If you have just bought a brand new home appliance and considering extended warranty, your investment may not be worth it, considering the age of the equipment and the fact that it comes with a manufacturers warranty. However, if you have aging appliances then yes, you should consider appliance protection plan.
You might be tempted to buy a service plan--also known as extended warranty--on your next laptop, dishwasher, or a new or used car. But chances are that what you spend will be money down the drain. Retailers may push hard to get you to buy these plans because they're cash cows for them.
Consumer Reports, the nation's most respected source of product reviews and buying advice, does not mince words about extended warranties. It calls them a bad idea and money down the drain. The website Consumerist agrees, calling extended warranties useless and usually a bad deal.
I'M going to tell you the tale of my refrigerator breakdown and recovery. Now, I'm not devoting a column to this because I believe you are all so fascinated by the life of my appliances. But rather, I learned some valuable lessons on the way, and I thought my mistakes and discoveries might help others.
By Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine Before you sign up for extended coverage, find out which products are most likely to break down. And then make sure you understand what you're getting. The pitch comes every time you buy an appliance, computer or some other piece of electronics: "Would you like to buy the extended warranty for that?"
