Extended Warranty Worth It?

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »take that "toyota reliability" and put it where the sun don't shineAs I am nearing 20 warranty repairs on my Vibe, all I can say is "my sentiments exactly." Damn, I hate to hear about your luck, you've had pretty decent luck until now... I know how it feels though. Hopefully they can fix it up for cheap.

[SCTM]

Approaching the warranty ending date, a GM dealer called me for an extended proposal. I'm glad I did not bought the first time the way that GM dealer and GM Canada treated me on (cladding and battery issue - remember!!!) Told the clerk who called: Never, I'll never spend a penny to GM anymore for warranty, they don't want to serve me correctly when this car is under warranty so it won't either with an extended... anyway the engine and tranny is still covered for few years and kilometers, why do I need an extended bumper-bumper if the cladding and battery is not covered, unless it's not between those two bumpers !!! No thanks GM you wont get my money this time, I prefer my local garage for maintenance from the beginning and it's cheaper and I can stand next to my car when repaired.

[Mavrik]

what year is your Vibe? you probably have powertrain warranty like I do (perk for being canadian, we get powertrain and not the US) which is engine and transmission warranty for 100,000km or 5 years I believe. You should have a green info chart in your owners manual. Don't bother with the extended warranty.

[ColonelPanic]

So far, and the extended warranty has only been in effect for a year and some change:Amount paid for the top-o-the-line GM MajorGuard zero deductable extended warranty, good until ~88xxx mi: ~$1900. Paid for in full as of November. Parts alone, GM list, put on this lovely gem covered by said $1900 warranty, between 36K and 64K: $6592.10 not counting labor/fluids/minor parts/various other things and ~12 days of loaner vehicles. So I'm easily WAY over $7K if I had to guess, maybe $7500? Worth it?

[Mavrik]

Well its up to you. If your having problems with your car like Sir Knocksalot, then... DEFINATLY BUY IT! but if your driving a good sound Vibe with very little service work required in the past. Judgment call it.

[ColonelPanic]

And bear in mind, they can self destruct close to or right after 36,000 miles so that needs to be factored into the decision as well.. This car, believe it or not, wasn't half bad until it got 30-something thousand miles on it. That's why earlier in the thread I was kinda like "uhh, I don't know if I need it or not" but then it started to fall apart and shows NO signs of stopping that anytime soon... It seems no matter how much gets spent on new parts, it still isn't right and doesn't want to be made right.. Psychotic clunker, this thing! Too bad all the new parts aren't helping its resale value, I can't afford to get rid of the thing. hehIf I would have went with the feeling I had before 30K and skipped buying the extended warranty, I would be bankrupt right now.

[Digger]

If you put 2k in the bank or other investment you can use that for repair. Many forget about the 2k they gave the insurance co. when they get that 400.00 repair. Remember. If it was not a good $$maker for them they would not offer it.

[ColonelPanic]

Right. But I couldn't have got all of the repairs done that I've had to have done for anywhere near the $2000 that I had to pay for the warranty and that warranty hasn't expired yet. Unless I can find something to invest in that is guaranteed it will keep multiplying by the thousands every time I turn around. Investing may work for others but not everybody, especially broke people living paycheck to paycheck with nothing in savings and maxed out credit cards like me! I'm the guy that the extended warranty people dread. They can't make money off me. Second time in a row this has happened.

[mcgusto82]

GEICO BABY!! extended warranty for 24$ a yr. it's good for 7 years or 70k some miles. it covers engine components, tranny, and electrical.anything else i can fix. a friend of mine paid 2400$ for a extended warranty. it went to 7 years also. he had a altima. i felt bad for him.

[48-remi]

I did not buy the extended warranty, never did, probably never will. It is all a Toyota underneath. Mine will be towed behind our motorhome -Airstream Land Yacht - so klm will be reduced. The F&I guy tried to sell me a low km/extended years warranty for the "modest" (his term) summ of 1200 $ !!!My wife's Maxima needed only a Mass Airflow Sensor at a cost of 900 $ Cdn over a period of six 1/2 years. My previous GMC needed nothing in six and a half years. Most of the money goes to PROFITS, commissions, administration!!!Rémi2006 Base,Neptune

[SCTM]

Quote, originally posted by 48-remi »The F&I guy tried to sell me a low km/extended years warranty for the "modest" (his term) summ of 1200 $ !!! Hello Rémi, it's your dealer... how about a low km/extended warranty for a "modest" summ of 1200$... Rémi's answer... Bravo Rémi, keep your money... You'll need few $$ at your next gas stop with the Airstreak Land Yacht

[jake75]

$24 a year, $96 for another 4 years? That's a decent wager. My Vibe goes out of warranty next Thursday - where can I find out about this.

[brbo]

I've just read this thread for the first time,,, For all of you non believers you are entitled to your position and I think that is really driven by the vehicles you have driven in the past,, however from someone who is extremely familiar about these Extended Service Contracts I want to address all the false statements that this is a profitable product for GM.There are different Companies out there that do offer this protection - however you need to remember that they are in it for the money if they weren't they would be broke, which I can name off many that have done so in the last year. What you need to remember is that the Manufacturers Brand of ESC is not driven for profit. It is the intention to keep a customer happy that from the Manufacturer's point of view since the business isn't selling ESC it is selling New Cars, the happier you are today with this GM the likelyhood is you will consider another one down the road. An ESC that is purchased from the Manufacturer will be around forever providing the Manufactuerer is,, this product is driven by CSI (Customer Satisfaction / Retention) not profits. If you are asking or inquiring about an Extended Service Contract from a Dealer - I ask you this - Ask what Brand they are selling and ask specifically why they are not selling the Manafucturers product !!!If anyone has further questions please ask,,Cheers,B -'06AWD

[ColonelPanic]

Very well said, and some excellent points there. You do have to watch some of those contracts -- the money you save up front sometimes doesn't always make it worth it... You may not be able to get repairs covered, you may have to go to only one specific dealer, and the whole claims process as a whole can end up being too long and drawn out... The dealer I go to, who tried to sell me one when I bought the Vibe, and I declined as I was going to pick up the GM MajorGuard before the factory warranty was gone. That dealer ended up selling one of those warranties to a friend of mine who also bought a Vibe.His warranty was well over $1,000 cheaper than what I ultimately bought from GM. But when the manufacturer's warranty went bye-bye, his extended warranty kicked in, and he started having problems... Those guys didn't want to pay up. The dealer and the warranty guys were fighting over crap that should have been covered, I believe it was some component that kept giving him a check engine light... He ended up having to dump the car shortly thereafter..Whereas with the manufacturer's extended warranty, just bring it to the dealer and they do the rest. I certainly haven't had them denying too much that was broken on my car, other than the items that the agreement says are excluded. It looked to me like that transmission they installed in my car was brand spainkin' new, and the part numbers, when I looked them up, totalled over $4,000 - so I doubt that GM is charging people that much for a rebuilt unit. While I can't say about the other guys with any certainty, I can just speculate with the rotten luck I've had, if they would replace the tranny I'd probably end up with something rebuilt or from a junkyard. That alone is worth it to me.I'll happily shell out the extra cash for a manufacturer's extended warranty from here on out. Regardless of whose name is on the car or whose engineering it is. As my turd of a car has proven, even the mighty Toyota can create one hell of an unreliable car that is nothing but a big fricken money pit. It can happen to anybody so it is best to protect yourself... Just MHO of course.

[chrisp]

My dealer has a free 125000 mile power train warranty. You have to take it to him tho. And show proof of required servising like oil changes.