Extended warranty or no extended warranty??

[paul bize]

Buying a used 2004 420 Sedan Bridge. Beautiful boat with only 130 hours on the Cummins 480CE's. Trying to determine if I should pay for an extended warrenty. I already negotiated a better price for the warranty, but it's still around 4K for 2 years.
Any advice? Any serious problems (i.e. more than 4K worth) on those engines?

Thanks,
Paul on Island Time

 

[wvsundancer]

130 hours is nothing... sounds like I would put that money in bank..

 

[Hellman Huddle]

If your buying a 2004 420, then $4000 is nothing to you to have piece of mind. If something goes wrong on that boat it's going to cost a whole lot more than that to fix. I bought my boat in November of last year and I am on my third warranty issue. Even though it has 130 hours, I would prefer a boat that has been used (oil moving around in the engines, seals being lubricated) than sitting still (rusting, and drying out)

I say do it!

 

[Jim M]

I agree with Hellman, a boat is like a car in some repects. You need to use it. Sitting there is no good for a boat or a car.

 

[shinsr]

Agreed. One decent diesel repair will cost over 4k. Just make sure you truly understand the fine print, there are alot of different after market warranties, and they cover different things and have different deductibles and maximums (ex- cover electronics as well). Is it the legacy warranty or another?

 

[desperado]

If your buying a 2004 420, then $4000 is nothing to you to have piece of mind. If something goes wrong on that boat it's going to cost a whole lot more than that to fix. I bought my boat in November of last year and I am on my third warranty issue. Even though it has 130 hours, I would prefer a boat that has been used (oil moving around in the engines, seals being lubricated) than sitting still (rusting, and drying out)

I say do it!

Yeah- I agree completely. 6 yeAr old boat with 130 hours???? I may tear up a little just thinking about the boat. Especially diesels!!!!!! I honestly would be happier if she had some engine time. Low hours are always used as a huge selling point. When actually I would prefer to see a boat where she has been used and engines are tip top. If engines are tip top you can rest easy that the captain has probably taken care of the rest of her.

 

[Gofirstclass]

Get one thing clear before you consider spending that $4k. These are probably NOT extended warranties, they are repair contracts. Warranties (and extended warranties) can only be offered by the manufacturer of the boat. What you are probably buying are maintenance and repair contracts offered by a third party. I used to work in the RV business and sold thousands of these third party contracts.

You need to know that these are HUGE profit items for the retailer. It would not surprise me to learn that half of that $4K is actually dealer profit. That means that of your $4k, only about $2k-2.5k is actually going to cover any needed repairs.

Read the fine print to find out what is covered and what isn't. An example--on an engine it my say that only the internally lubricated engine parts are covered. If you break an exhaust manifold, it ain't covered. Same with fuel systems, pumps, etc. Unless they are specifically listed the third party contract company will not pay for the repair.

Many times when there is a problem, they will require that the engine (or assembly needing repair) be torn down to determine the cause. If the cause was not a covered item they will not pay for the repair. Nor will they pay for the tear down. Depending on the third party company they also may not pay for tear down or removal of accessory items that has to be done to get to the covered items. For example, if you have a broken valve they may not pay for the removal of any injectors, manifolds, etc that have to be removed before the mechanic can get to the item that is actually broken.

There are good contracts out there and there are horrible contracts. The devil's in the details.

Caveat Emptor.

Also the boat could sit for a week or more while it waits for the third party's inspector to come examine it to determine if the damage was caused by a covered part.