Exterior maintenance and extended warranty

[PNGento]

Just buying a Voltage 3905 and the dealer, of course, is trying to sell us an extended warranty. I know they make a bunch on these. While they wrap it all up in just a slight increase in the monthly payment, for the "Platinum" plan, it is anywhere from $6000 to $8000+ depending on what all you opt in for. I think it is way overpriced, but the wife likes the peace of mind. It includes mechanical breakdown protection (but not sure if it covers EVERYTHING or not (and $50 ded.) incl. parts and labor).

*Paint and fabric: they put some type of sealer on the outside that supposedly protects the fiberglass gel coat from needing to be waxed and washed and supposed to protect the decals (5 years).

Gap protection: this makes sense, but since my insurance is covering based on the "list" price, I think the substantial price we actually paid should cover any gap between value and replacement????

Roadside assistance 24/7.

Tire protection: repair or replace any road damage to tires or wheels

*Tyron: The way this was explained, is that it basically makes a standard wheel/tire into a run-flat tire. Never heard of this process, but run-flat I am familiar with. This sounds good, but I bet I could buy this on my own????

The two with the * are especially of interest. Gimmicks, or truly good products? Not sure exactly what they treat the outside with to protect the fiberglass and decals, but I'd bet I could find someone who does this separate from camping world...does anyone know if this is worthwhile?

The Tyron...should I be able to get this done somewhere away from CW? If so, does it actually work? Anyone with any experience with this stuff?

My view is that the $6-8K they want to charge, would go a long way to paying the parts and labor and/or towing/roadside assistance IF/WHEN something unexpected comes up...it sounds like very expensive insurance to me, but since the wife is wanting me to post this and see if anyone has anything to offer in the way of advice or lessons learned...well, I'm an obedient husband.

Regards.

[Infinityrver]

My wife and were offered the same thing when we purchased our coach. We kept our money in our pocket. If something comes up we'll pay out of pocket.

I've had three other 5ers and haven't run into a 6000.00 dollar problem to date.

You've certainly thought this out and put it in this thread. Be strong when talking to your wife.

[kevinmiles]

I once bought a new car and was offered an extended warranty for about $2000. I decided to put the $2000 into a guaranteed interest account and use it if necessary for future off-warranty repairs. Well, I never had to touch it and it has now grown to over $4000. That was about 13 years and 4 vehicles ago. Just food for thought.......

[sundancer 87]

If Dutchman is concerned about how their products look out there on the road they'll ship you a decal cheap. Normal wax will protect the finish just like a boat's finish. Super high dollar upholstery treatment, can you say Scotchgard?

If you read enough 'tire and wheel' comments you'll read that the tire or wheel usually isn't taken care of at the dealership. It has to go to the manufacturer for inspection, adjustment or replacement. You have to ship it to them.

Your auto insurance may cover roadside assistance on the rig. Any of the RV clubs have it, cheaper and with benefits.

I don't have it, I didn't want to finance something that was totally invented for the dealership.

Hopefully someone will pop up and tell us of a great experience with this type of coverage. I don't mind a little crow.

[Thom]

Hello All,
I am in the process of trading in my 2009 Dutchman Denali 326QB (M) on a new 2014 Dutchmen Voltage 3950. My dealer is also CW and they offered me the same stuff for the new TH. The one thing that did get my attention also was the Tyron speach. I never heard of them either so I do what we all do now.... Googled it. Pretty interesting concept. I asked for a quote on them, and have waiting to hear back from CW.
I am not endorsing or trying to sell these things (don't want to get banned on my first post ) but here is the website for Tyrons. Has any one ever used them? "They" say insurance companies are starting to offer discounts if you install them .

[Nana & Poppy]

I've never heard of them but then again it is not something that I would be looking for!


Call your insurance company and see if they offer a discount and how much and then weigh that against the cost to install Tyrons! I doubt you will find the discount the reason to install them/it!

[wahoonc]

I am wondering how they would work when the tire self destructs, like most of the trailer tires do... All there stuff just shows a tire going flat, not ripping apart.

Aaron

[Camper2b]

I agree with Aaron, blow out tire comes apart that system would be worthless. On my corvette I have run flat tires. Since there is no spare if I have a flat I can run up to 55 mph for up to 200 miles. Of course I would fix asap. These tires are tried and tested... however, in the case of tire separation all bets are off. Im sure that system works fine under certain conditions. Jmho..

[ATCguy]

Question: Is it the tires themselves that are insured, or the rig?

Since many of us (most?) have changed the cheap 'maypop' tires on our rigs to better quality items... if it's the former, then it's worthless. My old cheap tires are now either in a landfill somewhere, or have already been recycled into something else.

To me it sounds like the big deal they make about your tries being filled with nitrogen. That's fine until the first time you need adjust the tire pressure on the road... in which case, it's now worthless.

So... my opinion (take it for what it's worth)... save the money and invest it into a set of good tires AND a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) that you can constantly monitor from your truck as you roll down the road.

[wahoonc]

I have seen a variety of studies for and against the nitrogen filled tires...

I fill mine with a custom blend of 78% nitrogen... based on over 100 years of research and development.

There is a very narrow set of conditions where a high nitrogen inflation protocol might be advantageous, trailer tires ain't one of them IMHO.

Tire quality, age, loading and proper inflation are way more important.

I have priced up a new set of 15" Dextar wheels and Maxxis 8008 tires for my Coleman CM16FBS which will give me a lot more wiggle room in the capacity department AND provide me with a quality tire. Total cost is ~$575, cheap insurance in my opinion. Original wheels are 14" with "C" rated tires. Good "D" rated basically don't exist in the smaller sizes.

FWIW the stock tires, Westlakes, are rolling at close to 90% of capacity with the trailer sitting empty, add my cargo and that goes to 98%. With the tire upgrades I will be dropping back to somewhere around 65%-70%.

Aaron