If you’ve got a big trip in your recreational vehicle planned, the last thing you want is something terrible to happen to your vacation because of a mechanical problem with your RV. After all, since you’re likely camping in your RV, it has the double duty to perform as both transportation and shelter.
While you likely have RV insurance, you may be surprised to learn that not every insurance provider covers all of the issues that could arise with your RV. As a result, if you travel a lot in your recreational vehicle, it’s important to have an extended warranty on your RV as well. Here are the pros and cons of RV extended warranties.
RV Extended Warranty Benefits
There are a variety of reasons that you’d want to look into RV extended service plans for your RV or travel trailer. For example, most motorhome insurance is targeted at things like collisions. If you’re in an accident, your insurance plan may cover damage to your RV just like it would a normal car, and some people even choose to insure the personal belongings inside their RV, too. That being said, there are plenty of times that the issue you face in your RV will have nothing to do with another driver.
Common examples of the sorts of things covered by an extended service plan but not by insurance include mechanical breakdowns due to normal use. Since RVs are relatively complex when it comes to their mechanics, it’s actually quite common for them to need some sort of repair in the first few years of use. This means that in order to keep operating your RV, you may wind up needing to make costly repairs.
Rather than worry about whether or not you have enough money saved for these sorts of emergencies, it may be a better idea to purchase an extended warranty for your RV that covers mechanical issues including things like a diesel engine or generator repair. This can keep you and your camper running for many trips to come.
RV Extended Warranty Drawbacks
If you’re the type of person who isn’t worried about expensive repairs or doesn’t plan on using your RV often, you may not feel that paying for an extended warranty makes the most sense. For example, if you are on a tight budget, you may want to just focus on keeping an emergency fund for a broad range of things that could go wrong in your life, instead of paying monthly for an extended service plan that you may not use.
That being said, if it comes down to cost alone, it’s important to keep in mind that repairing an engine or generator could wind up costing you tens of thousands of dollars. Granted, if you’ve purchased a brand new RV, you may not feel that an extended warranty is necessary, but for used RVs, it’s worth thinking very carefully about whether or not to buy some kind of a warranty plan.
As you can see, there are a variety of reasons that you’d want to have an extended warranty on an RV.
If you frequently travel in your RV and don’t want to get stranded because of a mechanical issue that isn’t covered by your normal insurance, purchasing an extended warranty is a good idea. That being said, not everybody can afford to pay for extra service plans on their RV, or they may not use it frequently enough to be concerned about it.
Ultimately, your own tolerance for risk will play some part in your decision making process; however, if you truly want peace of mind, getting an extended service plan for your RV is a smart thing to do.
