if a guy took the money that he would spend on all the extended warrantees that he was offered ie....... vehicles, appliances, electronics, boats, everything... and put that money in to an account that earns a little interest then you would eventually be self insured and be way a head. Wouldn't you?

I'm sure you can come out ahead even without investing the money. You can bet the people selling those warrranties have done the statistical analysis and know the cost-to-repair the units they are warranting. You can also bet the warranty price includes a profit. Companies don't sell entended warranties at a loss- for some it's the most profitable part of their business. Unless you're really unlucky, skip the extended warranty.

[Common Man]

If it's a lowrance product....absolutely......This company has terrible track record for products that puke on you after the first year. I still have the shipping boxes for each one of the lowrance products that I have had to send back. Got em stacked up in my garage..... Chaps my ### everytime I look at them.

[yarcraft91]

If it's a lowrance product....absolutely......This company has terrible track record for products that puke on you after the first year. I still have the shipping boxes for each one of the lowrance products that I have had to send back. Got em stacked up in my garage..... Chaps my ### everytime I look at them.

Experiences with Lowrance differ. I've used their products since 1983, currently use an LMS-527c, LCX-27c and iFinder H2Oc, plus an Eagle 320DF and some cheap little Eagle sonar on my pontoon boat. In 25 years, I've paid for 1 out-of-warranty repair, on a paper graph. I had an out-of-warranty problem with an LMS-334i last Fall that would not work in shallow weedy water, but they sent me the LMS-527c as a no-cost replacement, also threw in a free Skimmer transducer. I've never bought an extended warranty on their products, so I'm certainly ahead money-wise at this point.

I wonder if makes any difference that I always store the electronics in my basement over the winter?