There has been some discussion regarding extended warranty options in various threads. I perused the GM site and found that GM extended warranties can be purchased at any time that the original warranty is in effect, in the case of the Volt, three years and 36K miles. Although not specifically stated, it appears that GM extended warranties can be purchased from any GM dealer. Their FAQ states that you are "encouraged" to buy it from the dealer where you bought the car.

In other words, there's no urgency to buy an extended warranty when you buy the car, and it appears that you can shop around.

I hesitate to start another Prius comparison, but of note with regard to this topic, in the Priuschat forum there are one or two Toyota dealers who specialize in online sales of extended Toyota warranties at substantial discounts. Such a situation may also exist for GM.

Details on the GM extended warranty plans and the GM extended warranty FAQ here: http://www.gmprotectionplan.com/faqs.html

There are also a number of third-party auto warranty sellers out there with varying reputations, buyer beware. With a generation one vehicle of this complexity, I personally wouldn't want to recommend going down that road. Of note, if considering an extended warranty at time of purchase, ensure that you're getting the GM one. Or just wait. You've got up to three years or 36K miles to decide.

Thanks. It was a service that you started this thread. I've been going back and forth on this in my mind and I have not started researching anything yet. This is good to know:


...that GM extended warranties can be purchased at any time that the original warranty is in effect...

I wonder for those purchasing out of state or from a long distance away in-state or at a bordering state if/how they plan on approaching the local dealers for service for the car or for purchasing an extended warranty. There is the simple fact that at the time of purchase the car was not available locally.

OK, I have a little more information on this after doing some research.

1. The GM extended warranty is similar to Toyota in that you can purchase it from any GM dealer at any time as long as the standard warranty is in effect (three years, 36K miles).

2. GM has three levels of service plans. Their brand name is GMPP (GM Protection Plan). The options in order from most coverage and cost to least are Major Guard, Value Guard, and Basic Guard. In my opinion, Major guard is the only one that makes sense for the Volt due to the complex electronics, heated seats, etc. The lesser two plans will keep the car running but that's about it. Road service and even temporary lodging during repair are covered.

3. There are at least two GM dealers selling the GMPP online at discounted rates. Rather than promote any one in particular or leave someone out, I'd just suggest that you use Google or your search engine of choice. Genuine ones have the GM logo and reference the GMPP and Major Guard, etc. on their website. Aftermarket warranties won't. As of today, the Volt isn't listed on any of the websites I found and at least one online dealer wasn't able to quote it by telephone although they expect to have it in their system early in 2011.

4. The mileage purchased under the GMPP is calculated in a strange (to me) way. Miles purchased are added to the odometer reading at the time of warranty purchase, and the price is adjusted accordingly. In other words, if you buy a 36K mile extended warranty when your car leaves the lot with 50 miles on it, your warranty expires when the odometer hits 36,050 (but it's cheap). If you buy it with 30,000 miles on the car, then it expires when the odometer hits 66,000 miles (but it's more costly). Years of coverage are also based the time of warranty purchase.

My dealer said the same thing. You can buy anytime up until 36mos but cost goes up as mileage on the car increases. Agree top warranty is a god idea but damned if the dealers don't make this process stressful with pricing and discounts all over the place. Inassume this is a big profit center for them

Dogpile will search Google, yahoo, bing and ask

I used: GMPP "Major Guard" genuine

http://www.dogpile.com/dogpile_other/ws/results/Web/GMPP%20!22Major%20Guard!22%20genuine/1/0/0/Relevance/zoom=off/qi=1/qk=20/bepersistence=true/_iceUrlFlag=7?_IceUrl=true

My dealer said the same thing. You can buy anytime up until 36mos but cost goes up as mileage on the car increases. Agree top warranty is a god idea but damned if the dealers don't make this process stressful with pricing and discounts all over the place. Inassume this is a big profit center for them

It's a huge profit center for them.

And, yes costs go up as mileage on the car increases but so does the time and mileage covered by the warranty. The miles covered by the warranty are added to the odometer reading at the time the warranty is purchased, not when the car is purchased. The clock starts then, too. So if you buy a 4-year 48K policy at the time you buy the car, you're wasting all but one year and 12K miles of it because that's already covered (except maybe the rental and lodging). If you buy it just before three years and 36K miles, it will cost you more but take you through a total of seven years and 84K miles.

In other words, the clock and odometer on the extended warranty start running when you buy the warranty, not when the three-year 36K base warranty expires.

From http://www.gmprotectionplan.com/faqs.html

When does a GM Protection Plan begin?
The term and mileage of coverage is calculated from the date of contract purchase and the current odometer mileage on the vehicle.



When does a GM Protection Plan end?
Vehicle service contracts purchased on all vehicles end at the time or mileage selected.

All vehicle service contracts and Smart Care vehicle maintenance contracts end at the time or mileage selected (whichever comes first) calculated from the date of contract purchase and odometer mileage at time of contract purchase. For example, a 24,000-mile plan, purchased for a vehicle with 40,000 miles, will end when the odometer reaches 64,000 miles (unless the time period expires first).

Re: Timing the purchase
From another FAQ... at least from these guys (general 3rd party sellers?) .. they cannot sell one within a month or 1000 miles of the basic one ending.

http://gmextendedwarrantystore.com/faqs.html


Question: What makes a vehicle eligible for a GMPP Extended Warranty through the GM Extended Warranty Store?

Answer: A vehicle is eligible if it is currently covered under the original bumper-to-bumper factory warranty. If your vehicle is within 1 month and/or 1,000 miles of the factory warranty expiring, we are not permitted to sell you an extended warranty online.

If your vehicle's factory warranty is expired, you may still go to your local GM Dealer and purchase the General Motors Protection Plan. Your vehicle may require an inspection prior to this purchase to ensure that no repairs are necessary at that time.

We leased our car but extended to 15K miles per year. The extended warranty for up to 45K miles was $800 for zero deductible and $700 for $100 deductible. We declinded.

Jerry

I asked for quotes from three online GMPP vendors. I had a long talk with one rep, more details when I get them. All of the online vendors are regular GM dealers. They do the GMPP online as a way to generate additional business by selling the GMPP at discount but higher volume.

None had rates for the Volt yet, all are researching them. This likely means that many Volt dealers don't have info yet either. This seems to be similar to the US Bank and Ally situation where support information regarding Volt-specific programs isn't getting to the dealers in a timely manner. Edit: According to two sources, the Volt is in the category "Class D2". This should allow them to quote it.

I got the following information which may be useful. Based on this, it doesn't seem like there is any need to buy an extended warranty at time of purchase.

1. The rates are tiered and go up based on the vehicle mileage when purchased. 0-11999, 12000-23999 and 24000-35999 miles are the price breakpoints. The break at 11999-12000 is a fairly large increase.

2. GM revises their rates every September 1, usually (always?) upward.

So in my opinion, it makes sense if you're going to buy an extended warranty to do so in late August or when you have about 11500 miles on the car, whichever is first. Keep in mind that the warranty is an add-on to the miles and months from when the warranty is bought so late within the price tier is better for the customer.

The Major Guard is the only one that covers the annoying but expensive-to-fix stuff like window motors, radio/CD player, air conditioner, displays, charge door latch solenoid, etc. The others are pretty much drive train only.

What price are they asking for the three levels of extended service?

1. The rates are tiered and go up based on the vehicle mileage when purchased. 0-11999, 12000-23999 and 24000-35999 miles are the price breakpoints. The break at 11999-12000 is a fairly large increase.


So if the MajorGuard costs me, say, $1000 with 100 miles on the car, does it also cost me $1000 at 11,500 miles? Or is it more like a gradually increasing price with larger "bumps" at the breakpoints you noted?

Most dealers make huge mark-up, typically 50-100%, on extended warranties. You are paying for the convenience of being able to finance the warranty with the car loan. If you are able to pay cash for the extended warranty always shop it first. If you have to finance the plan check with your bank or credit union on their MBI offerings, which they will finance.
I go with either the best third party mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI) plan from my credit union, or GMPP Major Guard, depending on which is more cost effective. As others have posted, there are several dealers who will sell the GMPP Major Guard for $50-$100 over cost via the phone or on-line.

I can suggest Fichtner Chevrolet in Billings Montana for GMPP. They are expert at long distance transactions. I would have ordered my Volt from them but Montana is not a target market. Dennis Fichtner handles the GMPP sales, his email is:

dfichtner@fichtnerchevrolet.com

Has anyone got pricing on this yet? We are going to buy the car not lease and we will definitely want the extended warranty. I want to avoid dealer gouging on this option...

At the initial price we said no. Told him that we would shop around. He came back later, as is normal for a car salesman, and ask if we would take it at there cost which was $450 off the price he had quoted. Without looking I think is was about $1300 with $100 deductable for extention to 72 months.

My experience on extended warranties

Car #1 Merkur dealer car Cost $850. Saved my about $5000
Car #2 Pontiac Bonneville SSEI Cost about $1200 Save probably $600
Car #3 Chevy 2500HD Duramax Cost $2200 Got the full $2200 Back as there were no claims
Car # 4 Buick Lasabre Limited None purchased No warranty or shop work after 6 years
Car #5 Chevy Volt Cost $1300 No warranty work at 250 miles

Car #3 Chevy 2500HD Duramax Cost $2200 Got the full $2200 Back as there were no claims

So the way a full cash bask warranty generates money for the seller is if you make a claim that is valid for the warranty but cost *them* less than the purchase price of the warranty. Right?

In the example above you got your full $2200 back but if you made a claim for a repair that cost *them* $1500 they would still make $700 and that is the odds they are playing. If the repair cost *them* $2500 then you "made" $300. Right?

I'm a bit naive and did a warranty like this when my wife and I were young thinking I could get my money back but the fine print was once the warranty expires you have to claim your refund within X number of days. I was like X+30 days so I did not get it. This was before the internet and my computer usage. Now if I had that same situation I'd set my google calender, my work calendar, my home calender, etc to remind me about that warranty expiration day (ie. the X).

I purchased the extended service contract. The reason I have is that in 2002 I bought a new (bullet-proof) Honda 2002 CR-V and didn't take the contract. I believe they wanted $800 for it. After 36,000 miles a had a few small issues which I payed for. Then the sound system went out. This included the engine disabling system. It alone prices at $850.

The service contract on my Volt is zero deductible and lists at $1895. I have seen several folks here mention a $1200 contract with a $100 deductible. I haggled with the dealer and got the full coverage no deductible extended contract for $1520. This may sound high at face value. But I just feel more comfortable knowing that the BOSE system (disc player), the control panel, LCD screens, censors, 1.4L engine, and a number of other high tech features are covered. I'm an early adopter. If the car turns out to be perfect with no service. Then great news for GM. They built a fantastic first year model and deserve the profit. Really love this car.

Drove the Volt to work today and logged 16 miles one way. Remaining charge was 20 miles for the return trip. MyLink numbers as of 1:25PM 1/25/11 are:

total miles 508
EV miles 473
gas used .53 gallons
this is 958MPG

Has anyone purchased an extended Volt warranty such as Major Guard from an on-line GM dealer and would like to report the price that they paid? I did some Google searches and I didn't see any pricing on-line for the Volt. And, most of the search hits did not seem like GM dealers. How do you know that you are paying for an actual GMPP rather than a 3rd party extended warranty?

My dealer told me that GM was not offering any 'extended warranty' offers for the Volt. They said if I wanted one I would have to go with an independent company. That does not match what other folks have said here.
Twist - was your extended contract with GM? or an independent?
Does anyone have any recent info?

Stilgar

So if the MajorGuard costs me, say, $1000 with 100 miles on the car, does it also cost me $1000 at 11,500 miles? Or is it more like a gradually increasing price with larger "bumps" at the breakpoints you noted?

I spent some time recently figuring out the optimal strategy for buying GMPP for my ZR1, and concluded that the best option for me was buying 7yrs/56,000 miles just before the end of the first year of service. The on-line GMPP dealers have price charts laying out prices for all options, and the optimal strategy for someone who drives more miles than I (I drive the Vette only about 3000 miles per year, and expect to drive the Volt about 7000) may be different. I bought Major Guard with zero deductible.

What price are they asking for the three levels of extended service?

Here is the quote I got from this place for Major Guard: http://extendedgmwarranty.com/warranty_quote.html

Vehicle 2011 Chevrolet Volt In-Service Date

GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 45,000 mi. 0 $965
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 45,000 mi. 100 $945
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 54,000 mi. 0 $1,025
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 54,000 mi. 100 $995
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 60,000 mi. 0 $1,065
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 60,000 mi. 100 $1,020
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 75,000 mi. 0 $1,195
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 75,000 mi. 100 $1,125
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 100,000 mi. 0 $1,470
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 36 mo. 100,000 mi. 100 $1,340
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 48,000 mi. 0 $1,030
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 48,000 mi. 100 $995
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 60,000 mi. 0 $1,170
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 60,000 mi. 100 $1,105
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 72,000 mi. 0 $1,325
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 72,000 mi. 100 $1,225
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 80,000 mi. 0 $1,390
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 80,000 mi. 100 $1,275
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 100,000 mi. 0 $1,580
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 100,000 mi. 100 $1,420
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 40,000 mi. 0 $1,065
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 40,000 mi. 100 $1,020
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 50,000 mi. 0 $1,130
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 50,000 mi. 100 $1,075
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 60,000 mi. 0 $1,240
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 60,000 mi. 100 $1,160
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 75,000 mi. 0 $1,400
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 75,000 mi. 100 $1,285
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 90,000 mi. 0 $1,655
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 90,000 mi. 100 $1,480
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 100,000 mi. 0 $1,780
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 60 mo. 100,000 mi. 100 $1,575
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 48,000 mi. 0 $1,270
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 48,000 mi. 100 $1,185
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 60,000 mi. 0 $1,380
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 60,000 mi. 100 $1,270
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 72,000 mi. 0 $1,590
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 72,000 mi. 100 $1,430
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 90,000 mi. 0 $1,930
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 90,000 mi. 100 $1,695
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 100,000 mi. 0 $2,095
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 72 mo. 100,000 mi. 100 $1,825
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 84 mo. 56,000 mi. 0 $1,590
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 84 mo. 56,000 mi. 100 $1,430
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 84 mo. 70,000 mi. 0 $1,830
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 84 mo. 70,000 mi. 100 $1,620
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 84 mo. 84,000 mi. 0 $2,045
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 84 mo. 84,000 mi. 100 $1,785

Sorry, should make the obvious point that it is $0 and $100 deductibles.

Carrying over from the other thread...

Here is the low quote I have gotten so far

So far the best quote I have gotten for the GMPP Major Guard for 72 months /100k miles is:
1) $0 deductible = $1670
2) $100 deductible = $1375

How does that stack up with what others are getting?

PS this is from Bradley Chevrolet which does online quotes at http://www.insider-car-buying-tips.c...arranty.html#1

Justin
Finance Manager
Bradley Chevrolet
928-669-2228

1) Has anyone looked into a $200 deductible? My main concern is the bank breaking repairs (800 bucks and on up into the thousands of dollars). I can live with those little one or two hundered dollar hiccups that may come up at 60 or 80k miles. Here under "Designed to Meet Your Needs" is a reference to the fact that you can get a ****200**** dollar deductible: http://www.gmprotectionplan.com/majorguard.html

2) I see people here claiming that you can buy this after you've had the car for awhile, and even a few recommendations to buy it in August. My dealer is saying that I don't get to buy it after the fact, because it addresses "wear and tear". Somebody is not telling the truth. The main advantage to buying when you buy the car is you get to finance it at a nice low interest rate.

3) I see people saying you can buy it at a dealer OTHER THAN the dealer where you bought your car.

4) To what extent does this cover for example a scenario where I spill diet coke into the console and short out the electronics?

Thanks.

2) I see people here claiming that you can buy this after you've had the car for awhile, and even a few recommendations to buy it in August. My dealer is saying that I don't get to buy it after the fact, because it addresses "wear and tear". Somebody is not telling the truth. The main advantage to buying when you buy the car is you get to finance it at a nice low interest rate.

3) I see people saying you can buy it at a dealer OTHER THAN the dealer where you bought your car.



Near as I can tell, your dealer is not telling the truth on this. I have gotten quotes from 3 separate online GMPP places which are all really just dealers with an online presence. So far Bradley Chevrolet is the best deal people have found. The advice to wait awhile came from one of the Chevy dealers and I have confirmed it will all of the other dealers I've spoken to. You can also try it for yourself with one of the online quote tools below. Type in a quote for a new car then type in one for a car with 11,000 miles. You'll see that the two prices are the same.

You are right that you do not get the option to roll it into the financing but you also do not have to pay sales tax if you buy via the Internet from out of state. So that can be a reasonably significant savings depending on where you live.

If you do decide to go with your dealer at least get a few quotes first. Here are a few places I used:
http://gmextendedwarrantystore.com/majorguard.html (really Chesrown Buick in Columbus, Ohio)
http://www.extendedgmwarranty.com/warranty_quote.html (Vanden in Savannah, GA)
And of course Bradley Chevrolet in Lake Havasu, AZ

Good luck and please let us know pricing when you find your best deal!

Thanks for the reply. Well I can give you the quote they gave me. They said 7 years and 84k miles for $1700, and said there is no such thing as a 100k warranty. In the old days before the internet, I might have bitten on this, but thanks to you guys and the internet I know better. I'll check out some other dealers as well.

Everything else about this dealer has been great and I bought a Vette from them about 20 years ago, so giving them the benefit of the doubt I suspect this is just one individual that doesn't know, or didn't have the time to go into every little intimate detail of the MPP. Again though, thankfully, that's what the internet is for so we can do this research ourselves if we need to.

They said 7 years and 84k miles for $1700, and said there is no such thing as a 100k warranty.

There is a 6 year 100k warranty or a 7 year 84k warranty. There is no 7 year 100k warranty. They are roughly the same price so the better deal depends on how much you drive.

If the $1700 was 0 deductible it is not a bad price. If it is $100 deductible you can probably save $300 or so by shopping around plus sales tax.

I decided to go with the $0 deductable because I wanted to avoid the possibility of any gaming of what the $100 deductable applies to. For example, per event, per replacement part, service task, per visit, etc. Situation: The service diagnosis of the problem is that the XXX part has failed and needs to be replaced. It is replaced and I pay the $100 deductable. Then a few weeks later the problem resurfaces. I bring it back for service and now the diagnosis is that the problem is the ZZZ part, and maybe wasn't the XXX part. It is replaced and I pay another $100 deductable. Now this may not happen all the time, but it can definitely happen so I just wanted to avoid future headaches by not having to worry about any deductables.

I just received a mailer offering the "Major Guard" GMPP extended warranty- $0 deductible, 4 years/60,000 miles for $2,279.00 . Has anyone else bought the warranty? What has your experience been? Was it worth the money?

Thanks for your advice.

WVhybrid

I just received a mailer offering the "Major Guard" GMPP extended warranty- $0 deductible, 4 years/60,000 miles for $2,279.00 . Has anyone else bought the warranty? What has your experience been? Was it worth the money?

Thanks for your advice.

WVhybrid

You can do much better than that!



The best price I have seen and where I bought my warranty from is here:

http://www.insider-car-buying-tips.c...-warranty.html

Here are a sample of the quotes I received earlier this year. This was for a Volt less than a year old and with less than 12K miles.

60/100
1) $0 deductible = $1355
2) $100 deductible = $1150

72/100
1) $0 deductible = $1670
2) $100 deductible = $1375

I ended up going with the 60/100 with $100 deductible. It would require three claims before the $0 deductible would save money.

I have no experience using it as I have never made a claim as I am still under the manufacturers warranty and I have not had a problem yet anyway in my 10 months of ownership.

Can the GMPP be customized on the mileage and time? In other words, my lease is for 39 months and 48750 miles. I don't see any quotes where slightly over that mileage can be purchased.

Edit: Nevermind, found it in Solarexec post
GMPP Major Guard New Vehicle 48 mo. 48,000 mi. 0 $1,030

Guess I should hope to not need it those last 750-1000 miles?