“Article written by Wholesale Warranties, the leading provider of RV Extended Warranties direct to consumer. With a focus on education, customer service and reliable coverage, Wholesale Warranties has established themselves as the premier option for RVers looking to protect the road ahead. To work with a highly trained RV warranty specialist on an RV protection quote for your home-on-wheels, please call 800-939-2806 or visit wholesalewarranties.com.”
*Fair Disclosure* Love Your RV is an affiliate of Wholesale Warranties. Post contains affiliate links
When you’re not handy with a toolkit, protecting your RV investment with a warranty seems like the logical next step, as you know you’ll end up in a repair shop sooner or later.
But what if you have the technical knowledge to complete your own maintenance and repairs?
Even if you’re a fix-it-yourself type of person, warranty protection is still important while on the road.
General RV Maintenance
Understandably, you won’t want to pay for maintenance costs at a repair facility if you can easily do them yourself. Some contracts will allow you to complete this required maintenance on your own with proper record keeping.
When looking into an extended RV warranty for your rig, you’ll want to ask the provider if they allow you to perform your own maintenance. If you do choose a contract that allows for this type of upkeep, they will still require you keep documentation of services, including times and dates of the service, mileage of the unit at time of service, and all receipts (such as those for purchasing oil). Keep in mind that you’ll still be required to follow your manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule.
That being said, how can a warranty policy benefit even the handiest RVer? Think coverage for the most expensive components, more time to enjoy your vacation, and peace-of-mind when you need it most.
Full-Service Repairs
There are a handful of major RV repairs that can leave any travel budget spent. But we don’t need to tell you that, Mr. Fix-It.
Our handiest customers typically enjoy powertrain only coverage, since they can repair most items in the coach section of their motorhome, but know the engine itself is a major and costly repair (not to mention the necessary towing that comes with it).
At Wholesale Warranties, we offer two levels of powertrain coverage – basic and plus. Bare bones, you can get your chassis engine components, transmission components, and drive axle components covered. Plus coverage can include things such as chassis air conditioning, electrical components, and more.
Even if you’re an extremely skilled mechanic and you can fix these major components in theory, it’s not likely you would be hauling the proper tools around in your rig at all times. Space and weight constraints limit what you can bring on the road and will likely only help with minor repairs.
Imagine the unfortunate repair of a refrigerator. The process to remove and reinstall a new unit often involves lifting and carrying the fridge through the front windshield of your rig. It’s not likely you’d be able to complete this without a team of professionals and subsequent tools.
All things considered, it’s also more cost effective to hold a warranty in lieu of doing these repairs on your own dime. You’re taking a calculated risk with a fixed price that you can easily factor into your travel budget when you pay for a warranty up front. The other option is to take a gamble on whether or not major components on your unit will break down, and fronting the bill yourself when they do.
Peace of Mind
The work you do on your own RV is never guaranteed without a warranty. While you could be the best mechanic, the parts you use could be defective or even faulty.
If you weren’t able to get a refund on those parts, you’d be paying out of pocket to replace the same items again. Additionally, if faulty parts caused damage to another working part on your rig, it could lead to a catastrophic scenario on the road.
As RVs continue to advance, parts will become more complicated to fix. It will take more training, and more specialized mechanics to complete the repairs. With a warranty in place, that work is failsafe.
More Vacation Time
If you have a major repair, it’s going to take time to fix, whether you do it yourself or you have a shop complete it for you. Ordering parts, collecting the right tools, and making room for the repairs will likely take up an unnecessary chunk of your vacation.
The last thing you want your travel partner(s) to do is wait while you fix the rig instead of enjoying your vacation together. As opposed to spending hours on the work yourself, you could spend time exploring while someone else works on your rig. Many reliable policies even allow for mobile mechanics, so you don’t have to waste your precious time finding and driving to a dependable shop. Time is money.
If you’re handy like Ray, you’ve got a lot of the repairs and maintenance on your RV covered. You can grab your wrench, and do most of the work without having to pay a mechanic, or wait while someone else does diagnostics.
If you want to work on minor repairs yourself while leaving the big-ticket items to the pros, take a look at powertrain or comprehensive warranty coverage. You’ll save on a premium cost while covering everything that makes your motorhome move.
For a free, no obligation, RV extended warranty quote, visit Wholesale Warranties online, or call 800-939-2806.