buying a mack warranty for a M8

[maddav]

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I must say I am a bit reluctant to put so much money in a camera that only has a 2 year warranty, especially in light of all the various problems encountered by the users. The mack warranty that adds 3 years to the original manufacturer warranty seems appealing (only 150 USD on some websites). According to Mack, when you are outside the US and have a problem, you just have to locate the nearest authorized repair facility and submit your claim to Mack. Living in Frankfurt, Germany I guess the nearest authorized repair center is probably the Solms factory itself. Now maybe that's just too good to be true. Any experience with Mack?

 

Also, I guess these mack warranties only apply to products purchased from US dealers (I have asked them but have not received any answer). The price of an M8 in the US is interesting (eq.3600EUR) but only if you don't declare it when returning to Europe. If you add VAT it gets more expensive than here. Plus I would prefer to have the possibility to get used to it before my vacation. Also, reading the forums, it seems more likely that a problem will show up during the first days which of course would be very unpleasant to experience during my holiday...

 

What do you think? Do you know of a product equivalent to Mack warranties that would be sold in Europe?

 

Thanks for your advice.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Personally it is throwing money away. first several reasons after 2 years will the M8 or any camera be the one you want than given the cycle time on most digital camera's a new model is out in 18 months. Okay the M8 maybe longer and i will suspect it is too. Second reason who the heck is going to fix it. NO ONE but leica and if Mack did have a shop for a repair do you trust it with a Leica M8, not me . Have you looked inside one of these , never would i dare to give this to anyone but leica for repair. Third what are the chances you need it, hate freaking insurance because you may never ever need it. Personally i stay away from long term warranty policies except for maybe a refrigerator or washing machine, i really don't believe in these Mack warranties, biggest issue is if it goes done after the warranty it may have been sold already by that time , than i wasted 300 dollars for nothing. I'm actualy being polite on how i feel about them.

[Joe Mondello]

I started a thread on this at the RFF . . .

 

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39884

 

HTH

 

BTW I didn't get it.

[ceflynn]

Good photographs of the inside of the M8, by its intrepid explorer:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/21331-anatomy-leica-m8.html

 

I suggest you be prudent in this case and make sure, as Guy has suggested, that no one outside of Leica ever disassembles your M8.

[maddav]

Thanks for your comments but it is clearly stated that outside the US, Mack will reimburse the cost for a repair in a manufacturer authorized facility. Being in Germany, I am not even sure that apart from Leica itself there are Leica authorized centers; and if there is any I would assume it is not that horrible if it has received Leica's agreement for performing repairs.

 

My concern is rather: is Mack acting in good faith in such circumstances? I read mixed reviews on other forums. Some saying that the people giving the approvals for repairs were unreachable. Some acknowledged that Mack was quite slow but had expensive material repaired within the Mack warranty and were satisfied.