What Are Your Views on Appliance Protection Plans

[Marty Rogachefsky]

Hey everyone!

We had to buy a new fridge for our rental property, which cost about $1000. I'm wondering if we should get the Lowe's 3-year protection plan with it. It costs $150 and they deal with maintenance issue. Do you think it's worth it? Seems like not a lot could go wrong with a fridge in 3 years, but maybe I'm wrong. 

If there's other appliance protection that's better/cheaper, I'm interested in hearing the options as well.

[Bill B.]

Appliance warranties are almost a bad deal and that one Seems too expensive. You’re buying a 1 or 2 year warranty for $150? (It comes with 1-2 years and many credit cards double it for free.)

The ONLY time I buy appliance extended warranties is when buying clearance items. 

At RC Willey they discount clearance items about 20-25%. Then they will sell you a 5 year warranty for 10% of the discounted rate. In your case that would mean buying a $1,250 refrigerator for $1,000 and then getting a 5 year warranty for $100. Even then it’s probably a bad deal. But they cover everything. No service call or labor charges. I figure it will cost me $75-$100 just to have someone come out. 

On 40+ appliances I think they’ve come out twice. But I’ve also had to replace entire refrigerators because the ice maker cost $600 plus $250 in labor to repair/replace. It’s nice having a guy come out that doesn’t mind throwing new parts at a problem until it works. :-)

TLDR: if you want to feel good get a 5 year warranty for 10% of the price after you save more than that in the purchase. It’s still a money losing deal but not as bad.