Have you ever been at the store and you scan an item and are asked if you want to buy the warranty? How do you determine whether to buy it or pass? What about a home warranty? I rarely buy an extended warranty on anything. They usually feel like the item doing great till the warranty is up be but the moment it expires it goes bad. I sometimes feel like it is almost a jinx on the item. But rarely have I ever had to use an extended warranty, plus usually the item is covered by the manufacturer for a period so you are basically buying double insurance on it, if the warranty will even cover your issue. These warranties have a lot of fine print clauses that could lead to most things not being covered or only covered to a set criteria.
Used Cars, Appliances and Home Warranties
The only time I usually buy them is on used cars. I have bought them on appliances before mainly stoves because I have had bad luck with stoves. Remember what you are buying is not an investment. After I bought my first house it came with a 1-year home warranty (the one-year home warranty is standard where I live and even our realtor advised us to make sure to do that one). After the year was up, I was sent a letter asking me to renew it. The person who did my home financing told me how great they are and would always keep hers in her home. She is the only person I have heard who has said positive things about them. Everyone else has told me that they rarely cover anything, and they are a pain to work with especially for the repair people. So I decided not to renew it and I am glad I did not waste money on it.