Service Agreements

[Ernie]

If you bought a middle of the road new appliance 5 years ago, and have had no problems with it, would you get a service agreement for the next three years for $80 per year. In particular, I am wondering about a dishwasher, but I have the same question about other appliances.

[RZehr]

I bought all new appliance right at 4.5 years ago. I didn't buy the warranty. There was supposed to be some factory warranty, but they ended up expiring or didn't cover the problem. Since then, my Maytag dishwasher, and Maytag oven, and Speed Queen clothes dryer all have had expensive repairs. The dryer once, about a year old. The oven about 4 years old. The dryer did twice, about 3 years old, and 4 years old.
Appliance repairmen out here are expensive and very difficult to find. I'm guessing I've spent $2,000 to $3,000 on these repairs.

[Soloist]

If you know someone who can repair, I wouldn’t. Most common problems are manageable.

[Josh]

I wouldn't buy a new appliance in the first place, but if I did, I would assume that a service plan that cheap would come from a provider that will find a way to avoid fixing anything. Here are some examples:

#1. The fine print says you have to mail the appliance in to them to be fixed - too expensive for a dishwasher.
#2. It excludes problems from "hard water" or "water supply", and then every problem it has gets blamed on that.
#3. The fine print excludes repairs if parts are hard to come by, and by the time you need a repair, some parts like electronic logic boards aren't easily in stock anymore.

If your appliance fails, you can just either buy another one, pay an appliance repairman to fix it, or find a good old, used appliance. I got a nice Maytag dishwasher for $40, Maytag washing machines for $50 each, like-new ovens for $100, and so on.