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Extended Warranty

R

RedAV

Full Member
Joined
May 11, 2002
Messages
190
Has anyone used or purchased the GM extended warranty on their AV? (Not the after market one.)

I tend to keep vehicles a long time (my last one I kept for 12 years). Getting the 6 year (extra 3 years) for about $1k seems like it might be a good deal.

Anyone have any positive or negative things to say?

 
There will never be a consensus on extended warranties!

Me . . . I never do extended warranties. They are tremendous money makers for those who sell them. So, I'll bet on Chevy! Odds are that I'll win - my repair costs during the extended period will be less than the cost of the warranty! Of course those selling are very good at generating fear in customers - and smiling all the way to the bank!

That was the most painful part of buying my Av - saying NO - repeatedly and loudly - to all the junk offered by the financial droid at the end of the sales process.
 
Chev just sent me the extended warraney form.... I havn't decided yet...On my Fords I got the warranty and it paid for it self plus 10K.... They lost money on me.. ;D

Gary
 
Well, I have good records on 3 previous cars.

One my truck I just traded in I would have made out on the deal. Transmission went out. It would have paid for itself with a 6 year.

One I would have lost, and the other would have been even.

However, this AV is complicated. I mean I do all of my own service, installed PS pumps, Alternators, radiators and some other stuff. In my youth I have swapped engine and transmissions.

I would just hate for the transfer case ot trans to go. That would be tough to open the wallet for.

 
I got the extended warrant on my last vehicle 1999 Tahoe. At 41,000 miles the clutches in the rear end died. What chevy ask's for is all the maintenance records on you vehicle. If you missed just ONE maintenance your warranty is USELESS. I know it cost me $862.00 for repairs.

I know you are all going to say. Do a better job of making sure maintenance is done on time. Let's get real. Some of us will follow the maintenance like a book, others, and I believe that is the majority, will not.

Just my 2 cents.

By-the-way. I will NEVER buy a warranty again.

3 years and 36,000 miles. Then they get it back.
 
I asked for the Warrenty for free when I bought my Av. I'm planning on keeping my Av for a long time and I am really rough on cars. My AV is going to have to hold up to a lot of use. I will be towing a lot. Frequent 400 mile trips to Lake Powell towing a boat are great on power trains. I'm also really hard on cars. I have killed one 305 V-8 (cracked block after blown gasket), one Chev 350 (threw a rod), one chev transmission (it had 120K miles on it) and one Jeep transmission (it was a piece of crap), one saturn transmission pump, and one chev transmission pump (drag racing). have only been driving for 6 years. I don't know what my deal is, I guess I just drive too fast. I tend to drive all of my cars like my first car, an 82 Z-28.

I'm planning on getting the AV serviced on time for everything, I just hope that I can save all of the receipts. Just as long as the warrenty is cheaper then the transmission I'm happy.
 
I have not paid for an extended warranty in my life. Until now. I too believe they are almost always a losing proposition for the buyer, but my dealer sells a warranty that is 100% refundable if not used. (Is this unique to my dealer?) So, while I thought about if for a week after buying my Av, I decided to buy it and use it only for the "big" repair(s). Kind of like catastrophic insurance. I'll pay the smaller repairs or (more likely) just do them myself like I always have, but am covered if this thing turns bad on me. It is the most complicated vehicle I have ever owned, and I'm sure nothing is cheap to replace.
I still have about 30 days to cancel it at no cost, and I'm still considering doing just that...it goes against my grain to buy warranties, but I can always look forward to my refund in 6 years ;D ???
 
RV8Pilot . . . this is the first time that I've ever heard a refundable warranty. I'm not sure how it works - seems the warranty companies are depending on this revenue to cover the cases in which they do have to pay.

But, if it were available, I'd probably go for it. They get the interest off of your money for six years, and you get catastorphic insurance coverage - not a bad deal - and I too generally have disdain for extended warranties.
 
Bought a few and never used them.....I think once I have used it on some POS car I had.....Just invest the money yourself and it will be there if you do not use it.
 
It depends on the vehicle for me. If something is a tried and true platform, I've not gotten one - if something is new, I tend to get them:

1985 Ford EXP - No warranty
1987 Ford Tempo - No warranty
1989 Ford Probe - Got the warranty and got ROI. I got one on the Probe because it was a first model year vehicle, had digital dashboard, power every thing, and for Ford this was a new engine and tranny (although had been in Mazda's for years). Replaced the trip computer three times, the power window switches on the driver side once, and a new altenator (at 95K miles!). So got my money's worth
1993 Subaru Legacy - No warranty
1995 Chevy S-10 - No warranty - tried and true platform, got the 4.3 liter been around forever V-6 with a 5 speed, two wheel drive and just the basics.
1997 Ford Thunderbird - No warranty - the underlying design had been around since 1983, the 4.6 liter V-8 was praised high and low, as was the tranny so decided not to go with one - haven't regretted the decision, so far the only "out of warranty" repair was replacing the power lock controller for $96.
1998 Pontiac Transport Montana Extendend Length - Got warrantee - and boy howdy did I get my moneys worth. With 4 wheel ABS, traction control, air suspension, power sliding doors, power everything under the sun for that matter, and more switches than the death star you better believe I got it. Air suspension (twice), driver's power seat, driver's door power window motor, radio (head unit), driver's side rear power window motor, tranny, air bag controller module (twice), abs brake controller, power sliding door controller (three times - the fourth under recall), and the cloth on the front driver's seat with supporting side bolster foam. Oh ya - I got my money out of that deal!
2002 Avalanche - with 4WD and all the related costs it was a no brainer choice - and I got the warranty - paid more than I have in the past - I know I've read some scary stories here but with almost 9K miles now I'm REALLY pleased at how trouble free the Av had been.
 
Mr Bill, I agree with you. I will probably lease forever now. I always bought the extended warranty as I was buying a 1 or 2 yeard old car. I always assumed it was someone else's headache. If I am buying a 1-year old vehicle that has 30k miles, that tells me it was well used even if all highway miles.

I had a 95 Grand Cherokee Ltd and it was in the shop almost every 6 months. 2 compressors, 1 condensor, 1 evaporator, 1 viscous coupler... I took a loss on it when I traded it in on my 99 Expedition lease but at least I was free-and-clear! I have done a few mods to my current Av but they are the kind that will only add to it's appeal for it's next owner. I will pull my SilverStars though!

I may buy the Av at lease end, but in 2.75 years, maybe the Av will be even better or I'll be able to afford the luxury of an Escalade EXT!

Jamie
 
ygmn said:
Bought a few and never used them.....I think once I have used it on some POS car I had.....Just invest the money yourself and it will be there if you do not use it.
Click to expand...

Good point...the bet is that I'll have problems that will cost at least the price of the warranty + the interest I would have earned. Then I come out ahead. So far, though I have <3000 miles on my Av, I have no reason to think that I will win that bet.

My favorite Vegas game is roulette...you can select your odds before betting ;)

I may change my mind, but so far I'm willing to give up the interest earned for the peace of mind. ;D
 
I'm not going to say that getting an extended warrenty is a waste of time or money....everyone does as he or she feels fit....me personally...I wouldn't get the extended warranty....only because I feel that a car or truck will show it's true colors within the length of the factory warranty 3 years or 36,000 miles....

What I mean by that is if something is going to go wrong mechanically they usually rear their ugly head within the first 3 years....if you can manage to go this time without any problems..and you keep a clean maintainence schedule I doubt you will have any major headaches in the future....this may or may not be the case.....just the method I go by....of course some little things may show up hopefully these are all easy fixes....and do not become a trend.... :B:
 
NJAV said:
What I mean by that is if something is going to go wrong mechanically they usually rear their ugly head within the first 3 years....if you can manage to go this time without any problems..and you keep a clean maintainence schedule I doubt you will have any major headaches in the future....this may or may not be the case.....just the method I go by....of course some little things may show up hopefully these are all easy fixes....and do not become a trend.... :B:
Click to expand...

Good point NJAV. I was talking with my wife at lunch, and we're leaning toward cancelling it. Naturally, we bought the warranty before we even drove our Av home. After a bad history with an American made SUV (not GM) bought in '93, and not owning an American car since '97 when we traded the dog er...SUV in, we were hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Since driving it for almost a month now, this seems like a tight, well built vehicle built as well as the Preludes we have been driving for years. My '97 Prelude has 117000 completely trouble free miles on it, and as much as I have always liked it the Av is a bells 'n whistles, soup to nuts truck that is more fun than any vehicle I've ever owned. Given our satisfaction so far, we just might take the money back from the warranty and hope, as you said, the first 36k miles will shake out any bugs.

Not to mention, that money could pay for a couple of mods ;D Now THERE'S a good investment ;D ;D ;D ;D
 
When I purchased my Avalanche, I also purchased the extended warranty for it. The primary reason for this was because my previous vehicle, also a GM product, was plagued with mechanical and electrical problems for two years prior to purchasing my Avalanche and they had started just after the factory warranty expired. The problems were so serious that I did not plan on replacing it with another GM product. My father finally convinced me to stick with GM, but I made sure to purchase the extended warranty. (Especially on a vehicle with four-wheel drive, where repairs can become particularely expensive.)

It will vary from person to person, obviously. The best you can do is look back on your experience with previous vehicles, if applicable, and make your decision based upon that. After spending $750 per month for three months in a row for repairs on my previous car, it did not require much thinking on my part to purchase the extended warranty for my Avalanche.
 
Boar-Ral, you also bring up a good point. As I mentioned before, I had the viscous coupler replaced after I bought a 1 year old used Grand Cherokee Ltd. I did buy the Chrysler extended warranty and good idea too as that repair alone was $950.

A warranty is a good idea with a 4WD/AWD as the parts are very expensive to repair/replace.

Jamie
 
After being high pressured by the finance guy where I purchased my Av (he made it sound like an extended warranty could only be purchased on a new car) I ended up purchasing an extended warranty. After researching several extended warranty companies, it appears that the same warranty can be purchased just before the manufactures warranty expires for about the same amount of money and their coverage starts from the time of sale (gain a few years). So I canceled the policy and I'm holding out to see if one is justifiable in a few years.

z-man
 
That's good to hear, Z-man. I had only heard of getting the warranty at time of delivery. Good to know it can be gotten later, when the factory warranty is about to expire.

That's my main beef with factory warranties. If you buy a six year/75k warranty, you are really only getting about 40k miles and at most 2-3 years beyond the factory warranty. They always start from in service date which means a lot of what you just spent is already moot since you already get 3/36.

Jamie
 
At the dealership I purchased my Avalanche from, I had the option of purchasing the extended warranty at the time of purchase or any time before the factory warranty expired. The only difference being that I could only purchase an extended warranty plan with a $0 deductible at the time of purchase. If I waited to purchase the extended warranty later, I could only purchase a plan with a larger deductible, though I cannot remember now what it was.
 
Heck I get extended warranty info on the tahoe I traded in for my avy! ;D the knuckleheads have no idea I got rid of it. Filling my trash can with junk!
 
I'm glad you posted the troubles you had....shows the flip-side to every coin..... :B:

It will hopefully help folks decide their fate with the extended warranties etc.... :B:
 
Boar-Ral said:
...The only difference being that I could only purchase an extended warranty plan with a $0 deductible at the time of purchase. ?If I waited to purchase the extended warranty later, I could only purchase a plan with a larger deductible...
Click to expand...

I thought I would shed a little light by posting my experiences in the extended warranty field.

I bought a '99 Trans Am, from an individual, about 6 months before the 3/36 ran out. Through GM, I was able to purchase the GMPP (GM protection plan). At the time in late 2000, was the longest at 6 years / 75k miles from original in-service date, with a $0 deductible. I was also able to pay it off in 12, monthly, no-interest payments.

When we bought our new Av, we went through all of the GMPP plans available (as of 3/3/02), which was up to 84 month / 100k miles with the deductible ranging from $0 to upwards of $500 or more.

I also wanted to let all know, that you do not have to buy the plan on a new vehicle, at the time of purchase, and you can also buy them from any rep who will sell you the coverage. The only downfall to waiting close to 3 years or 36k miles, is that the final price for the GMPP will increase over time, usually once or twice a year.

So all I can say, is what you have stated, does not correspond to what I have experienced on two of my GM vehicles.

On another board I belong to, there was a GMPP rep who would sell to anyone, at a 20% discount from the current list price.

One last item, there are other plans out there, and some are less expensive. But after talking to my service manager at my Pontiac dealer, you will have the most extensive coverage for your GM vehicle, with a GMPP extended warranty.

Oh, and we decided to save the money for the time being and did not get the extended warranty at the time of purchase.
We will probably opt for the GMPP extended warranty just before we have to.

Just my $0.02

Malcolm
 
the_wifes_av:
All I can suggest is that it varies from dealership to dealership and perhaps from country to country. I respect that you have purchased two GM products and have dealt with warranty issues, but so have I. Do not be so quick to dismiss what I said in front of others just because your experiences have been different from my own. What I think this thread is proving is that the warranty issues vary greatly depending on where and when the vehicle was purchased.
 
I did not post my previous reply as a dismissal of what you had said. If you understood it that way, sorry about that.
I was trying to point out, that there are differences at all dealerships with all things in regards to a vehicle.
Some dealers my be ignorant of a product (easily proven by this site) and/or may choose to disclose whatever they want about what they sell.
Also I wanted to let others know that GM does not care one bit where you buy the plan through, or that you buy it on a brand new GM vehicle.
I just used my two examples to prove that this these were the facts in my case.
Again, I was not trying to be-little you or your statements, just saying what you stated differed from my experiences on theis topic.
I was just trying to share my experience and knowledge on the subject.
:)

 
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