Is Road Hazard Worth It?

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The insurance price includes the actual cost of repair/replacement, plus administrative costs, plus fraud prevention costs, plus profit margin.

I try to only buy insurance on things I can't afford to deal with myself. Home fire, car totaled, etc.
 
The answer is maybe.

I personally don't believe in warranties like that.

They seem like additional profit for the dealer.

But I'm pretty careful driving and tend to avoid damaging circumstances.

My wife, on the other hand, drives by feel and has ruined four tires in the last 12 months.

Her new set of Bridgestones, therefore, have a road hazard warranty.
 
Originally Posted By: SilverC6
The answer is maybe.

I personally don't believe in warranties like that.

They seem like additional profit for the dealer.

But I'm pretty careful driving and tend to avoid damaging circumstances.

My wife, on the other hand, drives by feel and has ruined four tires in the last 12 months.

Her new set of Bridgestones, therefore, have a road hazard warranty.


Ya See! this is what Im talking about. If your prone to tire damage, by all means, get the Road Hazard Warranty(RHW). But, if your a careful driver and don't or haven't had any bad expeirinces with ruining tires then, I don't recomend the RHW.

In some cases, the RHW is required in order to get the tire rebate or is included in the tire stores installation price. In this case, of course, you have to get the RHW. There is one tire store in my area that has "Out The Door Pricing". Everything is included in their instalation pkg. Such as; mounting, balancing, valve stems, nitrogen, New York State tire disposal fee, free lifetime flat repair, lifetime balancing and ROAD HAZARD WARRANTY. The prices of all of their tires include these features so, this isn't the place to buy a tire and have someone else install it. People love this place and their always bussy. Maybe their a little slow during these hard times but for the most part they're bussy all of the time. They've lost my business after buying 6 sets of 4 tires due to poor workmanship, bad attitudes and their just too bussy to listen to a customes issues.

Now that I've been buying my tires online and having them installed at W*M, I deffinatly don't buy the extra cost RHW. I check about 5 different tire websites and tire stores localy in my area for the best price. Sometimes I can get the best price localy but, most of the time my best price is online w/shipping or free shipping and having them installed at W*M.
 
My personal data point, for what it was worth.

The Prizm has the BFGoodrich Touring T/A Pro Series tires on it, and they have about 56K miles on them right now. When Sam's Club installs tires, the lifetime balance, rotation and road hazard coverage is included in the $9.50/tire installation charge.

Yesterday, I took one to the store that had a leak and there was a nail too close to the sidewall.

3/8ths of the usable tread was still there (worn from 10/32nd to 5/32nds in 56K miles) so I got the replacement tire at 5/8ths the price.

Basically, the road hazard warranty covered the mounting/balancing and the tax, plus a bit more. I think I was $52 out the door for a tire that was just under $59 before mounting, tax and disposal fees, etc.

I guess I'll just keep it in the right rear (so it doesn't wear as much as the others) until I replace the other three.

So I think the Sam's Club road hazard included has been a great deal.

So I don't think I did too bad, since I used 5/8ths of the tread and probably won't run these down to the wear bars.

So if the road hazard is included and you don't run your tires down to the wear bars, it may be a good deal.

Seems like $15/tire is just a way to pad the profit. I don't think tire rack charges that much on their road hazard. More likely about 1/2 that.

However, I think the Sam's Deal at $9.50 / tire for everything other than environmental fees is a screaming good deal.
 
Java,
I agree that $15.00 per tire for RHW is a bit high unless it's $15.00 installed w/RHW then it's not too bad.

I've purchaced tires at SAM's Club in the past when I had a SAM's Club Card and I agree with you. Their installation package is a great price and does include the RHW. Not many tire stores will treat the customer as well as you were treated(maybe their getting better) only paying $52.00 for a new tire when your unrepairable tire was at 1/2 tread. You mentioned that the tire when buying new is $59.00 + installation of $9.50 + tax. In my area we're paying 8% sales tax. 1% higher than most New York State residents. So, if I had to buy that tire new, it would cost me $59.00 + $9.50 install + $2.50 NYS tire disposal fee per tire + 8% NYS/Monroe County tax = $76.48. They don't tax the NYS disposal fee as it's already a tax although, I have heard of customers being charged tax on top of the tax! For some reason, I just don't trust that I would have had such great succuss as you and Im not willing to find out. If I could get away with $52.00 for a new tire under the pro-rating, I might start purchacing the RHW. Ahhh, maybe not! At this point in my life Im ahead of the game by never having purchaced extra warrantys' on products(only warrantys that were already included). Like I mentioned earlier in this subject, if I have to eat a tire cost or a vehicle repair so be it!

I looked into buying tires from SAM's Club again in '08 when I was shopping for tires. But since I would have had to purchace another SAM's Club Membership, I included the cost into my tire purchace even though I needed tires for 3 vehicles, I still did better online w/rebates, free shipping and installation at Wal*Mart Super Store. I just don't get around to shopping at SAM's Club as it's a distance from where I live and I don't need items is such large quantity now that it's just my wife and I.
 
Think about it. The tires are likely $90/each without install, taxes etc.

The likelyhood of having one tire problem is low($10-$20/fix) and even further to have a tire not repairable. Having two tires turn to junk is beyond low.

So you are spending $60 for a $90 tire. Realize most road hazards DO NOT cover remount/install, read it carefully. So you save a meager $30 but then have to pay mounting costs and likely at a premium.

In life if you want to save lots of money, make deductibles high and do not buy extended warranties for anything. You will get burned but the amount you save is huge. For example I always have a $500-$1000 deductible. I did have my first incident in 13 years that cost me the $500 deductible. My savings by using a higher deductible was about $100-$200/year. So $1500-$500 I am still ahead. Put the savings in your own warranty account like a money market for fluid money.
 
Originally Posted By: alreadygone
While the occasional lack of warranty can cause one to sing the blues, it's far more of a money maker for the dealer than it is for the customer!

Bob


Ditto and Amen!
 
Originally Posted By: SilverC6

My wife, on the other hand, drives by feel and has ruined four tires in the last 12 months.

Her new set of Bridgestones, therefore, have a road hazard warranty.


LOL, I know your pain. My wife has the problem of not knowing if she's driving on a flat tire or not. She once came to me a said "Honey, would you look at my car? It's driving a little funny." I went out and looked and my jaw simply dropped. She had driven around so long on a flat front tire that there were huge gaping holes ripped in the sidewalls. I went back inside a said, "Yeah, I can see how driving around on something like that on the front wheel could make the car handle a little funny."

Kids, just say no to marrying blondes.
 
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Originally Posted By: Samilcar
Originally Posted By: SilverC6

My wife, on the other hand, drives by feel and has ruined four tires in the last 12 months.

Her new set of Bridgestones, therefore, have a road hazard warranty.


LOL, I know your pain. My wife has the problem of not knowing if she's driving on a flat tire or not. She once came to me a said "Honey, would you look at my car? It's driving a little funny." I went out and looked and my jaw simply dropped. She had driven around so long on a flat front tire that there were huge gaping holes ripped in the sidewalls. I went back inside a said, "Yeah, I can see how driving around on something like that on the front wheel could make the car handle a little funny."

Kids, just say no to marrying blondes.


Don't know about that my sister was a natural blonde till chemo. She knows when something wrong with her car.. unfortunately trying to get her describe the problem is a riot in itself. She's know hearing a chirp on the inside of her car and I know it's not coming from the engine she could be looney. My wife also is very good at knowing when there's something wrong and yells at me immediately because somehow it's my fault. I wonder sometimes why I'm bald and going crazy...

But anyways back on topic... Road Hazard has saved me and the family so much money over the years. Mostly from the farm and living on a gravel road. It's a no-brainer for us. I like the rotations and balancing that comes it.
 
Originally Posted By: rjundi
In life if you want to save lots of money, make deductibles high and do not buy extended warranties for anything.


Absolutes are often betrayed by the nuances of any situation.

When the Volvo R models came out in 2004, it was a complex near-track car and parts and service were expensive, much more so than the typical Volvo. HPT, electronic AWD, active suspension, lots of expensive stuff to break. Early production had some issues and design weaknesses. At the time, the VIP extended warranty on the '04s was a relative bargain. Paying $1400 to B2B warranty a $45k AWD sports sedan out to 100k miles was a fair risk. On that car, one significant repair easily pays the premium. The warranty provider has been murdered on '04 MY claims. By the time I bought my '06, the premium for the same coverage had doubled, even though it is a MUCH more reliable model.

My office partner had a '99 300M. He bought an extended warranty for about $1k. The early LHs were notorious for long-term evap failures. Sure enough, his went a year past factory warranty. An evap job on an LH is a dash roll down and well over $1k. He had a couple other smaller claims as well. They lost money on him.

So sometimes, an extended warranty is a smart gamble. But it depends on the vehicle and circumstances. Weigh it more carefully if it is a first year model with high dollar repair potential.

In this instance, were the OP driving on $250+ tires in the urban NE, a $15 RHW may not be such a bad idea, depending on the vehicle and tire profile. But on a $90 tire, the numbers don't add up well.
 
i never buy it. the last time, about 10 years ago Christine ran over something on the road, she went to city Hall and made them pay: they coughed up 50% of it. i save huge amounts of money by buying my tires from Tire Rack. then i save more by not getting insurance. the money i save, i use it to buy nice Alpaca blankets, from Peru, on ebay. this lets me turn down the thermostat in my house, and i save even more. so at the end of the day, i get to sleep under nice Alpaca blankets that I got for "free", plus i have money left over. North American Indians used to have to trade serious numbers of beaver pelts, and i got it for free using saved money. then, i go have a beer, and drink the profit up.
 
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