where are wombats?

From : Annonymous

Q: i was mearly replying to each thread in which people thought i was opposed to capitalism or being so irresponsible as to not carry insurance which to be honest after re-reading my own reply i can see how they got that impression. i did a poor job of communicating my reasoning which brought on the negative replies and for that i apologize. in retrospect i could have replied to my own post and addressed all the complaints in one message rather than individually follow up on each one. roy did make me re-think my general policy to include when buying into new unproven technology or manufacturing techniques an extended warranty may be a good idea. no prob ed this is a good on-topic topic. first of all we are talking about service contracts not extended warranties. there are no such thing as extended warranties although many people mistakenly call them that. one should never look upon a service contract as an investment it is not nor was it ever intended to be an investment. rather it is protection from catastrophic loss much like an insurance policy very similar to your medical insurance. as a service manager i see service contracts pay-off on a daily basis. do the owners recoup their entire investment many times not. in fact in looking back at all my service contracts i can say that they have been a net loser for me from an investment standpoint. why you ask do i buy them then i also see on a daily basis the excalating costs of automotive repair. i also see the increasing complexity of todays autos. in spite of the manufacturers best efforts and engineering expertise when you add complexity to any mechanial contrivance you increase the potential for failure. also i travel a lot towing a 30 rv. i have the peace of mind knowing that wherever i go in the us and canada if i have a mechanical breakdown i will have the repairs covered at no charge plus the use of a rental car and if the repair involves a protracted visit trip interruption protection vis a vis campground fees motels and meals. knowing that i can budget for our trips knowing that there will be no surprises... at least automotive wise. finally many folks live from paycheck to paycheck and do not budget for catastrophies. those folks are the best customers imho for service contracts. without the protection of a service contract many of these folks would be dead in the water if faced with a one or two thousand dollar repair. they dont have the money their credit cards are maxxed out and they are just plain screwed. if they had the prescience to buy a service contract at the time of sale it would only add a couple of bucks to their monthly payment and if a catastrophy should befall them they are covered. so really they are not an investment. they just spread the risk out so there are no surprises during the term of the contract. the peace of mind is priceless. mike being in the industry i see service contracts pay off on a daily basis. as i said i work in the industry and can fix most anything myself and get a substantial discount on parts but i still have service contracts on every vehicle that i own. the peace of mind in worth it to me. i respect your opinion and experience which in this case is much greater than mine. i never would have used an extended warranty on any product for which it was offered to me. maybe ive been lucky though i dont much believe in luck. what kind of vehicles to you work on that you see extended warranties pay off on a daily basis i want to avoid those manufactures. ok dude! we get it. you dont believe in extended warranties. quit beating a dead horse. your last 6 posts all said the same thing. -- ---------------------------- -chris 05 ctd 06 liberty crd real trucks dont need spark plugs. .