Well, not really.  When we bought this house about 18 months ago, the realtor talked us into a home warranty for $300. Since the house was over 70 years old and most of the major systems were over 20 years old, I figured it was worth the gamble.

The only thing that died in the first year was the washing machine, which, of course, wasn't covered by the warranty.

So the warranty expires and they start calling us to get us to renew. I point out that the systems most likely to fail (washer/dryer/dishwasher/AC/Furnace/etc.) all require additional addons (at $$$ to the basic warranty). To get us to sign back up they offer a deal to cover everything for $35/month, or about 50% of the actual costs.  We take the deal; that was a month ago.

In the last moth they've been out to repair the gas stove annd dishwasher (four hours and lots of parts); total charge to us $45 for the service call, and are, as I type this, in the process of replacing the 30 year old central air unit (a 3.5 ton WeatherKing), with a brand new Bryant unit; total cost to us, $120 for disposal of the old (huge) unit.  Third-party quote to replace the AC unit was ~ $2000.

The dishwasher is still misbehaving, so it looks like they will be replacing that too, no additional charges.

I'm sure they will try to up the price of the warranty at the end of the 1 year contract, but since it looks like just about everything they cover will be brand new by the time the contract ends I think I will have some decent leverage to get them to drop the price

You should also get the manufacturers warranty on the new stuff.  If they don't give you the papers, ask for them.  They don't own the damn unit,  you do. get your warranty cards.  And uhm as far as bryant goes, you'll be lucky to get 10 years out of the compressor.

Quoted: You should also get the manufacturers warranty on the new stuff.  If they don't give you the papers, ask for them.  They don't own the damn unit,  you do. get your warranty cards.  And uhm as far as bryant goes, you'll be lucky to get 10 years out of the compressor.

Thanks for the heads up about the warranty cards. I'll make sure I get them.

We only plan to be in this house another 2 years or so, so when it comes time to sell, better a 2 year old AC unit than a 32 year old unit

I'm getting ready to buy a house, and I haven't been feeling very enthusiastic about these "home warranties". Of course, the house and major appliances aren't nearly as old as yours.

How does their replacement process work, anyways? Do you pick the new unit or do they get something they consider equivalent?

They pick something they consider equivalent, once they determine that the existing unit can't be repaired. I presume that you could insist that they replace with the identical unit, but in our case that wouldn't be possible.

on our home "Warranty" they

1) charged us fifty bucks to take a fork out of the sink food grinder thing

2) refused to replace the damper in my furnace since "Dampers aren't covered"

3) Want to replace my Thermador dual convection oven with a Single place GE oven, plus I pay 300 bucks.


This is HMS warranty.  They can kiss my hairy ass.

Mine got shitcanned after they "explained" that an outside hose bib wasn't covered, even though I had to turn off all the house water at the curb to stop the flood.

They are, generally, "worth it" for peace of mind.  Financially, they don't make a lot of sense.

I have found that even "major" stuff like disposalls, dishwashers, etc are pretty easy to swap out if they are straight replacements.

In a 70 year old home, though, peace of mind can be pretty nice.  

Funny, I always got my peace of mind from a large bank account, lots of tools, and lots of ammo.

I never liked the whole insurance/purchased warranty thing because in addition to not usually making financial sense, they'll make it a PITA to get anything done. I figure if I just do it out of my own pocket, I'll probably save money over the long run, plus I can replace it with whatever I want whenever I feel like it.