Malibu/Malibu Maxx: Warranty/Extended Warranty
illinialumni
Member Posts: 10
I just bought an '05 LT Sedan, and didn't immediately purchase the extended warranty from the dealer. I was wondering if anyone here had any good or bad experiences with after market companies. AAA has one through Mercury Insurance, and then there are all of the web based companies. The dealer wanted ~2500 for the 84/100 (or the 72/100) either way it seemed like alot. The AAA one is 2000 for 84/100, and includes the tire damage, which the GM one didn't even cover. Any inputs will be greatly appreciated.
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Black up in PA has the best price on a GMPP right now. It is $1,955 for the 72/100k. There is no such thing as an 84/100k with GMPP. Here's the link:
http://www.gmoutlet.com/quote/emailserver/majorguard/05mg2.htm
I'll be buying mine within a month, since I'm running out of time. My advice: drive your car just shy of the 12/12k mark. Calculate your actual miles driven per year and buy the GMPP based on your driving habits. GMPP will add on the 72/100k on top of how many miles/time you have on your 'Bu at the time you submit the paperwork to Black. While I'm not pleased about paying that kind of money for an extended warranty, at least you are not paying the book value quoted you at the dealer.
I wish I did not have to buy this at all, but the Consumer Reports trend seems to be going in the wrong direction regarding the Malibu.
this is partly how they make their money. The first 3 years/36k miles are covered by the bumper to bumper warranty then theie warranty kicks in afterwards. So they have 3 years to invest your money before you start making claims to them.
As far as the coverage, go to the GMPP website and look for yourself. While it does make sense to wait for the last moment, my "moment" is less than 1,300 miles from today. That is only one month's worth of driving, and isn't worth worrying over whether I can get in touch with the finance manager at the last moment. It is close enough to the 12k miles that I went ahead and did it.
"A typical buyer of an extended warranty (also known as a service contract) pays about $1,000 but only collects on some $250 in repairs over the life of the contract, according to Checkbook magazine, a consumer publication that also operates Car Bargains car-buying service. "From a straight financial perspective, extended warranties don't make sense," says Robert Ellis, director of operations for Car Bargains. He, along with many personal finance experts, advises paying for repairs out of your savings if you are able--thus avoiding both dealer markup on the contract and the likelihood you will never get your money back in covered repairs....
Consider mechanical breakdown insurance
Sold by insurance agents and some credit unions, these contracts--often $500 or less for new-car coverage up to six years or 100,000 miles--cost about half what a dealer will charge you for a typical extended warranty. And mechanical breakdown insurance, or MBI, usually lets you go to the repair shop of your choice; dealer-sold warranties limit repairs to dealers of that brand and sometimes even the specific dealership where you bought it. MBI, unlike dealer warranties, also is regulated by many state insurance departments for another possible source of protection. Depending on your contract, MBI may cover only major mechanical components."
Since then, I've passed, after learning about the huge markups. I always heard that the dealer got 50% and the manufacturer kept the other half. As you can see from the report, they only pay about 25% out on the dollar. I think they wanted to sell me one for $800 when I bought my MAXX. Said it was the same cost that they passed along to their employees. At the risk of putting a curse on my car, I passed. When slot machines pay out at 90% plus, and lotteries pay out at 50%, a payout of 25% is a pretty bad deal.
Statistically you'd do twice as well going down to the c-store and buying $1000 worth of scratch game tickets.
I'm sorry the ss posted info got yanked. I was just about to show off the pictures of the 'Bu SS. Very impressive looking. I just don't like the idea of 18 inch wheels. Not a great thing to have in the snow and ice. On the upside, the fact that they are doing an SS means that the car should be around a long time; maybe long enough for me to buy another one in 9 years.
They finally realized I wasnt going to buy it and we finished the deal on the car. I've never purchased exteneded warranty on any car I've ever bought.
The following is an "opinion" as found on:
http://www.lemonaidcars.com/update.htm
I quote....
Extra pressure on extra warranties.
Since we warned buyers to stay away from most extended service contracts six months ago, Lemon-Aid has learned that automakers are increasing the pressure on their dealers to sell their plans on new vehicles.
Three years ago, almost one-third of cars sold carried these extended contracts, however, last year barely twenty percent of new cars had this option, with many plans sold by independent companies offering dealers higher profits.
Automakers want this lucrative business back. For example, each plan sold to the dealer for $1,400, gives GM a $600 profit, with about $700 set aside for claims, and $100 reserved for administrative costs. The dealer profit comes from the dealer’s markup.
Lemon-Aid’s bottom line: buyers should shun vehicles that require the extra protection.
*And*
Beware of Worthless Auto Warranties.
Lemon-Aid tells you which new and used vehicles need an extended warranty. Nevertheless, car buyers are often offered bogus $2,000 extended warranties as extra protection when they buy a new or used car.
These warranties promise the buyer several extra years of warranty coverage, either for the entire vehicle or the powertrain. Owners feel protected and dealers rake in a 60-80 percent profit on each plan they sell.
Most of the time, these extra warranties are a bad deal for the following reasons:
- Only the most problem-prone vehicles (American front-drives) need this extra protection. This forces the question: why are you buying an unreliable car in the first place? Most of the common engine and transmission defects are covered by free, “goodwill” extended warranties (Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, and Toyota). Factory defects are covered by local consumer protection laws enforced by small claims court judges.
- Many extended warranty providers go out of business and dealers claim they aren’t responsible.”
This denial of responsibility by dealers isn’t working. Canadians are getting refunds in small claims courts and American consumers, scammed by the recently failed National Warranty Insurance Co., have filed class action lawsuits against dealers in California, Texas, Nevada, and Illinois. The lawsuits allege that dealerships took part in a scheme to profit from selling customers worthless service plans that resulted in $100 million in losses.
As far as pushing extended warranties, they must see the suckers coming....
would call the service number on the warranty plan as well and tell them your dealer is refusing to deal wtih problems withour a $70 surcharge and see what they tell you as well
Majorguard classifies repairs into green, yellow, and red-flagged groups.
Any repair in the red flagged group (the largest group, the one listing the 15-18 major trouble spots of the car, including all front suspension issues) will __not__ be repaired by the participating dealer until they have been visited by a "majorguard adjuster" who reviews the case and then may or may __not__ greenlight the repair.
This majorguard adjuster is __not__ immediately available. The dealer has to wait 24 to 48 hours before they show up at all, and the adjusters do __not__ tell the dealer when they will actually be there. You also have to leave your car at the dealer for the adjuster to review.
Worse, there are some areas majorguard adjusters don't regularly visit.
What I am trying to say is if your MAJORGUARD covered car breaks down and the warrented repair is on the long "red list", you could be stranded for __several days__.
They do not provide rental cars directly - you have to rent a car from whoever, and then try to get reimbused from Majorguard. My understanding is the reimbursement amount is not very much.
I assumed as GM issued the program directly it would be a real warranty. It appears no better than any of the other extended warranties. Buyer Beware !!!
Also on their list are several transmission procedures, and at least 10 others I did not get to see (I did see the list and saw at least 16 individual procedures, but not the names).
I was told Urban areas are much worse for getting things fixed via MajorGuard as GM has many more cars to deal with and wants more adjuster approvals, but ironically there are fewer adjusters per dealer #'s - hence the delays.