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Buying Av Tonight. Question On Extended Warranty.

N

Nate_Wood

GUEST
Hey all. Looks like I'm buying an Orange one tonight/tomorrow. I'm working with the sales manager over the phone. He has offered me an extended warranty as such:

6 year, 75,000 mile bumper to bumper

The cost is $1222. What I am wondering is if anybody has purchased this same ext. warranty and if this is the same price you were given. I don't know how to find out the standard cost of the ext warranty and don't want to be paying too much.

help anybody?

Thanks.
Nate
 
Seems expensive! I would skip it. You will see 75k way before 6 yrs.

Search the net for some. I have heard of a people getting the ext warr. for around $200-400.
 
I purchased an ext. warranty with the same milage/yrs., this was sufficient for me since my AV is not a daily driver :cry: and it matched my last vehicle (75K/7 yrs.).

The one I got was not GM (your price sounds like it is). I paid approx. $400 for mine, after he started at $550. He talked me out of the GM coverage and I have no direct experience with the company I'm covered under so I can't speak to their performance.

I had trouble finding it but will post their name when I get back in a few hours.
 
I'm like you in that my AV is likely to see low miles. However, it being a GM there is something likely to go wrong (sorry, but its true). The sales guy says that this warranty is bumper to bumper. It covers even the minor things like the radio, rattles in the dash, etc. I just went and looked at three ext. warranty places on the net and they were all priced similar BUT excluded things like the radio, rattles, etc. hmmmm??? I will have to read the fine print to see if the sales guy is being truthful.

However, if you can find the name of the place you got yours from I'd like to check them out and see what they cover. Thanks a bunch.

BTW - happy to join this fan club!

Nate
 
Try warrantydirect.com
I called and they said the policies they sell are the same that GM sells but cheaper. With them you can get a 7yr 100k mile for about the same price as GM and it covers the same stuff
 
Not to say anyone is wrong for buying an extended warranty etc....from my experiences and reading up on new car buying tips off the web....

A lot of resources actually look down on extended warranties and claim the 3 yr. 36,000 is sufficient.

I believe kbb.com was the resource I was referring to... check it out it might help you in your decision...

And welcome to the club!!! :)
 
Sorry Nate....I couldn't find it because the wife put it in the safety deposit box with other stuff.

I know there are a lot of opinions on warranties. I had mine pay off on the other vehicle...doesn't take much sometimes... that was my first try with one. Maybe I was just lucky, plus it was a Jeep. :eek:

I was hesitant with the Av because off all of the proven tech. on it even though it was first year. When I got him down to $400 I took it. You are wise to study the fine print ;D I didn't , but bought his story it was comparable after a cursory review by me.

LOL and welcome to the gang!
 
How about taking the 1200 dollars and investing it in something liquid. Then if you ever need it it will be there and you can get it quickly say a CD or some fancy shmancy Mutual fund.

Heck for 1200 I bet you could get a new engine installed or something major.

So in 3 years after the factory warranty has expired your money probably is worth say close to 1800 or more.

Pluis if you never need to touch it it was money well saved and can now be used for a future car.

Just an Idea.
 
Here's a quick story that is happening to my bother in law. He has a 98 Chevy Venture with 65K miles and has not had any problems till last week. His oil light was coming on and off but he kept driving it and now has a knocking sound coming from the engine. He took it to a shop and they told him it sounded like his main bearings were making a noise. They advised him to trade it in and get another car. They said it would be about $3K to fix his engine.

I myself did not get the extended warrenty on my AV, but when I get around 36K miles I will be looking into buying one.

My last Chevy truck went 110K miles before my tranny went out and I did not get a extended warrenty for it. It's like insurance if you don't get it you will need it. It's pay me now or pay me later :-[
 
Here is my two cents. If I am buying a used vehicle then I'll opt for the extended warranty. A new vehicle that I'll take care of, no way.

In any case you can wait on the extended warranty and buy one a few years down the road. Its cheaper to buy one before the manufacturer warranty runs out but thats in three years. So, why fork out $1200 now when you don't have to because you are covered.

BEWARE, if you buy, read the coverage carefully and steer clear of warranties that state what IS covered. This is a bad deal because the NOT covered list will be much bigger than the covered.

If you buy a warranty, stick with one that tells you what is NOT covered. That will be things such as tires, brake pads, mufflers,paint, spark plugs, etc.

I bought an extended warranty off the net for $1000 to cover a 97 used buick regal. In 1 1/2 years I had one $500 claim for the electronic climate control module.
 
Ext. Warranty is cash in the pocket for the business manager. Again, if you take care of it, there should not be the need to buy. A lot of dealers set up their own program - beware. Who will honor it? What is really covered?

If you don't check oil and then ignore the idiot light, you should be made to pay double!!
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I do agree that if you take care of it right that it shouldn't be a problem. However, if something like the engine computer goes bad, or the transmission it probably is worth it. Investing the $1200 into a mutual fund would be worth $1825 at the end of three years assuming you see 15% each year. Good enough to make some major repairs.

Arggg... well, I'll figure what's right for me. I just wanted to check to see if the $1200 figure seemed out of line. After checking several web sites, it does seem in line. Plus he is giving me additional cut in the interest rate (4.9% for 60 mos) if I add it on. This offsets the higher interest to the tune of $400 making the extended warranty only $800 more over the course of the loan.

Thanks again guys. I won't be able to pick it up till Friday but I'm getting excited.

Hey, I haven't checked yet, but are there "profiles" on this site of the members?

Nate
 
Well color me stupid but I bought the extended warranty on my Av. After the problems with my Pontiac Montana (over $5,500 in repairs including a transmission all under my extended warranty at the tender age of just 69,000 miles) there was no talking me into it.

I paid a fortune for it, around $1,500 for 5 years 125,000 miles. 75,000 miles isn't enough coverage unless you don't drive a lot. I just figured if the 4-wheel drive ever goes out, it pays itself off XXX.

Now let me put perspective on this. When we bought my wife's T-bird in 1997 we didn't get the extended warranty. Tried and true platform with a very long history (I know the Av shares almost all parts with the Burb), and a big fire breathing V-8 also with a long proven history - ahhh but with far less horsepower than it's designed for. Hence it doesn't work as hard. The figure you're quoted for the coverage seems high UNLESS you're getting a zero deductible plan.

As the song goes, "my mama told me you better shop around."
 
Wow...I really got ripped off. I bought a 5 year 100,000 mile for $1900 last week. I do have 30 days to get my money back though. The same dealership charged me almost $800 for alarm system and kill switch...then I read in the manual that the Avalanche comes stock with an alarm and Passlock (shuts off fuel).

I guess I could've done some better research...Has anyone else upgraded their security system?

TimMan
 
Warranties - How I LOVE Them........

In 1996 I traded in a 1991 Infiniti Q45 because the air compressor went out and it would have cost me $1600 to fix it, which I did not have - the car was out of warranty. The previous owner had purchased the extended warranty up to 60K miles, but I was over that.

I am a HIGH MILEAGE driver. I put miles on vehicles in record fashion. I have purchased dealer extended warranties on most of the vehicles I bought in the last 8 years.
The 97 'Burb I traded in for my AV was worth QUITE A BIT less than I owed on it, so I carried a lot of "baggage money" into my AV loan.

Because of the way finance had to structure the loan (to make some of my carried-over money vanish into the loan) I ended up paying $2995.00 for a 6yr/100K warranty. :eek:

I know that sounds incredibly high, but get this - the warranty is TRANSFERRABLE and PRO-RATEABLE. Meaning that if I trade in my AV in three years, the UNUSED PORTION of the money I paid for it can be transferred into the next vehicle.

So in three years, say I have 55K on the AV and trade it in - I will get a refund on my warranty of $1347.75 (45% of $2995) that can be applied to my next vehicle. (And like the man says - with GM vehicles, things break -especially FIRST YEAR MODELS like the AV.) ;D

The disavantage of this plan is that the warranty is not CANCELLABLE or TRANSFERRABLE in the 1st 12 months. But because of the amount of money I had to carry from my previous loan, I cannot reasonably trade before the three year period is up anyway. (Darn - stuck in my beautiful AV for three years !!! ;) )

So there you have a lesson in why it's BAD to owe more than a vehicle is worth - (by the way - I got into this mess by trading from a car that had a marvelous resale value into a car that had a crappy resale value - WAY back in 1995)...........Laterz.........


 
One variable that I don't think anybody mentioned is the deductible per repair. That can have a big difference in the cost of the extended warranty. I once got an extended warranty on a used car and thought it had a $0 deductible, only to find out it had a $200 deductible. I was mad, but I only had myself to blame for not confirming that.

I also believe in getting extended warranty for only used vehicles. 95% of my warranty repairs have come in the first 15,000 miles or so. When I traded in my van on the Av, it had 65,000 miles, and hadn't had a warranty repair since about 12,000 miles.

I find that a majority of the money I put into a vehicle is not for what would be considered warranty repairs anyway. It's mostly for maintenance such as oil changes, tire rotations, filters, new tires, batteries, brakes, belts, bulbs, etc.
 
:cautious: oh boy... $3000 for a warranty? I was hem-hawing over $1222 for a 6 year 70,000.

I ended up playing the dealer against Warranty Gold (warrantygold.com), and vice versa, after doing a lot of research. In the end I went with Warranty Gold because they had an EXCLUSION list, rather than an inclusion list. I got the "diamond" package which looks to be a bumper to bumper. I asked about things like the radio, rattles in the dash, etc. They said those were covered. Anything that is not on the list per se is covered. There was only one thing on the list itself that you could leave open to further speculation. "exhaust system". Well, a system can make up quite a bit so we'll see. Other than that, everything in the list was self contained.

Like I said, I played each party against each other and ended up with a deal I was happy with. 7 year, 100,000 miles, Diamond package, for $1078. Oh, $50 deductibles.

If you have any questions about this let me know.

Nate :cautious:
 
Hi Warran

Would your warranty cover our plastic side panels and three removable bed covers?

Tim
 
I got the GM 6yr/75k warranty. Paid $1,200 for it with a $100 deductable. However, if I don't use the warranty I will get all of the cash back and only lose the time value of money on the $1,200. I view it as an insurance policy. If the repair is minor, I'll pay it out of pocket and still get my $$$$$$$ back.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot to add:

7 year/100,000 mile "bumper to bumper" for $1078
$50 deductable per VISIT (not per problem). (I could have opted for the $0 deductable for $1178 instead of $107:cool:.

Transfers to new owner (for $50) if I sell the truck.

Pro-rated refund to me if I trade the vehicle into a dealer.

Getting it was important to me since lots of little things can go wrong over time. However, now that I have it I question if it was worth it since I am going to want to be doing some modifications to the truck (what will void it I have to check into). Oh well.

Nate
 
An extended warranty is an insurance policy as others have said. The question is, can you afford a big repair, if and when it happens? If you can, keep your money, there ar MUCH better investments available. If a big repair bill would cripple you financially, buy the warranty, but realize that you are probably going to lose money on it. It's like a trip to a casino, for everyone that wins big, 100 or 1000 others are going to lose. The odds favor the house, or the warranty company.
Just my 2 cents.
 
Hi Gang

Would a GM Major Guard policy be better than a third party warranty? Cover more stuff?

TimMan
 
While buying our AV, I was presented w/ the third party warranty for a certain amount and then as discussions continued, found out that the GM backed warranty was the same price. I was hesitant to go w/ a company I was unfamiliar w/, so I went with the GM warranty as the warranty coverages were the same. I paid $1,200 for 75k and 72 months. Looking back, I should have gotten a longer term, as I don't think I'll be putting alot of miles on it.
 
I've heard that you can buy an extended warranty up until the time that your original warranty is finished...is this correct?

TimMan
 
TimMan said:
I've heard that you can buy an extended warranty up until the time that your original warranty is finished...is this correct?

TimMan
Click to expand...

Check out www.warrantygold.com I bought an extended warranty on a used buick regal. I had one claim and the response was excellant. It cost less to buy the warranty prior to the mfg coverage running out.
 
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