Ducati extended warranty

[Paulie]

My two cents:

Insurance (or extended warranty) is usually to protect someone against catastrophic or onerous losses/expenses. Typically the insurance company will take in more money as premium then it pays in claims, so the business model works and the customers are happy not to risk losing their life savings on medical bills, property damage, collision, etc.

Life, health, and auto insurance companies make a very, very thin margins (say, 5%) on the gap between premiums and claims, but they enhance their profit by investing your premiums until someone makes a claim.

On the other end of things, I sold electronics for a while. My boss mentioned that electronics warranties were something like a 75% profit margin - that is, the customer can expect to only recover 25% of what he pays, on average. I recall my commission was around 10% or more of the warranty price.

Indeed there are cases where people bought a warranty and it paid off big-time. And I suppose if you think you'll beat the hell of your bike or TV so it's likely to break, then it's justified. And there's also the chance the actuaries who do the math are behind the curve. But on average, people lose money buying these as it goes to insurance company profits and a big commisson for the seller.

[Turbo]

Originally Posted by archimedio

Exactly, and if they're making the margins I referenced in my example, you are paying $500 to your dealer for doing paperwork, and getting an insurance contract worth, at most, $500 for the balance.

What's that old saying, 'if you don't know who the sucker in the game is...'

I really don't understand the point you're trying to make! Who gives a flying f#*k who gets what money as long as I, as the extended warranty buyer, get my costly repairs covered throughout the life of the warranty. Have you personally had a bad experience or something? If so, stop bitching about who gets the money and help people here understand by relating your bad experiences.

My personal experiences with extended warranties that cover Ducatis have been nothing but positive. A very small investment for a huge return! Without them, my ST4s would have been scrap within months of the OEM warranty running out. There's no way I could have paid for the work the ST4s needed over the miles I rode it.

[DanF]

Originally Posted by Paulie

My two cents:

Insurance (or extended warranty) is usually to protect someone against catastrophic or onerous losses/expenses. Typically the insurance company will take in more money as premium then it pays in claims.........


Indeed there are cases where people bought a warranty and it paid off big-time. And I suppose if you think you'll beat the hell of your bike then it's justified.

Great take on the thread, Paulie. Personally, I never buy extended warranties as I have always known that they are a Vegas crap shoot in favor of the house. Vegas always wins!

Originally Posted by Turbo

I really don't understand the point you're trying to make! Who gives a flying f#*k who gets what money as long as I, as the extended warranty buyer, get my costly repairs covered throughout the life of the warranty. Have you personally had a bad experience or something? If so, stop bitching about who gets the money and help people here understand by relating your bad experiences.

My personal experiences with extended warranties that cover Ducatis have been nothing but positive. A very small investment for a huge return.

Mark

Thanks for telling me that my Dealer is not going to make the move to offer me an extended warranty. That was my original question.

You seem to have experience on Ducs needing service after a period of time and having the warranty has worked in your case.

I tend to think, as Paulie mentioned, "if you beat the hell out of your bike" .....

The point is mute, anyway!

I'm about to need the warranty and......I don't even know who if anyone sells one....or what it costs.

As a wild scenario given the way I ride: let's say I could buy a five year extended warranty on my 2010 Multi for $1500 today.

Would I?

No.

Dan

[brianc]

Originally Posted by archimedio

Exactly, and if they're making the margins I referenced in my example, you are paying $500 to your dealer for doing paperwork, and getting an insurance contract worth, at most, $500 for the balance.

What's that old saying, 'if you don't know who the sucker in the game is...'

I dunno man, I'd rather pay the $800 I paid for my extended warranty than use that money for a ScottOiler or other farkle accessories. All it takes is 1 sizeable claim to make it worth the money.
2 ways I don't see it as worth it - if you're planning on selling the bike within the original warranty timeframe (i.e., it's someone else's problem), or you've got the tools, skills, time, and motivation to park the bike for months at a time to handle major rebuild/repair jobs. Then there's stuff like the DES failures, etc.

Now, another side of the argument is the dealer honoring extended warranty claims, or other types of fraud / bait-and-switch.. is that more to your point?

[Twins]

Originally Posted by DanF

Great take on the thread, Paulie. Personally, I never buy extended warranties as I have always known that they are a Vegas crap shoot in favor of the house. Vegas always wins!



Mark

Thanks for telling me that my Dealer is not going to make the move to offer me an extended warranty. That was my original question.

You seem to have experience on Ducs needing service after a period of time and having the warranty has worked in your case.

I tend to think, as Paulie mentioned, "if you beat the hell out of your bike" .....

The point is mute, anyway!

I'm about to need the warranty and......I don't even know who if anyone sells one....or what it costs.

As a wild scenario given the way I ride: let's say I could buy a five year extended warranty on my 2010 Multi for $1500 today.

Would I?

No.

Dan

What the hell. I'll weigh in here. I have experience selling extended warranties and indeed, like anything else, some dealers will rape you and make it likely that you will spend more than you ever recoup in the extended warranty period. I have also found that with many electronics or things like washing machines the acturies are pretty spot on with the average life span of the product. Often the warranty runs out and then the item breaks six months or so later leaving you to absorb the cost of the extended plus the repair or toss the equipment.

That being said, I take my extended warranty purchases on a case by case basis. If something is a few hundered bucks or less; I feel like I would not want it fixed if it broke, or I feel it will be rendered out of date by the time the orginal warranty runs out anyway I dont buy the extended. I'm not covering an $85 electronic product for $15 like the stores try and get you to do at check out. I'll buy a new one after a year if it breaks. I made out fine on an eletronic stove that needed a $300 new panel board just prior to the extended warranty running out. I paid about $130 for the warranty. i may do the same with a $1500 washing machine we got. Fancy stuff but I can only imagine what it will cost to fix it. The warranty was offered for under $200. Might do it. Might not.

I have never once "lost" money by purchasing an extended warranty (I usually wait until the underlying warranty is almost out and decide if I am going to keep the item) on a large ticket item such as a car or a bike. There is something to be said for finding out your car needs a new rear main seal and paying only $50. I like being able to drop the car off and say, "Fix it" with little fear. Your dealer of course likes it too because although they will get paid one way or another, it's a lot easier not to have to present you with the $2500 bill. I should note that on my latest car I knew I was going to modify it and did not bother with an extended. Had I bought one I would have "lost" money because that bad boy has only had about $150 of warranty work done on it in the last six years. So, you never know. I also only buy factory warranties on cars etc. I'm not going to fight with a dealer to get something fixed or watch the warranty company go out of business and leave me high and dry.

I like selling my used cars or bikes with a warranty still in effect. It makes the sale easier for both parties and I feel good knowing the new buyer has some coverage for things I dont know about taht might be going on with the item.

As far as a $1500 price of a Ducati warranty? I might even consider paying that although that remains to be seen. Probably wont. However, I have already had a few problems with my bike (eletronics) that the dealer tells me would have cost me over $2000 out of warranty. Judging by the rates of failure for the various gizmo's on the Ducati, I have little faith that the same problem or problems wont repeat if I own the bike for a few more years. Unfortunately, I tend to keep them ten years or so......but probably not this bike.

There is a lot in my life I gamble with but some things I prefer to have coverage for and I try and do my best to choose wisely. I'm well aware that the warranty companies and the seller of the product turn a profit. Why the hell would they sell it otherwise? But, with some sensible choices and getting the extended at a fair price in many cases it works out fine for the purchaser.
Ok. I'm done. These things happen on a Friday.............

[Turbo]

The original question here has gotten somewhat diluted by talking about washing machine warranties and general appliance warranties! Personally, I have never purchased an extended warranty for anything but a Ducati. I never will. I get good life out of appliances and the like and if they break out of warranty, I replace them with something newer.

I will only buy an extended warranty for a Ducati because I personally ride anywhere between 10-20K miles per year and I keep my Ducatis for at least 4 or 5 years. Ducatis are not the most reliable machines out there! If you ride and use them (and I don't mean thrash and abuse them!) things will eventually go wrong!

So if you plan to keep and ride your Ducati, you might want to consider an extended warranty. It can save you a bundle!

[TimOz]

Wow,
I just read this thread and it seems very oppositional.

My view is this. Extended warranties are NOT what they are called. This is just a slightly misleading name to help dealers sell the product and take a cut/commission. What they are is simply an optional product that is mechanical breakdown insurance that takes over when the manufacturers warranty ceases.

Looked at this way, they are just like any other insurance that you can choose and unlike compulsory insurance like third party cover. It is the same as house insurance or theft insurance.

Saying things like "vegas crap shoot in favour of the house" is a bit over the top. It is the same as any insurance. You may never use it and the insurance company makes a profit on your policy. If you need to claim like Mark did on his ST4s, they lose out. As Paulie points out, they calculate and estimate the average cost of the policies they can sell (income) vs the likely payouts. All this is on average.

So do the math. If the third party insurance offering the Ducati branded Red thingy extended warranty have withdrawn the product from the market, it is likely that they mad a loss. Too many policy holders like Mark (no offence to you Mark) have made big claims. This means they guessed the price wrong and think they can't increase policy costs. Other companies come in and take over this business and it is likely that all the offered policies go up in cost.

So, you can buy a policy and it is a gamble. If you ride a ticking time bomb you will make money. If you have a ultra reliable bike, you pay a cost for peace of mind.

The real gamblers are the insurance companies. The only spanner in the system is when dodgy insurance companies won't pay out. This happens down here all the time after floods, fires, more floods...

Caveat emptor.

[Duc N Cover]

I am looking at buying a used multi (will be posting pics and asking questions of you all as soon as the mods approve my rights) with warranty coverage until July. After reading all of the issues folks are having here on the forum I am getting a little concerned. The bike looks great and the owner has been great answering my questions and sending extra pictures etc... Anyway after all the reading (lurking) I have been doing on the internet I am seriously considering picking up an extended warranty. I think my bank (USAA) offers one but am not sure if it will cover motorcycles. I am pretty handy and can probably do things like valve checks and adjustments myself but things like the DES errors are pretty far out of my league. Any thoughts?

[oalvarez]

first, some of us were fortunate enough to have purchased the EverRed Warranty for LESS than $1k. let's start there. now,let me try and dumb it down a bit in hopes of making it a little bit easier to understand:

given the KNOWN failures (some quite expensive) associated with the Multistrada S, would you buy a USED out of warranty MTSs for the same money you would for the same bike that came with one (assume an additional 2 to 3 years of warranty left)? or put another way, what kind of a discount would you demand from the seller of an out of warranty MTS12S?

like i said, a very cheap form of insurance in my eyes, both in terms of covering future repairs or safeguarding resale values.

[Buckeye]

Originally Posted by Duc N Cover

After reading all of the issues folks are having here on the forum I am getting a little concerned.

This place is just like every other bike/auto forum. Those have problems talk about them(sometimes loudly) and those that don't...you never hear from them. What you're reading isn't saying that every bike, or even the majority will have those problems. My 2011 has been perfect...not even one hiccup in just less that 10K miles. My only "complaint" is a back brake that is a POS but like many others, I don't use it much anyway so I'm hoping Duc will come up with a reasonable repair/modification...that works.

The bike you're considering...ride it, check out it's service/repair history and if it's reasonable...buy it. It's still in warranty so you can get extended coverage if you choose.