extended warranty or not?

[mekong]

They always try to sell you the extended warranty on ht components, is it a good idea to purchase this or not?

 

[markw]

That depends on how much it is, what it's on and what it covers.

 

[zumbo]

My vote is NOT.

 

[sjdgpt]

Good equipment (versus cheap equipment) should come with a manufacturers warranty.

The manufacturer uses the MTF (Mean Time to Failure) to determine the failure rate of the equipment, and then applies a warranty for a much shorter period of time to fully cover abuse and misuse that they had not planned upon.

In other words a receiver with a 1 year or 2 year warranty could have a life expectancy of 10 or even 20 years.


Most electronics are dead upon arrival, or fail within the first 30 or 60 days. Why? That abuse and misuse previously mentioned. In the case of early failure the abuse and misuse is the result of shipping and handling issues, specifically wiring and internal components being damaged from unexpected sources. There is also the issue with the companies QC programs not catching a poor connection, frayed wire, loose flux on a circuit board etc, but those kinds of defects are quickly exposed within a short period of time.


Bottom line, an extended warranty for a component with few or no moving parts is a complete waste of money.

Now, a component with moving parts, such as a DVD player (or your personal auto), or a component that you know will be exposed to abuse and misuse (like placing your receiver in an air tight cabinent), an extended warranty may make sense, IF the extended warranty is relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of the unit, or the repairs that could be required. Extended warranties that cost 5 or 6% of the cost of the item may make excellent sense for such items.

 

[cam]

In Canada, Audio Video will give you an in store credit if you do not need to use your extended warranty for any repairs. To me that is a no brainer, in such a case, get the extended warranty. Peace of mind, and when the warranty is up you can use the money towards more upgrades. Perfect!

 

[Rob Babcock]

I normally don't buy them, but one exception was on my Denon DVD-2200. Cleanings are included and my house gets dusty. It was on the line, cost wise, where I didn't think I wanted to buy a new one if it failed. And a big selling point- the extended warranty is transferable for a $5 fee. Very nice spiff if I decide to sell it to buy a new model.

 

[Ampacity]

hmmm

i've had many things that i wish i had extended the warnnaty on like my computer, my best friend dump his bottle of pop (in it) the side was open and it killed it. sent it back and they fixed it. just depends on how the warrenty, how good it is if they'll fix stupidty like my warrenty did. check that out ...

 

[sjdgpt]

a positive comment about extended warranties.

Back in the day when we upgraded computers every year or two, we skipped the extended warranties, but since the Pentium 4's and Xp hit the market, the computers are being kept longer, so every computer we own in the business has an extended warranty... down time, and the information that is on the computer is just too valuable to not have the warranty... regardless of the cost of the warranty.


Every car I have ever own has had the extended warranty.

My latest car, I waited until the last day of the original warranty to purchase the extended warranty....had to see if I was going to keep the car, and besides, why buy the warranty earlier than I have to. The 5 year extended warranty, is good from the date purchased. If I had bought it when I bought the car was first driven off the lot, the extended warranty would have been good for two years after the manufacturer's warranty had expired. With the mileage limits, I could drive the car for 10 years and never exceed the warranty limitation. This lovely little extended warranty gets even better, since it was purchased through the dealer, the dealer waives the deductable if the repairs are performed through the dealer. And the best part.... a month later a CD jammed in the player, I hit a huge pot hole while trying to remove the CD, and the next morning my rear power window controller died and the window would not remain closed.... $900 in parts and labor for opening the player and removing the CD, replacing a tierod and a bushing and the realignment, and replacing the power window module ... didn't cost me a dime.... extended warranty only cost $600... already $300 ahead, and I got my CD back.

But did I spring for the extended warranty on my HT? Nope.