RV forever warranty may give you peace of mind

A perusal of most any RV Internet forum shows RV shoppers want to know how well a given motorhome or travel trailer holds up under the stresses of use. It's understandable, because even when you buy a 'brand new RV,' the issues of what part of the RV is warranted and for how long are deep and murky water, at best. A motorhome chassis will be warranted by the manufacturer for a given time; but if the refrigerator breaks, you're stuck heading back to the 'fridge builder; the same is true for the dozens of other components.

Imagine buying a brand new RV and having many of its systems warranted – for life. It appears you won't have to imagine that, because a new warranty program for RVs hopes to offer just that through dealers across the country. Dubbed the RV Warranty Forever program, this new innovation will allow a few, select RV dealers to offer the forever warranty to buyers at no cost to the purchaser.

Of course, the savvy RV shopper is already asking, "What few things are covered, and what's the fine print?" The fine print is fairly straight-forward: The original customer is covered for as long as they own the unit, provided they follow the maintenance schedule included with the program.

Now as to what's covered. Here's the list of covered systems and components:

Suspension
Brakes
Water System
Heating and Air Conditioning
Kitchen Center
LP Gas System
Manual Leveling Jacks

As impressive as the list is, there's plenty of uncovered country. Electrical systems can be a real issue when things don't work right. And as nice as it would be, it would seem that motorhome drivetrain components would likely be left out. Look the list over carefully, then using your experience and that of other RVers, you can probably see where there may be some significant gaps you'd be concerned about.

Despite some shortcomings, the covered list is fairly impressive, provided the dealers that offer the program don't so significantly bump up the sales price of the rig that it negates the warm, fuzzy feeling you'll get buying a "lifetime warranty" unit. Since the program is extremely limited, in terms of how many dealers will offer it, there could be room for footsy. When we say, "extremely limited," the issuing company says you probably won't find more than four dealers in a state that offer the program, and in some states, as few as a single authorized dealer. Program promoters hope to have all their dealerships set up and running the program by year-end – with a total of 75 to 80 dealers.

Not in the market for a new rig? "Gently used," rigs within two years of manufacture are also accepted under the plan, when sold by authorized dealers.

Want to know more? A full list of the specific system components, what constitutes required owner maintenance, and more are listed on the program website.