Buy the Warranty or not?

[downn2(aka starcruiser)]

One of the main reasons I'm buying a Yamaha over BMW is reliability. I can't imagine any problems (even on an AE) as I've never had any problems in 40 years with any of my Hondas......So, I'm asking you Yamaha freaks, why not save the money and believe in Yamaha ? Or is there something I don't know about FJRs? You tell me........

 

[Ignacio]

I'm usually not an extended warranty guy, but I think in this narrow case it makes sense . $400 or so for an additional 4 years of warranty is very good.

They are also a very, very reliable product. But if you think somehow buying or not buying an extended warranty changes how your bike will perform or faith in a product is odd.

I bought the extended warranty mainly just in case I have one of those increasingly uncommon tickers. I put 20,000 on the bike the first year and hopefully do that or more in the next 4 years. A fully warranted bike at 100,000 miles for $400 sounds like very cheap insurance to me.

Your results will vary.

 

[Bounce]

$389 for an additional 48 months (D&H Cycles, Cullman, AL), unlimited miles, is hard to turn down.

If you rack up the miles on the bike the YES can be a great thing. If you only put 1500 miles a year on it like the average rider in the US, then maybe not.

 

[trimmantom]

HeyDown2,

I'll give you about Two Thousand reasons.

If your bike starts ticking and it has to have surgery,You're looking at about two grand plus or minus.My bike was just diagnosed and i'm glad i got the yes.

If i were you i wouldn't roll the dice.

 

[GunMD]

That $400 will pay for itself VERY quickly if ANYTHING goes wrong under warranty. It doesn't have to be a major failure to pay for itself.

 

[BlueWing]

I'll give you about Two Thousand reasons.If your bike starts ticking and it has to have surgery,You're looking at about two grand plus or minus.

I must have missed something here, it's my understanding that corporate Yamaha is repairing all tickers, in or out of warranty.

 

[trimmantom]

Hey Blue wing,

How about getting yamaha to publicly come out and say that and give some of these fjr owners some piece of mind?

 

[markjenn]

Hey Blue wing,How about getting yamaha to publicly come out and say that and give some of these fjr owners some piece of mind?

Yamaha has said so. It has done so at least twice in separate publications. Now that's just their current policy at the moment so it doesn't have the force of an actual extension to the official warranty, so it's not ironclad.

Back to the original question, I view it as a tough call. On average, extended warranties are a bad value. Extended warranties are a form of insurance, and insurance companies don't offer insurance unless there is the expectation that, on average, they'll rake in more in premiums than they pay out in claims. But that's on average and the averages may not apply if, 1) you believe the bike will have more than an average number of problems; and/or 2) you can get a deal on the insurance at less than the average rate. $400 is pretty cheap.

And there is the peace of mind argument. Insurance is worth it if it lets you sleep at night. Sleep is more important then money.

One thing I don't like about extended warranties is that it keeps you on the hook to keep maintenance records and to hassle with the dealer if you want to make a claim. They're usually pretty good about accepting owner maintenance records, but you could get into a gray area if you had a failure that could be directly related to a lack of maintenance. For example, I wonder how Yamaha would look at a simple notation in a logbook of "Check valves, found Okay" at 26K miles if a valve was burned due to lack of clearance to 30K. It might get sticky. With no warranty, you just fix it yourself and move on.

I'm simply postponing the decision until near the time the 1-year warranty expires.

- Mark

 

[Penforhire]

For $395 it was a no-brainer peace-of-mind thing to me. My FJR hasn't had a single repair and I still don't regret buying the extension.

 

[BugR]

No brainer, IMHO the tick is still an open problem even with the '06

Get the Warranty

 

[Bluestreek]

The extended warranty will also add more value to your bike upon resale. :cownoy:

 

[FJRME]

In 2008 when I have 90k miles on my bike, and it needs something, I won't even remember exactly how much the YES cost. Look at all the really unnecessary farkles you're considering buying. Remember, this is no fly by night third party company. This is an extension of your factory warranty. Since this bike is only three years old now, who's to say what will go wrong as some of them age. Since I'm not rich like most of you guys, I had to finance my bike. I like that it will still be under warranty after it's paid off.

Extended warranty on a new fridge? No. On a 13k motorcycle? You betcha.

 

[FJRZON]

…something to add about the YES warranty not mentioned above that I found in fine print *to the best of my memory*: $50 dollars towards towing & up to $150 towards hotels and miscellaneous expenses incurred during vehicle downtime. …OH and there is something about having a new R1 as a loaner! Just kidding…would be cool though.

 

[Shane Stump]

Hey Blue wing,How about getting yamaha to publicly come out and say that and give some of these fjr owners some piece of mind?

Yamaha has said so. It has done so at least twice in separate publications. Now that's just their current policy at the moment so it doesn't have the force of an actual extension to the official warranty, so it's not ironclad.

Back to the original question, I view it as a tough call. On average, extended warranties are a bad value. Extended warranties are a form of insurance, and insurance companies don't offer insurance unless there is the expectation that, on average, they'll rake in more in premiums than they pay out in claims. But that's on average and the averages may not apply if, 1) you believe the bike will have more than an average number of problems; and/or 2) you can get a deal on the insurance at less than the average rate. $400 is pretty cheap.

And there is the peace of mind argument. Insurance is worth it if it lets you sleep at night. Sleep is more important then money.

One thing I don't like about extended warranties is that it keeps you on the hook to keep maintenance records and to hassle with the dealer if you want to make a claim. They're usually pretty good about accepting owner maintenance records, but you could get into a gray area if you had a failure that could be directly related to a lack of maintenance. For example, I wonder how Yamaha would look at a simple notation in a logbook of "Check valves, found Okay" at 26K miles if a valve was burned due to lack of clearance to 30K. It might get sticky. With no warranty, you just fix it yourself and move on.

I'm simply postponing the decision until near the time the 1-year warranty expires.

- Mark

This is one of the reasons I document EVERYTHING I do / have done on my bike and scan in the receipt(s) if any.

Merry Christmas,

Shane

 

[Geezer]

Not.

If I near the end of the original warranty period and there is even a hint of a problem I may change my mind but at this point I do not intend to go or the YES. I have not had a single issue with the bike at this point and optimistically expect that to continue. I will admit that the unlimited mileage aspect of the YES is tempting.

 

[MCRIDER007]

One thing I don't like about extended warranties is that it keeps you on the hook to keep maintenance records and to hassle with the dealer if you want to make a claim.  They're usually pretty good about accepting owner maintenance records, but you could get into a gray area if you had a failure that could be directly related to a lack of maintenance.  For example, I wonder how Yamaha would look at a simple notation in a logbook of "Check valves, found Okay" at 26K miles if a valve was burned due to lack of clearance to 30K.  It might get sticky.  With no warranty, you just fix it yourself and move on.

I agree with the concern about the gray area when a failure occurs that could be directly related to a lack of maintenance but if the owner does the required maintenance, and does it correctly, then these type of failures should not occur, at least not very often.

The biggest advantage of an extended warranty is that it protects you against the failure of parts that do not have any maintenance requirements, such as all of the components of the emissions control system -- which includes the FI system. Currently, we have (may vary by State) a 5 year warranty on the emission control system but it is limited to 30,000 Km (about 18,600 miles). I don't know how reliable the FI system is but I do know that they can be very expensive to fix.

 

[FJRZON]

Markjenn is correct. Yamaha has publicly acknowledged they WILL fix any ticker inside or outside warranty at NO COST to the owner. Can’t remember which magazine…but I printed a copy and put it in with my warranty info if ever need be for me or the next owner.

 

[BBIII]

One of the main reasons I'm buying a Yamaha over BMW is reliability. I can't imagine any problems (even on an AE) as I've never had any problems in 40 years with any of my Hondas......So, I'm asking you Yamaha freaks, why not save the money and believe in Yamaha ? Or is there something I don't know about FJRs? You tell me........

You are right. You should spend spen the money saved on insurance

BTW: you are the freakboy, not us owners :lol:

 

[BMort]

I'm buying an 06 fjr and was thinking of the 4 year warrenty. Where can it be purchased for $400.? I thought it was more expensive.

BMort