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Extended service contracts

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Russellvh

RVF Supporter
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Messages
351
Location
Home based out of the Colony, Texas
RV Year
2022
RV Make
Forest River
RV Model
Wildcat Fifth-wheel
RV Length
36.5
TOW/TOAD
2019 Ford F-250.
Fulltimer
Yes
I’m in the shopping stage of becoming a full time RV’er. Not sure yet which one but it will be a fiver and a pick up.

My question is about service contracts for the fiver. I’ve already seen several companies offering the service. Some claim “head of the line” service at a dealers service. Most offer a yearly contract then fix just about anything that breaks down.

Are theses services really helpful and are there any particular ones you recommend or warn to stay away from?
 
We've had bad experiences with those - I don't think we broke even. They won't pay when you think they should, they want you to use secondhand, rebuilt, whatever parts, and sometimes they actually contradict what an agent told you yesterday....run by a bunch of teenagers I think.
I'm sure there are rare exceptions, but when we sold our 12-year-old motorhome, the AC, fridge, heater, engine .... major stuff, was working fine. We had issues with leveling jacks and other minor things - each costing a few hundred to repair. BIG expense was when the engine air intake plugged up with dirt - had to have a diesel mechanic go in and clean/replace a lot of the hoses, etc, but you won't have that problem.
They try to scare you into buying them, but I doubt it's worth it. Just bank the money and use it for repairs, not warranties.
 
Many service contracts do not like to pay for "mobile" repair techs. Some will pay the actual repair but not the service call portion. Heck, even my factory Heartland warranty won't pay the service call portion of a recent repair I had authorized. Therefore, as a full timer if you do purchase any of these plans be prepared to always be taking you fiver into a shop, which sometimes won't work out very good if they want to keep it overnight.
 
Many service contracts do not like to pay for "mobile" repair techs. Some will pay the actual repair but not the service call portion. Heck, even my factory Heartland warranty won't pay the service call portion of a recent repair I had authorized. Therefore, as a full timer if you do purchase any of these plans be prepared to always be taking you fiver into a shop, which sometimes won't work out very good if they want to keep it overnight.
I agree - we ran into that exact problem in an emergency- severe storm approaching in a few hours, we couldn't get it to a shop, called a mobile tech, got verbal authorization by phone... then the next day they refused to pay. It was only a few hundred, fortunately. But that chapped me bad. You CAN get authorized, then denied. I didn't get a authorization number or anything, I was standing on top of a canyon trying to get cell signal, wind blowing me... they could hear it on the phone. Sheeesh.
 
The way I look at it, or at least as a full time RV traveler, I am going to put a lot of miles on both my fiver and truck. Most maintenance items and repairs I can do on my fiver. Most of the stuff on my modern diesel 1-ton has to be taken somewhere. To me it is a waste of money to have warranties on the fiver, but I may consider it on the truck before my factory warranty expires.
 
Wow. Great information.
 
We bought a service contract with Cornerstone when we bought our 2020 Alpha Wolf 22SW-L. Our fridge went out and my wife contracted them. They advised her to either go to the dealer we bought it from or contact a mobil tech. She contacted a mobil tech. After he inspected the fridge and Cornerstone approved the work we had trouble getting him to order the new fridge. My wife called Cornerstone back and told them the mobil tech we had didn't have the money to up front the fridge. My wife told her we could upfront the money for the fridge but didn't feel comfortable giving the money to the tech to buy the fridge. The lady then told her what steps to take and we did. Within a week of sending in all the bills we had a check from Cornerstone covering our expenses. If the mobil tech would have had the funds to do what he said he could then we would not have had to upfront the money. Cornerstone did right by us. This was the first time we had to do anything like this but we were pleased with the outcome. Skipper
 
Cornerstone is one of the companies we use for RV service contracts. I have had a relationship with them for about 12 years. Solid people. You started out on the right foot by contacting them upfront and asking for guidance and followed the plan.
Let us know if we can help.
Thank you,
Ken
 
Thanks for the info. I’ll keep Cornerstone in mind.
 

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