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Mercury O/B Extended Warranty - Expensive or Worth It - Thoughts from Long Term Owners?

LaurencetheAdventurer

LaurencetheAdventurer

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Hello - I just received an offer from Mercury for a 5 year extended warranty on my Merc 350 for $8,460 covering years 4 - 8 (3 year limited warranty). I assume the Bennington 10 year warranty is just the Benny. So, that's $1692 per year. Based on what I have read, it seems with proper maintenance the average O/B will last well past 8 years without incurring this type of total cost (which excludes maintenance, of course there are always exceptions). Any long term Merc owner with feedback on long term repair costs when properly maintained? YES, the offer is from Mercury Marine.
 
I bought the extra 5 years of Platinum coverage at the time I took delivery ( 5/22) of my 250 Verado. About $3500 less. There is a lot of electronics on these new models.
 
LTA, I think you’re going to find that some do and some don’t. Some will be very happy they did and some won’t.

Personally, I feel that most extended warranties that are offered to consumers are rather expensive insurance and I decline. They offer them on vehicles, which many, but not all, cost more than your engine. Did you purchase one on your last car?

My point is that I view extended warranties as sleep-at-night insurance. There’s a lot to be said for that! Then again, $8k will also buy you some decent repairs if the need arises.

I was initially tempted, but because my 2016 Verado is a tried and true model, I decided against it.

One last thing: you probably can get a better deal through Mercury, as Jack’s comments suggest. I think I had two or three different prices offered to me.

I’m sure others will chime in, but this is my two cents, which in the last year is worth much less!
 
My Mercury warranties were getting to the 3 year mark, asked my mechanic about getting the extended. Because of the hot market for outboards, he said he just orders new engines ahead, rather than buy the extended warranty for them because they're so crazy expensive. When the new engines come in, he swaps them out (takes him 2 hours), sells the old ones in a few days worst case, for close to list. He comes out money ahead, and has brand new warranties. Quite a game he plays.
 
Wow. Obviously how times have changed. Mercury charged me I think about $500 for 3 years of additional warranty but that was back in 2011 when I bought my rig new. 150hp Pro XS 2 stroke. Couldn't pass it up back then. 11 years later (knock on wood), I've only changed plugs, filters, and water pump as regular / routine maintenance.
Of course all newer technology 4 strokes and higher HP engines are much more sophisticated but $8K seems kind of steep IMHO.
 
As noted above, you are just buying insurance. Mercury is earning a profit on this insurance. That means that on average, they are not paying out as much as they are bringing in. That is an absolute fact - if it was a negative return for them they wouldn't offer it. So I think you have to trade off feeling the security of knowing you're covered vs the nagging feeling you may have made a bad investment. House odds are against you.

Other thoughts:
- Every financial publication I've ever read says extended warranties are a bad bet.

- I think Mercury has a great product. Most people here report an average of about 100 hrs per year usage (if I recall correctly). I'm sure a Mercury can go 800 hours!

- my personal experience, the one time I bought one, is that you need to read the fine print on what is and isn't covered (do not trust what the salesman says) and how many ways you can void the warranty.
 
Mechanically my Mercury has been bulletproof. Couldn't be happier with its performance etc. After my 1st season it was found that my lower unit and mid motor casing had a paint defect. It took about a year and a half but Mercury Marine replaced them under warranty. Cost of the casing was $1138. The lower unit was $3700. Mercury also sent us an offer for an extended warranty that we respectfully declined. We have never taken the extended warranty in any of our vehicles, appliances, big screen TV's, etc. etc ....
 
Looking back on my post from November 9th 2020 I had asked the same question......... if I should take the 5 yr. extended warranty from Mercury for $2527. What a difference in price between a 150 and a 350 and of course it was towards the beginning stages of the pandemic.......
 
mtudb24 said:
Wow. Obviously how times have changed. Mercury charged me I think about $500 for 3 years of additional warranty but that was back in 2011 when I bought my rig new. 150hp Pro XS 2 stroke. Couldn't pass it up back then. 11 years later (knock on wood), I've only changed plugs, filters, and water pump as regular / routine maintenance.
Of course all newer technology 4 strokes and higher HP engines are much more sophisticated but $8K seems kind of steep IMHO.
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Right, and I have read a lot of reports like yours - 10+ years and still running like a charm! Seems the correct answer is take care of it, it will last.
 
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