GM Extended Warranty and/or Vehicle Service Contracts

[Greg Kruse]

New member of the forum and new owner of a 2020 3500 HD LT Duramax (still in transit).  (I did a search to start with and didn't come up with any hits on the forum for the warranty subject...if I missed this, please send me to an existing thread if there is one...)

 

Curious about what consensus there may (or may not) be out there about GM Extended Warranties and/or Vehicle Service Contracts (AutoShield, Endurance, Carchex, yada-yada). 

 

I've steered clear of the VSC's up to this point, mainly put off by the hard sell at the time of closing on the purchase...obviously comes off as a final attempt to squeeze a few more thousand dollars out of the buyer!   And I've read plenty of reviews on BBB and elsewhere describing nightmare after nightmare of folks trying to get claims filed and fulfilled after a needed repair.  I remain pretty skeptical of these in general. 

 

GM offers the Extended Warranty, limited of course, that takes the 36,000 miles/3 year bumper to bumper out to 60,000 miles/5 years.  I would like to know, if anyone has purchased one of these at time of purchase, what these are running.  The dealership financial guy I worked with to close on my new 3500 looked me in the eye (well maybe his eyes darted at the last minute) and told me that GM doesn't offer any types of warranty extension. It took me all of 2 minutes on my iphone after leaving his office that Chevy does offer an extended bumper to bumper, as well as some other post purchase plans.  Chatting with Chevy, I also learned that it is up to the dealers to set their pricing on these extended warranties.  I have some doubt that the pricing on these will be fair from my dealership knowing that they're likely in bed with a VSC provider (Auto Shield by Kornerstone Admin Services, in this case).  Again, curious what pros and cons are kicking around out there on the GM extended warranty and pricing.  

 

Finally, I'm re-thinking some of this in the context of all the technology packed into these new trucks.  It does seem inevitable that these systems will break down at some point (hopefully later than sooner) and repairs will be costly.  I'd pass on all of this extended warranty/VCS stuff out of hand, except for what seems to be a critical threshold that has been surpassed with regards to on-board technology, and what I can only imagine will be long term costs associated with troubleshoot and repair.  

 

If anyone has any thoughts on this, thanks in advance. 

Greg  

 

 

[Tomato]

GM originally spun off the factory extended warranty program to/with Ally Financial. They still offer the "old" plans.  GM Financial also has extended warranty plans as well now - as I think you found.  Both are great and well worth it. I recommend waiting until your factory warranty is near expiration and then shopping around with a couple of dealers on price. You don't need it now, and don't listen to the "...it costs less when you buy it now..."  And go with a 0 deductible plan - well worth the little bit extra.

[Wbrisett]

8 hours ago, Tomato said:

GM originally spun off the factory extended warranty program to/with Ally Financial. They still offer the "old" plans.  GM Financial also has extended warranty plans as well now - as I think you found.  Both are great and well worth it. I recommend waiting until your factory warranty is near expiration and then shopping around with a couple of dealers on price. You don't need it now, and don't listen to the "...it costs less when you buy it now..."  And go with a 0 deductible plan - well worth the little bit extra.

In general I agree 100% with you. With one exception. It generally will cost less now, but that's because every year they re-evaluate the cost of parts and services... which never go down. The extended warranty plan I bought on my 2015, cost me significantly more on my 2020 for exactly the same coverage. That's not to say you can't sometimes get deals a few years later, but in general costs are continuing to rise and that's driving a new pricing structure ever year for the extended warranty plans. One advantage of the GM Financial one (at least what my buddy who spent a few years as a service advisor in a GM dealership tells me), is that they almost never had to fight to get extended warranty parts and services covered. Some of the other vendors really did everything they could to not pay what they should have. 

[GJK]

Thanks for your replies. Your comments and the near impossibility of finding a positive review of these VSC’s made it a very easy decision to forego the third party insurance and the $75/mo it added to financing  

 

g

[jojo ma]

On 7/7/2020 at 5:42 PM, Wbrisett said:

In general I agree 100% with you. With one exception. It generally will cost less now, but that's because every year they re-evaluate the cost of parts and services... which never go down. The extended warranty plan I bought on my 2015, cost me significantly more on my 2020 for exactly the same coverage. That's not to say you can't sometimes get deals a few years later, but in general costs are continuing to rise and that's driving a new pricing structure ever year for the extended warranty plans. One advantage of the GM Financial one (at least what my buddy who spent a few years as a service advisor in a GM dealership tells me), is that they almost never had to fight to get extended warranty parts and services covered. Some of the other vendors really did everything they could to not pay what they should have. 

 

On 7/6/2020 at 8:33 PM, Greg Kruse said:

New member of the forum and new owner of a 2020 3500 HD LT Duramax (still in transit).  (I did a search to start with and didn't come up with any hits on the forum for the warranty subject...if I missed this, please send me to an existing thread if there is one...)

 

Curious about what consensus there may (or may not) be out there about GM Extended Warranties and/or Vehicle Service Contracts (AutoShield, Endurance, Carchex, yada-yada). 

 

I've steered clear of the VSC's up to this point, mainly put off by the hard sell at the time of closing on the purchase...obviously comes off as a final attempt to squeeze a few more thousand dollars out of the buyer!   And I've read plenty of reviews on BBB and elsewhere describing nightmare after nightmare of folks trying to get claims filed and fulfilled after a needed repair.  I remain pretty skeptical of these in general. 

 

GM offers the Extended Warranty, limited of course, that takes the 36,000 miles/3 year bumper to bumper out to 60,000 miles/5 years.  I would like to know, if anyone has purchased one of these at time of purchase, what these are running.  The dealership financial guy I worked with to close on my new 3500 looked me in the eye (well maybe his eyes darted at the last minute) and told me that GM doesn't offer any types of warranty extension. It took me all of 2 minutes on my iphone after leaving his office that Chevy does offer an extended bumper to bumper, as well as some other post purchase plans.  Chatting with Chevy, I also learned that it is up to the dealers to set their pricing on these extended warranties.  I have some doubt that the pricing on these will be fair from my dealership knowing that they're likely in bed with a VSC provider (Auto Shield by Kornerstone Admin Services, in this case).  Again, curious what pros and cons are kicking around out there on the GM extended warranty and pricing.  

 

Finally, I'm re-thinking some of this in the context of all the technology packed into these new trucks.  It does seem inevitable that these systems will break down at some point (hopefully later than sooner) and repairs will be costly.  I'd pass on all of this extended warranty/VCS stuff out of hand, except for what seems to be a critical threshold that has been surpassed with regards to on-board technology, and what I can only imagine will be long term costs associated with troubleshoot and repair.  

 

If anyone has any thoughts on this, thanks in advance. 

Greg  

 

 

Just saw this, I just bought the new 2020 Sierra 3500, Duramax AT4 single axle.   I bought the extended warranty they offered from a company called Costguard www.protectiveassetprotection.com  I purchased the highest coverage no deductible for $4300 for 150K miles 12 years bumper to bumper.  I did a cursory search of company and they seem to be pretty good.  It is transferrable and if I cancel they will prorate the difference back.  Seem reasonable.  This truck has alot of electronics and I do not want to have any issues, good piece of mind.  Besides, I threw in the financing and over the 72 months it came out to be like $30 a month extra?  (all depends on what amount you financed, I did $39K to include warranty).  I bought mine out of Key Buick GMC in Jacksonville Fl.   I found it suprising that the dealer has a lifetime warranty on the powertrain itself, lok below from the warranty website.   BOTTOM LINE, I have bought cars with and without extended warranties, new and used.  I swear by the warranties, I do not like spending money on expensive repairs that are costly.  This AT4 is state of the art and has alot of electronics  on board. For me seem worth the money.  If I were you, look into this company, do your research and buy it for your new 3500, transferable and refundable...most of all piece of mind!!  Hope this helps

Plan Status: Active

Purchase Price: $0.00

Additional Contract Owner: N/A

Providing Dealership: 

KEY BUICK GMC
4660 SOUTHSIDE BLVD
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32216

Coverage: LIFETIME POWERTRAIN WTY $200 DED

Term: 999 Months / 999,000 Miles

Effective Date: 05/29/2020

Effective Mileage: 25

Deductible: $200

Surcharge(s): N/A

[KCJackson1]

The most important thing to confirm with "lifetime" service contracts and maintenance contracts:  are you limited to the selling dealer for that work to be covered?  If so, that "lifetime" coverage isn't worth the paper it's printed on if you have a failure during a road trip.  Or... are you required to pay and wait for reimbursement if you're not at the selling dealer?  Most people don't have that kind of liquid funds if you need an engine or transmission replacement while on the road.

[IndyRob K.]

I am the second owner of my 2016 6.2 Yukon. After a few weeks of 8 speed shutter driving and a blown fuel injector seal on cylinder 8 already. I decided to look into a VSC and with the advice of my GM service rep and went with Endurance. the vehicle has 87k miles and they will give me 5 year 100,000 elite coverage for 4000.00