Are they worth buying? For my first quad purchase, I'm looking at a p650 for work on my farm and lots of playtime as well. Also, how does getting an extended warranty affect the price negotiations? If I buy an extended warranty can I expect to get a lower initial price on the quad? Or are they both negotiable? Thanks for the input,
PH

 

Ohhh yes they are. My factory warranty just ended in sept. My P650 was in the shop half of october and they had no idea what was wrong. Probably spent like 10+ hours on it. At $60/hour for labor that would have been a lot of money. It ended up being the muffler so they replaced, which would have been yet more money. The $275 I spent on the extended already paid itself off.

 

Just from my personal experience, I bought a Honda with a 42 month extended warranty. They came down on the price of the warranty and the machine. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at things, I have never had to make honda pay for any repairs. My Rancher ES 4X4 has 1600 miles on it and hasn't missed a beat. I also purchased a p360 Kawasaki and wish that I had bought the extended warranty. It was a POS and in the shop every other week. Kawasaki even gave us an extra 6 months of warranty for our troubles because they were so frequent. At 7 months we traded it for a P650 despite the gesture of free warranty. It is the coolest machine I have ever ridden. HANDS DOWN! It's reliability is still in question. I am anxious to see how it holds up.

I am not brand loyal 100% but if Honda and Kawasaki had an equal machine, I would go with the Honda for it's reliability. They have a great utility workhorses from 350 to 500cc. Some would argue the 650 Rincon is as well, I am not yet sold. There are no belts to wear out. My Rancher has been put through all the paces and it is indestructible. I plowed snow and rode it like a 400 ex, Rancher style. I personally want to race utility and the p650 is the only viable contender in my book. I grew up on a farm though and from the work you will probably be doing, I would recommend a Honda and don't worry about extended warranty. ATV's are not like cars. If a car has a problem in the first so many miles it is a defect. If an ATV has problems, it is abuse or misuse.

My only question about the extended warranty is what does it really cover? Couldn't they say about anything is due to normal wear and tear, not manufacturers defect? Maybe someone else has more info. My dealer has been really good about things, but others might not be. In my warranty info it says that it WON'T cover damage caused by:
-Normal Wear
-Neglect
-Lack of Maintenance
-Misuse
-Natural Disaster or acts of Nature
-Improper Maintenance
-Abuse
-Unauthorized Alteration
-Accident and/or collision
-Deterioration from the elements
-Improper installation of parts or attachements
-unsuitable use in an application for which the part was not designed
-incorporation or use of unsuitable attachments or parts
-any repair with a non-honda part or accessory caused or contributed to a breakdown

I am glad I pulled this out, seeing this up close (not shown at time of purchase) makes me realize they don't have to cover anything. Taking it off the showroom floor constitutes violation of all warranty [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I won't be buying another extended warranty. Hope this novel has helped, if boredom didn't stop you from reading past the first paragraph!

 

Not boring at all Racinaki, at least not to me! Thanks for the great info. I'm glad you put all of that stuff on there, I've wondered what that document would look like. I've been reading about warranties on this and other forums and it seems like it is really up to the dealer of what they will fix and what they won't. Your right, I don't think they HAVE to fix anything and I've read where a lot of dealers won't. But it does sound like if you get a good dealer they are a lot more willing work with you. I read somewhere that a guy even had his frame replaced under his extended warranty! Someone once told me that a good dealer is worth there weight on gold, but finding one that's close to you could be tough. Thanks again for the info,
PH

 

Pilothouse, you are completely right. I know a dealer can make anything be covered by the warranty. It just depends on if they choose to or not. Good dealers will always take care of their customer. By the way, thanks for the kind print. After I typed all that, I figured no one would read it.

 

You got it Pilothouse! It all depends on the dealer. The dealer can get anything covered they want to get covered. Most don't want to deal with the paperwork or the delay in payment. I don't buy extended warranties on anything. I worked at an auto dealership for 10 yrs. and took care of a lot of the warranty paperwork. We preferred WROs to customer pay as the customer was happier, there was no question as to how the repair was to be done, and once you learned how to do the paperwork properly it was more proffitable. It's a shame there aren't more dealers out there that put the customer first.

Most extended warranties are nothing more than insurance policies. Although you purchase them from the dealer or the manufacturer they are actually backed by insurance companies and just overseen by the seller. The less they have to pay out the more they make when it comes time for the two to split the profits. Yes you may get unlucky and need a major repair that could be covered but the odds are against it. Otherwise they wouldn't be offered in the first place. These outfits work off the theory of big numbers as do any insurance company. If they weren't making big bucks from selling these useless pieces of paper, believe me, they wouldn't be offered.

 

You guys are right! It is all about the dealer. I won't buy an extended warranty for my P650, as my dealer s-cks! I am a lucky man, and my wife bought me the P650 for a birthday present. Unfortunately, she shopped the local dealer as she didn't want to have to drive far. The next closest dealer was over an hour away. Unfortunately, he isn't interested in helping me out w/ warranty issues, as quad wasn't purchased from him. Local dealer came right out and told me that extended warranty would be a waste of time, as most problems will be considered due to misuse. Listen to my local dealer and you would think that quads were designed to be ridden only in your front yard or a parking lot!

 

Your dealer has a lot to do with warranty customer satisfaction. My Kawi dealer watched me compete this machine in a number of slalom competitions with large jumps. When my front shocks were toast he put on new ones under extended warranty, no questions asked. That being said, all parts removed are sent back to Kawi for inspection. If the factory deems that the part is not covered, the dealer risks not getting a credit for the new parts and he is stuck with the bill!

 

My dealer could learn alot about customer satisfaction from yours! He had another Kawi P650 in, while I was there, with the belt completely toast at 250 miles and blamed it on the 26 inch Titan 589's the guy had put on. He refused to provide any warranty help on that one either! I definetely will never buy another quad from this dealer.