Advice: Extended warranty?

I bought my new '08 yesterday and paid for a 36-month, unlimited mileage warranty.

Ordinarily I wouldn't go for such a thing, since I do all my own wrenching (I don't trust anybody else), but I have no motorcycle wrenching experience. I also tend to pile on a LOT of miles on whatever vehicles I own, and I figured the joke would be on the warranty company eventually.

Being of a tinkering/experimenting bent, I'm starting to question my decision. Obviously anything I modify won't be covered under warranty. And when stuff breaks that's always been my cue to "improve" the design.

I believe I'm still within the "cancellation" grace period on the warranty contract. Should I cancel it? It seems to me that what seemed to be a marvel of complex engineering is really a pretty simple little device, albeit cleverly designed. I'm suddenly much more sanguine about tinkering with the SWing now that I've read up on it a bit.

Extended warranties are generally not worth the cost. They are a high profit item for the insurer. Consumer Reports magazine universally recommends against any such warranty whether for a car, washing machine, TV, etc. so I think the same logic holds for a Silverwing. There will always be someone who bought the extended warranty and then had a major mechanical failure, and thus swears that the warranty was a great deal, but for most people it is just money down the drain.

Extended warranty a waste of money .

I generally think that with the quality/reliability of Honda, the extended warranty is not.....well.....ummm......warranted But I have heard of a few owners for which they have paid off. It is a personal decision. But I dislike giving dealers anymore money than I have to, and extended warranties are HUGE money makers for dealers.

There has been a fair amount of discussion on extended warranty over on the yahoo silverwing forum. Several folks that did buy them were able to save substantially on the cost by calling around to different places. You do NOT have to buy the extended warranty form the dealer where you purchase the scoot. If you decide you want the warranty, shop around.

I have started getting extended warranties for electronics. Squaretrade.com offers warranties that are substantially less than retailers. You can even buy extended warrantees for items purchased off Ebay, and you can get accidental damage coverage. I find the Squaretrade warrantees to be priced low enough that they make sense for me. Department store warrantees are a ripoff.

Mickey wrote:

Quote :

Ordinarily I wouldn't go for such a thing, since
I do all my own wrenching (I don't trust anybody else), but I have no
motorcycle wrenching experience.

I you have done a lot of wrenching on cars, working on the SWing will be a piece of cake for you. Pick up a shop manual and you will be set. You can usually find one on ebay. Between the shop manual and the advice you can get here and on other forums you will easily be able to maintain the scoot with your experience.

I am not a wrench by any means, and I absolutely detest working on automobiles. But with the shop manual and forum help I was able to replace the fork springs with Hyperpro progressive springs (highly recommended) and fix my stuck parking brake and install a new windscreen (again, a highly recommended mod), and change out my drive belt. With your experience you could probably do all the above, and more, with one arm tied behind your back, and do it in half the time it took me

Part of what I do for a living is "offering" extended warrantys. I sell a very high ticket item, and I see the results when it comes time to pay a claim. For the product that I offer, IMHO, they are well worth the peace of mind.

As for Consumer Reports advising against any extended warranty, I disagree 100%. Everytime I purchase a computer or TV, I purchase the extended warranty. I am WAY ahead of the progam with those products, that's for sure. If I would have taken Consumer Reports advise, I would have been pounded by repair bills.

If the warranty cost more than $1000 on a Silver Wing, I would probably pass. The only expensive stuff on a SW is the power train, and as long as you take care of it, keep the $1000 as self insurance. Less than $1000, I'd say keep the warranty for the peace of mind alone. I would only consider a warranty that is provided by Honda, not an aftermarket warranty.

BTW, you can cancel a warranty at anytime and get the pro-rated unused portion back. As you stated their might be a 30 day window to get a 100% refund.

I generally stick with the old adage: "Never insure what you can afford to replace." I couldn't pony up nine grand to replace the entire bike, but I CAN afford to fix whatever breaks.

On the other hand, I did come out smelling like a rose on an extended warranty once. I bought a Bosch gas-fired "demand" water heater. It cost a thousand dollars, and died within hours of the factory warranty's expiration. Home Depot ate the entire cost.

It's a gamble either way, but I think I'll cancel it since I plan to mess around with the bike a little bit and I'd wreck the warranty anyway. If I were leaving it bone stock I'd make a different decision.

Thanks for the input!

This is my fourth Honda in a row and I have never had a problem with any of them. Not to say that you wouldn't...human error and all but I think they are very dependable. I know I could change the oil but I get it in on schedule and let my dealership do that and give everything the once over.

Since, I have about two months to decide whether to ante up the money
for the extended warranty for my Silverwing, are there any other comments out there since the last posting on this topic was three years ago ?

I too usually pass on extended warranties... But on my Wing the dealer (I think it was part of the special 1.9% financing deal) sold me a 5 year extended warranty for $400.00. This is through Honda and the bike is registered through the VIN so any dealer can pull it up and service the bike.

Really couldn't say not to this one. Probably won't need it but who knows?

I read that one fella did 296k miles on his Swing when he total it , and the only thing he had done was the valve shims at 125k miles and just regular maintenance . The Swing is bullet proof. Its wore money,wore decision . When my Swing blows up I will jack up the paint ,a drive another Swing under It. :lol!:

I took up the offer after my 'Bullet Proof' wing had a key/ignition/starting/HISS problem. So I went down the cautious route and took up the reasonable offer of the extended warranty.

The Wing, albeit Honda is good but is basically a mechanical machine that has the ability to let you down.

My read, if you can afford it and it gives YOU peace of mind - do it!

New 08 or used 08 new to you. If new off the show room floor--it has factory warranty...if new to you, save your money. Soon to be 5 year old scooter not worth investing warranty money in. SilverWing with proper maint., should go 100,000 or more miles....if you take care of it and buy expensive replacement stuff as it wears. Most warranties only cover failure, not wear out.

Thanks to everyone for their comments.
I've had only two problems with the other Honda's I've owned, a bad voltage regulator on my CB500T and a defective ignition switch on my CB550k
Both were out of warranty when they failed.

Had the extended warranty on my GL1800 and have it on my ST1300. Never bought them from the dealer when I bought the motorcycles - they wanted big dollars for the Honda extended warranty. Bought them through Honda Direct Line when they would have their sale on the same warranty and bought them for <$400. Came out ahead when had to replace the reverse switch on the Goldwing (heavy m/c that had a reverse on it through the starter motor to help back it up) and on the ST1300 had to have the ignition kill switch and fork seals replaced under warrantly (Honda balked at doing the fork seals - I had a strong arguement why it should be a warranty claim and they honored the repair).
I'd have to think hard about buying the extended warranty if buying a new Silverwing - not as much as an initial investment as I made on the motorcycles (bought my Silverwing used). Guess if you can find the Honda extended warranty for <$400 and gives you peace of mind, then go for it.