Should I buy a home warranty?

[dennis thompson]

I just purchased a 10 year old home. I would guess that is the age at which many systems, heat, air conditioning, etc and appliances, washer,dryer, refrigerator, etc would go bad. so I am thinking about buying a home warranty
The one I am looking at covers: air cond., heat, electrical,plumbing and stoppages, water heater,refrigerator,ranges/oven/cooktop,clothes washer and dryer,dishwasher and built in microwave.
With a service call cost of $125/call it would cost $655/yr.
If the item can't be fixed it will be replaced, up to $3,000 per item ($5,000 for a sub zero refrigerator)
I have never bought an extended warranty in my life but I'm thinking about this.
Has anyone any experience with this?
What do you think?

thanks

[Stan Calow]

We had one included when we bought our house. Paid off immediately when the furnace failed (house was only two years old at the time). After a closer look, it appeared the furnace had been water damaged at some point. Inspector had missed that. So it worked for us, but always a gamble. $655 a year put in the bank will cover at least a couple of appliance replacements. I never get extended warranty on appliances. My gut feeling is that if they're going to fail due to a defect, it will happen when they are new.

[dennis thompson]

We had one included when we bought our house. Paid off immediately when the furnace failed (house was only two years old at the time). After a closer look, it appeared the furnace had been water damaged at some point. Inspector had missed that. So it worked for us, but always a gamble. $655 a year put in the bank will cover at least a couple of appliance replacements. I never get extended warranty on appliances. My gut feeling is that if they're going to fail due to a defect, it will happen when they are new.

I never get appliance warranties either, but at 10 years of age the air cond, heating, water heater , all pretty big ticket items are my main concerns plus the refrigerator is a 10 year old sub zero and the washer and dryer are Braun and they are also pretty expensive

[glenn bradley]

Had one long enough to more than pay for the items it got fixed. I would have been ahead to just pay for the work. Cancelled.

Just like tales from fishing trips and Las Vegas, there is always enough incidents where someone made out to keep enough others funding the pool. Like any insurance, the real function of the business is to collect premiums.

That being said, when I had my plan and used it they employed local businesses and the work was always satisfactory. I now have a list of good shops for different jobs so it wasn't a total loss.

[Robin Frierson]

They threw one in when I purchased a house about 11 years ago. The service was horrible...they made us use only their service people who were 35miles away and if you air condition went out they might have someone out there in 3 or 4 days. We had air condition problem and it needed a new compressor but they did everything to avoid authorizing a new one. We finally got it but only after two weeks of essentially no air in the summer. I would never purchase one myself.

[Alan Trout]

I have been a home inspector for going on 19 years. Most of the warranty companies are a pain in the backside. If you like to fight with people they can pay off. But there are tons of loop holes that they like to try to use to get out of claims. On the Subzero I have one about that age as well. What is wonderful about them is pretty much every part is available in the aftermarket and they are pretty cheap compared to a new unit. The most common problem with them is that the evaporator coil will start to leak. When they first went to R134A for the refrigerant the coils would not hold up to the corrosive nature of that refrigerant. The aftermarket coils are actually better then the OEM and they are typically under $200.00. There is a place online called szparts that is the go to place for parts.

Good Luck

Alan

[Mike Henderson]

I have been a home inspector for going on 19 years. Most of the warranty companies are a pain in the backside. If you like to fight with people they can pay off. But there are tons of loop holes that they like to try to use to get out of claims. On the Subzero I have one about that age as well. What is wonderful about them is pretty much every part is available in the aftermarket and they are pretty cheap compared to a new unit. The most common problem with them is that the evaporator coil will start to leak. When they first went to R134A for the refrigerant the coils would not hold up to the corrosive nature of that refrigerant. The aftermarket coils are actually better then the OEM and they are typically under $200.00. There is a place online called szparts that is the go to place for parts.

Good Luck

Alan

What he said^^^

My experience with home warranty people is not good. The home warranty people contract out the work to local people and those local people are usually the worse repair people. The warranty people don't pay much to the repair people so they don't get the best - the best don't need work of that type.

Because the repair people are not getting paid much, they do the minimum amount of work. One company I refused to allow into my home had reviews that they would show up, collect the $60 co-pay and then never come back with the repair parts. The only reason I had this home warranty was that we had bought the house and the seller provided the home warranty as part of the sale. I'd NEVER buy a home warranty - especially if you have the ability to do the simple repairs yourself.

Also, if you have something like an Air Conditioner, there's no way they're going to give you a new A/C if your old one conks out. After all, the old A/C is probably 10 to 15 years old and is worn out. They have to protect themselves by depreciating the old A/C so you wind up paying quite a bit yourself. Do yourself a favor and call a reputable A/C company. They'll give you (reasonably) unbiased advice and you'll probably not pay more.

Mike

[Steve Peterson]

My experience with home warranty people is not good. The home warranty people contract out the work to local people and those local people are usually the worse repair people. The warranty people don't pay much to the repair people so they don't get the best - the best don't need work of that type.

Because the repair people are not getting paid much, they do the minimum amount of work. One company I refused to allow into my home had reviews that they would show up, collect the $60 co-pay and then never come back with the repair parts. The only reason I had this home warranty was that we had bought the house and the seller provided the home warranty as part of the sale. I'd NEVER buy a home warranty - especially if you have the ability to do the simple repairs yourself.


I have had similar experiences as Mike. It seems standard for the seller to pay for a 1 year warrantee where I live. The guys that get sent out are often marginal and they take a long time to complete the repairs. Plus there are a ton of exclusions. We had a blocked sewage pump that we ended up paying out of pocket to fix. It's strange that they would cover a simple garbage disposal, but not an essential piece of our septic system. Built-in refrigerators are also not covered unless you pay for additional coverage.

Steve

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

We just bought 10-years old home. Within 4 weeks we replace refrigerator and washer/drier unit. Coincidental? Maybe, but for us is too late to buy insurance :(.
Good luck in your decision.

Ed.

[Matt Meiser]

I haven't bought one (3 houses) and didn't regret it because we didn't have enough happe. To equal the cost but know people who have and had them pay off. I very rarely but warranties unless I feel the item is likely to be damaged, such as my daughters laptop. Cell phones we insure through our homeowners with a similar deductible to the 3rd party warranties.

[Barry McFadden]

I guess with any type of insurance it's a crapshoot.... When we bought our house it was 2 years old and appliances were the same age.. didn't even think about home warranty...don't even know if it's available in Canada. Within 1 year the dishwasher was VERY loud (Maytag).. I replaced the motor (including bearings...$220.00) since I could wiggle the shaft about 1/8 inch...20 years later it's still running well. Had issues with the fridge a few years ago not keeping food cold enough and when I took the inside panels off of the freezer section the coils were all frozen up.... after some troubleshooting I replaced the defrost timer ($35) and have had no problems since. So I guess I'm saying that I would have paid way more for a warranty than what it cost me to fix the appliances...