Extended Warranties?

[Cory100]

What's your thoughts on GM's extended warranties.  We never buy new and this will be our first vehicle purchase since 2009.  Are the extensions worth the money?  Is it a crap shoot?  Seems like if you drop 50K on a truck things should be good for awhile.  Just haven't drove anything new for a long time and really don't know what the most buyers choose to do.    

[Black02Silverado]

Personally with all the computers and electronics now in new vehicles an extended warranty is something to consider.  I purchased one for our 2016 Suburban  because we plan to keep it and the extended warranty from James Black Cadillac.  It just paid for it's self.  Had to have the condenser replaced and the right front magna ride shock at 72k miles.   Total cost was $2,800 and I only owed $100.

 

If you plan on keeping for a long time it is worth it as I see it. 

[PPK]

I used to regard the extended warranty as more trouble than it was worth.. and then i got a truck with two turbos (twice the fun!) and found out the value... my truck rolled into it's 28th month last month.. and even though it has been solid i bought a GM/Platinum from Smith Chevrolet for $770 that added 39 months and 39,000 miles to where i am. Now seems like a weak time to trade in and get a new one with the 1/2 shortage of expensive trucks..

 

I think you really have to lay out the various prices/terms and mileage on them to see where the value is for you. Some folks spend thousands on these... i spent at the top end of what i think they are worth... Once you spend more than $770 you are up there where you may as well just pay for the repair. And normally i keep these rigs 3 years and then turn them over. I think you have look at a longer ownership today with $60k trucks - at least 5 yrs which is where i am targeting. i also think i will get one every other generation.. rather than one each gen. Licensing them has gotten out of hand, too.

Edited May 31, 2021 by PPK

[Dunn]

You can also buy it when your factory one gets close to its end.....

[nards444]

If your the person that drives them till they die, then yeah they are probably worth it.  Even then be sure you are looking at at the terms and conditions and ensure its an actual GM extended warranty not something the dealer is selling you.

 

Also remember the initial warranty on the vehicle and the extended wont kick in till thats done.  If you keep vehicles less than 5 years skip it. 

[Black02Silverado]

15 hours ago, Dunn said:

You can also buy it when your factory one gets close to its end.....

I found out the hard way that if you do wait until closer to the end of the factory B to B then the cost goes way up.

 

Again, for the OP, if you plan on keeping it a long time then to me it is worth it now on these new electronic nightmare vehicles.

[Dunn]

3 hours ago, Black02Silverado said:

I found out the hard way that if you do wait until closer to the end of the factory B to B then the cost goes way up.

 

Again, for the OP, if you plan on keeping it a long time then to me it is worth it now on these new electronic nightmare vehicles.

After 2 year mark you can start shopping and comparing companies...they want your business....still pretty competitive, but yeah you have to read what it covers....I would never buy one from a dealer at their insane prices....ive never had a problem 

[nards444]

14 hours ago, Dunn said:

After 2 year mark you can start shopping and comparing companies...they want your business....still pretty competitive, but yeah you have to read what it covers....I would never buy one from a dealer at their insane prices....ive never had a problem 

I would never buy a warranty that wasnt GM, FORD, Dodge branded, just my opinion after dealing with a few of these after market companies and seeing others deal with them.

 

All warranties arent a catch all either and some people forget that

[JD Williams]

My friend that is buying a 22 F250 mentioned that on their forums it mentioned not buying the Ford warranty at time of purchase but within a couple months you could buy it still from Ford and have substantial savings.

 

Any idea if the same applies to GM?

[unit]

With so many car warranty scams out there, how do you know which companies are legitimate and will pay when coverage is needed?

[nards444]

13 hours ago, JD Williams said:

My friend that is buying a 22 F250 mentioned that on their forums it mentioned not buying the Ford warranty at time of purchase but within a couple months you could buy it still from Ford and have substantial savings.

 

Any idea if the same applies to GM?

Ive done this with Ford, you can shop it around.  There are some high volume dealers where you can buy them for the cheap over the phone.  I would assume you could buy a GM warranty anywhere as well

[Black02Silverado]

16 hours ago, JD Williams said:

My friend that is buying a 22 F250 mentioned that on their forums it mentioned not buying the Ford warranty at time of purchase but within a couple months you could buy it still from Ford and have substantial savings.

 

Any idea if the same applies to GM?

What I have found out from experience when I purchased ours is that you can save money by waiting but if you go past the 12 month 12k mark for very long then the price increases.   Like I posted above, I learned the hard way on our Suburban by waiting until close to 36k miles.  I saved over half the cost when getting it for my 2019 at 14k miles.

[Grumpy Bear]

I don't know of any warranty that will cover anything past 150,000 miles. Then again I don't know much.  I do know that $100 a month for 60 months is $6,000. If I wait and the price goes up double 2.5 years from now it's still $6,000. GM chooses to be what they choose to be. They shortened the 6 year 100,000 warranty to 5 years and 60,000 miles then ask you to pay for the warranty work via a 'premium' for extended coverage while dumbing down the product. This isn't business, this is legalized theft! They know how many failures to expect between 60K and 100K and spread the price over the number of expected buyers. Aftermarket uses the same actuaries. All insurance does. Their not in the business of loosing money and to make money someone else has to loose. Guess who the looser is? 

 

Now this post will be followed by a dozen or more who have 'made out' in this deal. Someone eventually wins the Power Ball Lottery too but darn few. Yet the belief that YOU will be the one to hold the winning ticket is so strong this scheme will never end until the system itself ends. 

 

When the ask me about this extended guarantee I have one reply. If you don't stand behind your product and do the right thing I guarantee I will never buy a product from this company again. Hyundai is looking pretty attractive right now. 10 years/100,000 miles. At that point you get an offer like how about the extended coverage for like $100. 

 

Why do people continue to believe there is some kind of 'free lunch'??

[aseibel]

I look at extended warranties as optional insurance. My wife really wanted to feel "safe". I would have walked out laughing at the salesman who offered it to me. But the boss would rather pay 2,000 or whatever it was now, to hopefully avoid some much higher bill later. Maybe we come out ahead. More likely we just donated 2,000 to the dealership.

 

similar to car insurance. I have never made a claim beyond a windshield replacement. Yet I continue to donate money to American Family Insurance every month. I guess it makes me happy to know that if some uninsured numbskull t-bones me, I won't be financially burdened.

 

But that's all it is. You are betting money now to (hopefully) save some in the future. come back in 10 years and let us know how it worked out. If it didn't work out in the dealers favor more often than not, they wouldn't be selling them.

[nards444]

1 hour ago, Grumpy Bear said:

I don't know of any warranty that will cover anything past 150,000 miles. Then again I don't know much.  I do know that $100 a month for 60 months is $6,000. If I wait and the price goes up double 2.5 years from now it's still $6,000. GM chooses to be what they choose to be. They shortened the 6 year 100,000 warranty to 5 years and 60,000 miles then ask you to pay for the warranty work via a 'premium' for extended coverage while dumbing down the product. This isn't business, this is legalized theft! They know how many failures to expect between 60K and 100K and spread the price over the number of expected buyers. Aftermarket uses the same actuaries. All insurance does. Their not in the business of loosing money and to make money someone else has to loose. Guess who the looser is? 

 

Now this post will be followed by a dozen or more who have 'made out' in this deal. Someone eventually wins the Power Ball Lottery too but darn few. Yet the belief that YOU will be the one to hold the winning ticket is so strong this scheme will never end until the system itself ends. 

 

When the ask me about this extended guarantee I have one reply. If you don't stand behind your product and do the right thing I guarantee I will never buy a product from this company again. Hyundai is looking pretty attractive right now. 10 years/100,000 miles. At that point you get an offer like how about the extended coverage for like $100. 

 

Why do people continue to believe there is some kind of 'free lunch'??

 

I generally agree with you and people need to get out of the peace of mind approach, or hey I just spent 60k whats another 2-3k to protect my asset.  So I agree with you but there are some yeah buts.

 

Most of these plans are under 2k these days for bumper to bumper, and I would only do a manufactured branded warranty.  For 2k over 5-10 years, is 15-33 bucks a month a good investment,  for some people I would say yes.   To me buying a warranty if you own for less than 5 years is crazy you are throwing your money away.

 

And I dont blame manufactures for not having these long term warranties,  3-5 years seems about right.  Nobody can or should guarantee something like a car or truck for that long.  And if they did we would all just pay for it,  warranties arent free like you said, even the new vehicle warranty isnt free.

 

You have to know the warranty game and whats written in them,  the house wins more than it loses, so in other terms you will pay more than they do.  Why do you think they sell you a warranty on on everything at the register these days.

Warranties are just insurance.  Insurance is legalized gambling.  But having insurance to protect your assests like houses and expensive items like cars makes sense, and is actually financially good decision. I have known guys that dole out so much in warranties and insurance of all kinds and I have always kind of been like, you know if you set aside that 500 a month into an interest bearing account you would be insuring yourself.  If you cant self insure for the most part when you retire you did things wrong or don know what you are doing.