Do you purchase the extended warranty on atv / utv ?

[Buford_Dawg]

So, recently bought a brand new Polaris Ranger, did not buy the warranty at the time of purchase. Now, every week I am getting mailings and emails from Polaris with opportunity to buy the extended warranty before my standard warranty runs out. It is at a somewhat discounted price, however still pretty expensive IMO. I have friends with Polaris and they have had good luck, no breakdowns over several years of heavy use. But another buddy has had issues with his and had to take it back several times for some costly work.

 

[ribber]

I bought a Ranger last year and also did not purchase the extended warranty. And I also get mailings from Polaris quite often.
Bought mine in TN and not local is one reason I didn't, and I've been told by some they had issues with what it covered. It's a little pricey IMO so I played the odds.

 

[tree cutter 08]

I don't buy extended warranties. I did one time years ago, come to find out it wasn't much pumpkin.

 

[arrendale8105]

Here’s my take on it. When I bought the first and only ranger I’ve ever owned I bought the 5 year warranty with it. It never covered anything and I fought tooth and nail about it. 3 years in (I bought the 5 year) First it was some kind of bearing or something they claimed wasn’t warranty as it is serviceable “wear and tear item” almost $500 to fix. Almost 6 months later it started running bad and was a lot of things in the fuel injection system that they claimed wasn’t covered by the warranty. Another $600. I argued with them and asked what the heck did I buy the warranty for and they basically said it only covered the engine if it blew up. I had every service done by them as well. I threatened to pull it out in the Parking lot, throw it in neutral and redline it till it blew up in the parking lot. I paid my bill, pulled out, drove 4 miles across town and traded it in for a can am and haven’t looked back. I did buy the extended warranty again but before I did I told them what happened with Polaris and was real clear about what it covered and my expectations as well. So far so good with the can am (it’s way nicer than Polaris IMO).

 

[oops1]

I only buy used atvs so no warranty for me. I did just buy a new couch and opted out of the extended warranty. I feel they are all scams but I could be wrong.

 

[normaldave]

In general, my personal rule is, if I don't think I can afford to pay out of pocket for repairs down the road, then I can't afford to buy the item, (much less the extended warranty), in the first place.

 

[transfixer]

I've never bought an extended warranty on an atv, or vehicle, being an automotive tech I always figured I would deal with whatever came up, I can tell you from my experiences with customers who have bought extended warranties, and then ended up at the shop where I worked with an issue, when we call the extended warranty company they generally look for any way possible to get out of paying for the repair, I've seen very few people that were satisfied with the warranty coverage.

I would make sure of what they will cover and in what time period, make sure what they require you to do to keep the warranty in effect ( in other words does it have to always be serviced by a dealer ? ) if it allows for you to do your own oil changes and the like I would make sure to keep receipts and records of parts bought and when done , as I've seen warranties denied when the customer couldn't prove they changed the fluids themselves .

Factor in the deductible and see if it looks worthwhile to you to buy it ? I don't know anything about those units, but if they aren't prone to having issues based on other owners experiences , then I'd probably pass on the warranty.

 

[specialk]

Ive never bought any type warranty..

 

[Lilly001]

Extended warranties are like any other insurance.
The house always wins.
The devil is in the details.
After you read, and think about real good, the fine print you usually opt out.

 

[Lilly001]

I looked real hard at an extended warranty on my truck.
After reading the fine print I found they covered no gaskets of any type, nor any electrical.
My mechanic showed me that about half or more of most repairs is in one of those categories. So they would cover a transmission, just not any gaskets or electrical part. So Transfixer, what good would that be on a transmission repair?

 

[transfixer]

I looked real hard at an extended warranty on my truck.
After reading the fine print I found they covered no gaskets of any type, nor any electrical.
My mechanic showed me that about half or more of most repairs is in one of those categories. So they would cover a transmission, just not any gaskets or electrical part. So Transfixer, what good would that be on a transmission repair?

I haven't run into that scenario, where the warranty company wanted the items broken down, an overhaul kit comes with most things needed to rebuild a trans, clutches, seals, bands, and gaskets, so generally the parts list would read " overhaul kit " if the company wanted it itemized, but most of the time it is written up as " rebuilt transmission assembly " and labor listed seperately,

Usually the company will deny the claim if there was a leak that the customer didn't address, such as a front seal that has leaked so long the whole underside of the vehicle is covered in oil , or if the warranty required the customer to regularly service the unit and they can't prove that they did they will deny it. or in some cases they will send an inspector out to look over the unit, and try to determine what they consider " normal wear and tear" a lot of times its up to the technician working on it to describe what happened to the transmission in a way so the inspector will approve the repair, about half those guys don't know what they are looking at , a few do.

Basically those companies will try to prove " customer negligence" , or if they try to say " normal wear and tear" then they might pay for part of the repair, but not all of it.

Probably only about 2/3 of warranty claims on transmissions are approved, and about half of those only pay for part of the repairs.

 

[treemanjohn]

In my opinion you would be far better off taking the money for an extended warranty and buying some stock with it instead

 

[lonewolf247]

I never buy extended warranties on anything . I’ve always bought Honda atvs and never needed one. I don’t own a UTV, and I understand it’s a bit more money, but I’d still take a chance.

I figure on automobiles alone, between myself and wife, over the coarse of many years, I’ve saved enough on declining extended warranties to darn near buy a new car!

 

[NOYDB]

The house always wins.

They are set up so you pay them more then they have to pay you.

I have not ever bought one and I don't recommend others do.

 

[mike352]

U could probably get a warranty thru your bank for pretty cheep.

 

[zedex]

I ran a motorcycle/atv/pwc dealership for several years and managed a used car garage as well as managed 6 midas shops.

Never buy the extended warranty. The dealer sells them as a quick cash scheme.
They dont cover anything as you are led to believe...
The factory warranty covers the most items but there are always ways to weasel out of paying up.
Factory warranties cover defects and limited wear and that's where the extended warranty picks up. But normal wear items such as tires,tubes,chain and sprockets, clutches,....... all fall under "normal wearable components", thus not covered.
There are a number of times when I talked Honda and Kawasaki into "goodwill warranty" repairs. Polaris never would do that.
In fact, Polaris had issues with the trailboss 325 where the main bearings were not placed properly in the engine and many buyers ended up with blown engines. Obviously a factory defect but Polaris wanted dealers to shoulder the cost 100%.
My dealership had several of the affected machines still new in the crate. When I threatened to stop selling and servicing their products, they caved in and sent new engines to swap out. They actually sent memos to dealers to rebuild, at our expense, the engines.
Factory mistakes happen. That's the only protection you need. Extended warranty rarely covers anything

 

[GA1dad]

I was in the home warranty business for 10 years in Supervision. They are not worth the paper they are wrote on in my opinion. Assuming that ATV warranty uses the same basic business rules,,,,, read it top to bottom. Look for words like "examples of items not adressed". Google complaints with company to see what others say.

 

[mattech]

If it was worth having they wouldn't have to work so hard for you to buy it.

 

[NOYDB]

I worked as a service adviser at two different new car dealerships. I was on the phone to the extended warranty companies everyday. They were expensive and as a whole never paid enough to be worth the purchase price. Buying a lottery ticket was as good odds.

 

[mattuga]

Sounds like I may have gambled wrong but I bought one for "ease of mind" prior to reading many comments like above about nothing being covered. I was just scared of buying a lemon that doesn't have problems until year 2-3.

I had never bought an expensive SXS and the ~$700 for an extra 4 years of warranty (1 year comes with it) seemed worth it, they wanted $950 at first. I said no until final paperwork came down and I made them give me a best offer and I agreed to $100 less. They were pushing hard so I do bet it is cash money for them. I bought a Honda Pioneer which is pretty reliable. I think it may help me with resale in the next couple of years when I want to re-buy if a worthy Honda SXS upgrade is available.

You might can negotiate the price of a warranty if you call your local dealership even if you didn't buy from them. I know that was a possibility with Honda.