Is care refresh worth the piece of mind?

[InAz]

With buying a M4P, I was wondering what your thoughts were on getting Care Refresh. I guess it's a personal preference but just would like input.
For the most part, I'll be flying in rural areas where I live. There's no obstructions but, the mini 4 pro could fail after a year.

 

[MS Coast]

Peace of mind? I look at the cost of replacing the drone vs the initial cost of Care Refresh plus the fee for replacing a drone. As I recall the cost of replacing a drone under Care Refresh was about one third the cost of a new drone. (Drone only, not the full kit.) I figured the odds were better than 3:1 that I would not crash or lose the drone. I passed on Care Refresh and chose self insurance. I like the odds.

 

[old man mavic]

Care refresh like any form of product damage cover is always going to be a gamble ,in as much as its great if you do have to use it ,but not so much if you dont
its really something that only you can decide for yourself ,

 

[InAz]

Peace of mind? I look at the cost of replacing the drone vs the initial cost of Care Refresh plus the fee for replacing a drone. As I recall the cost of replacing a drone under Care Refresh was about one third the cost of a new drone. (Drone only, not the full kit.) I figured the odds were better than 3:1 that I would not crash or lose the drone. I passed on Care Refresh and chose self insurance. I like the odds.

Well, the cost to replace a drone because it crashes is $99 from what i saw on dji & if it is a flyaway, it's $330. A mini 4 Pro is $759.
So, your self insurance is just you buying another one?

 

[msinger]

I guess it's a personal preference

Indeed. So, how would you feel about buying a brand new drone if you encounter a situation resulting in a complete loss? And how likely is it that you'd encounter such an issue?

If replacing a drone out of your pocket isn't an issue and you're likely not to get into any scenarios resulting in expensive repairs (maybe you're an expert DJI pilot?), then you probably don't need insurance.

Like any insurance though -- if you end up needing to use it, you'll be patting yourself on the back for purchasing it.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

With buying a M4P, I was wondering what your thoughts were on getting Care Refresh. I guess it's a personal preference but just would like input.
For the most part, I'll be flying in rural areas where I live. There's no obstructions but, the mini 4 pro could fail after a year.

If you are going to push the boundaries and test OA to its limits then yes it's probably worth it.
If you don't push the boundaries etc. then I'd pass.
I bought it for a Mavic mini and didn't use it but didn't buy it for for the Mini 2 or M2P.
I still have all three.

 

[InAz]

Indeed. So, how would you feel about buying a brand new drone if you encounter a situation resulting in a complete loss? And how likely is it that you'd encounter such an issue?

If replacing a drone out of your pocket isn't an issue and you're likely not to get into any scenarios resulting in expensive repairs (maybe you're an expert DJI pilot?), then you probably don't need insurance.

Like any insurance though -- if you end up needing to use it, you'll be patting yourself on the back for purchasing it.

Expert is hardly the term for me since the M4P is the 1st drone I've ever owned. I'm sure even an expert would get into a situation if he/she flew enough.

 

[InAz]

If you are going to push the boundaries and test OA to its limits then yes it's probably worth it.
If you don't push the boundaries etc. then I'd pass.
I bought it for a Mavic mini and didn't use it but didn't buy it for for the Mini 2 or M2P.
I still have all three.

Considering US have line of sight rules for flying, I doubt if it will be pused to any limits. Only consideration is if it were to fail when at 100-400 ft, or even 50 ft for that matter. If it drops, it'll probably shatter.
How often has that happened to anyone?? Who knows.
How long have you have you had your drones & hours on them?

 

[old man mavic]

@InAz i took out the care refresh cover on two of the DJI drones i have owned ,even taking advantage of the second year option at a reduced cost, for one of them,but i was fortunate enough not to have to use either of them ,it doesn't really matter how proficiant any of us become at flying our drones,even the term (expert) ,cannot prevent the unexpected turn of events ,that can happen at any time during flight ,as a first time owner, Flyer, of a drone then its safe to say that the cover would be a good idea
and it will always be the same ,no matter how long you have flown
as i said before its your choice

 

[msinger]

Expert is hardly the term for me since the M4P is the 1st drone I've ever owned

That's one good reason to consider purchasing the insurance then. It really all comes down to how much risk you personally want to take.

If you decide insurance is the way to go, then DJI Care Refresh is the best option available.

 

[maggior]

When I got my MA2, I got 1 year of care refresh coverage. To me, the cost of the MA2 was a lot of money and my flying experience was with less than reliable drones, so getting care refresh eased my anxiety flying in the beginning. By the time it was up for renewal, I didn't feel the need for it any more. I also didn't bother with it when I upgraded to my A2S.

 

[Cafguy]

Only consideration is if it were to fail when at 100-400 ft, or even 50 ft for that matter. If it drops, it'll probably shatter.
How often has that happened to anyone?? Who knows.
How long have you have you had your drones & hours on them?

Yes It will shatter! How often does it happen?- Well once for anyone is enough, but If you keep an eye on your battery and land as soon as you detect some sort of problem when you start your flight It is very rare.
I have had my drones for years I have a few Mavic 1's and an AIR 2s. The air 2s has more hours than any Air2s you will find. I have gone thru dozens of batteries [got every cycle out of them] and it flies everyday at least 2 hrs a day [usually 6] I have not had a problem with this particular drone.
If you plan on flying wildly I would follow the Advice that Yorkshire_Pud is mentioning. I too never purchased care refresh BUT If you are learning and plan to fly your drone like a sport plane, I would certainly consider care refresh. If you are gonna float around and take pictures I might think against it IMO. ALSO if you think care refresh will help somehow if you got a lemon WELL DJI is very good at replacing drones that have any defects So I wouldn't worry to much about that.

 

[MS Coast]

Well, the cost to replace a drone because it crashes is $99 from what i saw on dji & if it is a flyaway, it's $330. A mini 4 Pro is $759.
So, your self insurance is just you buying another one?

$759 is the cost of a new drone with the RC-N2 controller. A drone only would be less, though it would have to come from a vendor other than DJI for now. They're available on eBay for less than $700.

Care refresh includes an initial cost of $79 for one year. In the US the replacement fees are $65 and $235, so the total costs are $144 and $314.

So, if I figure the odds are lower than 700/144 or 4.86:1 against me destroying the drone and 700/314 or 2.05:1 that I'll have a fly away, I'm better off without Care Refresh and paying for the replacement if I have a problem.

 

[mavic3usa]

Also keep in mind that for some DJI drones, if you manage to get thru your Care Refresh year without a claim, you get your OEM warranty extended by one additional year. That's worth something especially when you are talking about the first year of a new model.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

How long have you have you had your drones & hours on them?

First drone 2019, don't know about total flight time or mileage - I haven't worked it out in a while but I am coming up on 4,000 flights/logs across all of them but they won't be as high as some folks, I tend to do a lot of short distance and duration flights.
1,100 on the Phantoms, 900+ on the Mavic Mini that I mentioned and presumably somewhere near 2,000 across the rest.

 

[ryguy80]

I did for my Mini 3 Pro and Mini 4 Pro. My Mini 3 Pro was my first drone I've ever flown, so I wanted some insurance. I got it with the Mini 4 Pro just in case I run into a mishap with ActiveTrack 360.

 

[InAz]

I did for my Mini 3 Pro and Mini 4 Pro. My Mini 3 Pro was my first drone I've ever flown, so I wanted some insurance. I got it with the Mini 4 Pro just in case I run into a mishap with ActiveTrack 360.

Thanks. When I bought my Polaris Ranger 3x3, said i'd never get insurance but thought, what the hell & got it anyways. I was comfortable driving this thing, a drone is another story.

 

[CDAWG47]

With buying a M4P, I was wondering what your thoughts were on getting Care Refresh. I guess it's a personal preference but just would like input.
For the most part, I'll be flying in rural areas where I live. There's no obstructions but, the mini 4 pro could fail after a year.

I got super cheap complete coverage insurance from state farm on mine. To me, seemed like a much better deal than care refresh or any warranty offered

 

[mavic3usa]

I got super cheap complete coverage insurance from state farm on mine. To me, seemed like a much better deal than care refresh or any warranty offered

It is. Problem is not everyone sees to be able to get this as in availability. I also had SF on my Mavic 2 until I totaled it and they sent me a check for the price I paid for it which I used to buy an Evo 2 Pro. When I put SF on the Autel, 6 months in they cancelled me due to that single claim. I should probably revisit SF since that was several years ago. But yeah at about $70/yr, can't beat it.

 

[msinger]

When I put SF on the Autel, 6 months in they cancelled me due to that single claim

I've seen many stories like this one. I think that's why it seems more people are using DJI Care Refresh instead these days. State Farm might only be a better deal if you never have to use the coverage