Extended Warranty ?

Thinking about getting an extended warranty for my compact excavator. My use is for personal farm, forest use, no commercial use. I can get full coverage or just powertrain and hydraulics for less money. My machine is tier III so much less complex than tier IV. Not likely to ever max out hours available in either plan. Is full coverage the way to go, just powertrain and hydraulics, or skip the extended warranty.

Any of you folks have any experience with warranty's

Extended warranties are a great profit maker.

There have been posts on this forum about warranties in general. You might try a search using the term "warranty".
Whether it is worth the extra money you pay for it depends on the brand of machine and the reputation of the service department you plan on dealing with. The name extended warranty really is a misnomer. What you are buying is actually an insurance policy to help pay for breakdowns. You will need to read the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy very carefully to figure out just what it actually covers before signing the papers and paying your money. That is if the seller actually lets you have a copy of the papers to read before signing you up.

John C. said:

You will need to read the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy very carefully to figure out just what it actually covers before signing the papers and paying your money.

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Especially any conditions that tie you in to using certain brands(s) of lubricants or filters, or the need for frequent oil analysis, just as examples.

I have a relative who is a service advisor for a major auto brand that sees people all the time with theses so called extended warranty plans. In almost every case the plan is useless and covers nothing for one reason or another. The customer ends up paying out of pocket.

I have a car with a factory lifetime power train warranty. The very fine print tells you the dealer must inspect the car on a regular basis to not void the plan. There are no reminders, no warnings, you just show up for service and there is no coverage if you have not done the inspections. Of course we have and so far got 3 differentials, a transmission, drive shaft, cv joints and more. Keeping that car forever just to see if I can get an engine.

What ever you decide, make sure you read it well. As stated above if they won’t give you a copy they are hiding something.

Better yet, invest the money and use it when needed for repairs. Unless you beat the crap out of your machines I’ll bet you come out ahead.

I would also post the make, model and year and see what people have to say about it, that might help you decide if a warranty is necessary.

Is the "extended warranty" (insurance actually) from a third party or the manufacturer? Third party extended warranties are a minefield, some are exclusionary (covers everything except this, this and this) and some inclusionary (we only cover this, this and this.)

The main problem with third party warranties is, is the provider going to be there down the road when you need them. Or do they just take the money and fold up shop a little while later.

We had an insurance policy for our 40' sailboat from a company doing business in New York state. Marine insurance is difficult to find and expensive, before they issue a policy you have to have an accredited marine surveyor completely evaluate the boat's condition which even includes a trip to the top of the mast, photos, etc. Anyway the business declared bankruptcy about six months in to our one year policy. So I kissed quite a bit of money goodbye and had to scramble to find another insurer.