9 Extended Warranties New Jerseyans Are Better Off Skipping

Consumer Reports found the average extended warranty on a major kitchen appliance runs about $126.

Repairing that same appliance without one costs $26 more, on average.

That’s twenty-six dollars of risk sold as peace of mind at the register.

These are the extended warranties New Jerseyans are better off skipping.

Note: This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Contract terms, deductibles, and dollar figures are subject to change, so confirm the specifics with the seller or the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

1. TVs and Electronics

TVs and other electronics come with a warranty pitch built into the checkout register.

Consumer Reports found two-thirds of in-store electronics shoppers say they’ve been pitched one.

Much of what’s being sold duplicates coverage a buyer already has for free.

Best Buy’s Geek Squad Protection plan spells this out in its terms: Parts and coverage available under the manufacturer’s warranty aren’t covered by the plan at all.

So a two-year plan on a new television amounts to about one extra year of coverage, since the first year runs alongside a manufacturer warranty that hasn’t expired yet.

Skip it.

A TV or soundbar that’s going to fail almost always fails while that free coverage still runs.

A set that makes it past year one usually keeps working from then on.

2. Small Kitchen Appliances

Small kitchen appliances get a warranty pitch at checkout too, and Consumer Reports found the average small-appliance plan costs about $21.

That’s a steep price for what it covers.

A blender, a toaster, or a coffee maker in that price range can often be replaced outright for close to what the plan costs.

Buy new instead.

The warranty adds a second expense on top of a purchase that was already cheap to redo.

That’s not much of a bargain.

Many small-appliance breakdowns come from a drop or a frayed cord rather than the mechanical failure a standard plan is built to pay for.

Standard plans routinely exclude that kind of accidental damage.

3. Major Kitchen Appliances

Major kitchen appliances, refrigerators, washers, dryers, ranges, carry the priciest add-on plans in the store, and Consumer Reports found the average large-appliance warranty runs about $126.

Repairing the same appliance without one costs just $26 more, on average, than the extended warranty.

That’s the entire gap.

Consumer Reports cited a Stanford University study that found buyers tend to overpay for these plans because they overestimate how likely a repair is.

Appliances that fail young usually fail inside the manufacturer’s first year anyway, and appliances that make it past that point tend to keep running for years after.

4. New and Used Cars

New and used cars come with the priciest extended warranty pitch of the bunch, often thousands of dollars folded straight into the loan before a buyer drives off the lot.

The Federal Trade Commission warns that these vehicle service contracts aren’t warranties under federal law at all, since a buyer purchases them separately from the vehicle.

The agency’s guidance says it probably won’t help to buy a contract that starts running before the manufacturer’s coverage runs out.

New cars typically already carry several years of manufacturer coverage on top.

The service contract usually excludes accidental damage, normal wear, and any problem tied to skipped maintenance, exactly the kind of repair a car commonly needs.

That’s a bad trade.

New Jersey’s Service Contracts Act still gives buyers an out.

A buyer can cancel within 10 days of receiving the contract in person, or within 20 days if it came by mail.

The provider then owes a full refund.

Miss that window, though, and a driver is stuck paying for a plan built to exclude exactly what’s likely to break.

5. Furniture Protection Plans

Furniture protection plans are the extended-warranty pitch showrooms build into nearly every couch, sectional, and dining set they sell.

Guardsman, one of the largest providers of these plans nationwide, spells out its exclusions in writing.

Pet damage, described in the contract as damage from “beaks, teeth, and claws,” isn’t covered.

Neither is ordinary wear.

Scuffing, scrapes, loose joints, and seam separation from everyday use are all listed as excluded, along with fading and the loss of cushion resilience over time.

Mattresses aren’t covered either, even when they’re bought in the same delivery as the furniture.

A buyer picturing a plan that saves a favorite sofa from a puppy or a toddler is picturing coverage that isn’t there.

6. Mattress Protection Plans

Mattress protection plans tag along on almost every mattress sale, built to solve the wrong problem.

They’re almost always scoped around stains rather than the complaint shoppers raise later.

Sagging is the complaint.

Mattress Firm markets its version of this plan explicitly as protection “for stains,” built around spills, sweat, and everyday accidents rather than a mattress losing its shape.

Sagging instead falls under the mattress’s structural warranty, which many major brands already include for free.

That coverage comes with a catch, though: The depth a body impression has to reach before it qualifies ranges from as little as 0.75 inches on some brands to 1.5 inches or more on others.

A mattress that feels wrecked to the person sleeping on it often doesn’t measure deep enough to qualify.

7. Cell Phone Protection Plans

Cell phone protection plans get the same pitch treatment at nearly every carrier counter, right before the receipt prints.

AT&T’s Protect Advantage plan starts around $16 a month and rises to $25 depending on the phone, so that’s already $192 to $300 a year before anyone files a claim.

Then comes the deductible.

AT&T’s posted terms list a replacement deductible as high as $400 for its priciest foldable phones, stacked on top of the monthly cost already paid.

The plan’s terms exclude something else: Any mechanical or electrical failure that happens while the phone’s manufacturer warranty is still active.

So the plan is mostly built for accidents, a cracked screen, a phone dropped in a pool, not a phone that fails on its own.

A case, a screen protector, and some caution cover much of that same risk for less money.

8. Laptops and Computers

Laptops and computers carry the same extended-warranty overlap problem as TVs.

Best Buy’s Geek Squad Protection plan states plainly that parts already covered under the manufacturer’s warranty aren’t covered by the plan.

That leaves the extended plan covering mostly what happens after the free warranty ends.

A bigger gap sits elsewhere.

A standard laptop protection plan typically excludes accidental damage, a coffee spill, a cracked screen from a drop.

That’s the kind of failure a laptop commonly suffers outside a manufacturer defect.

Covering that requires paying extra for a separate “Accidental” tier that many retailers sell on top of the base plan.

A padded sleeve and some basic care handle much of that same risk, and neither comes with a monthly bill.

9. Home System Warranties

Home system warranties usually come as an annual plan covering the furnace, air conditioner, or the whole HVAC system.

New Jersey has taken one of these providers to court over how it handles claims like these.

The state’s Division of Consumer Affairs fined Choice Home Warranty, then headquartered in Edison, $780,000 for how it handled air conditioning and appliance claims.

That’s a serious fine.

Customers who couldn’t produce years of maintenance records got those claims denied, even though the company’s ads promised buyers they’d never pay for a covered repair again.

The division fielded 1,085 complaints about the company, from New Jersey and elsewhere, before the case settled.