WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BUYING AN EXTENDED CHEVY WARRANTY

When you buy your new Chevy, the company offers you a 3 year, 36000 mile (whichever comes first) bumper to bumper warranty. While this may seem generous, especially when you consider warranties offered for other products, but this warranty comes with limitations, which we’ll discuss in detail below. Furthermore, this offer is standard practice across all car companies to the point that it might as well be a legal or regulatory requirement.

As you’ll see below, the advantages of the Chevy extended warranty offer more than enough value for any extra money that you would pay. We’ll also analyze the drawbacks of the standard manufacturer warranty and why it does not offer adequate coverage and protection for the investment you’ve made in your new vehicle.

CHEVY’S MANUFACTURER WARRANTY

We’ve already gone over what’s included in the manufacturer warranty above. Now let’s discuss why it’s inadequate coverage for your car, especially in the long run. The warranty is supposed to cover the critical components of your car (gasket, engine, transmission, etc) and most issues pertaining to critical components come after the 50000-mile mark. Also, if you keep your car’s maintenance consistent, these issues would pop up (due to age) after a considerable amount of time past the three-year expiration mark.

Now, the warranty is great if you’re the sort who changes their car every three years. If by some manufacturer default you experience issues with critical components within this time frame, then the warranty should provide you adequate coverage and you don’t really need to pay any extra money.

But, most people purchase cars with the intent of keeping them for a long time. According to surveys, the average time people hold on to cars is 7.5 years! This means your car would be without coverage for four and a half years, during a time when issues are expected to pop up. This effectively renders the manufacturer's warranty as useless, because you don’t get any use from it.

CHEVY’S EXTENDED WARRANTY

The Chevy extended warranty provides coverage for five years and 60,000 miles (whichever comes first). In terms of both time and mileage, the extended warranty is a significant jump over the default manufacturer's warranty. General Motors backs it up, giving an added sense of reliability, and the extended warranty is also transferable, which means you won’t be throwing money away if you choose to sell your car earlier than expected.

The cost ranges from $1000 to $2000 depending on your model and the exact specifics of the coverage you’re looking for. It may seem pricey, but the good news is that you’ll be buying the extended warranty when buying your new car and you can roll the cost over into the car’s financing and pay a nominal monthly payment instead of having to pay the entire amount out of pocket.

Your car would be warranted for repairs, which would include the cost for parts and labour, for any defects. Under the warranty, you would be entitled to new, remanufactured and refurbished General Motors parts for any repairs required. You would have access to any Chevy dealership, even when it comes to diagnostics. You won’t have to waste time finding a mechanic or self-diagnosing the issue and can just drop your car off at your nearest dealership.

The only drawback is that Chevy does not offer extended warranties for vehicles sold in Missouri, Florida, California, Maine, Hawaii, and Minnesota.

VALUE FOR MONEY

One could argue that $2000 is a lot of money to pay for an extended warranty. Without looking at all the facts, one could also be tempted to believe this argument and not opt for an extended warranty. However, when you consider the potential repair costs for any critical component, you might reconsider.

Let’s take the example of a gasket and transmission box. You’re going to paying somewhere in the $4000 range if tomorrow your car were to experience an issue with these components. Also, you won’t have an option to pay using monthly payments, as you would with an extended warranty, so you’ll be trying to figure out how to make such a big payment, and also manage to pay for a rental while the car is being repaired.

When you take the above into account, $2000 seems a nominal amount especially if you.re paying in monthly instalments. If you’re on a five-year plan, you’ll be paying a measly $30 extra for the extended warranty.

INDEPENDENT WARRANTY PROVIDERS

Nowadays, there are numerous independent warranty providers that will offer you extended coverage for your car in the form of protection plans. You could find a cheaper deal with these independent providers and possibly longer coverage times, but they also come with significant drawbacks.

First and foremost, with an independent provider, you would be restricted to a single mechanic (or at most a very small number of them), and would not be guaranteed genuine General Motors parts (whether they’re new or refurbished). Also, such a warranty would be backed up by the service provider alone, whereas the extended warranty is being backed by General Motors, a long-standing and recognized name that everyone is familiar with.

You’re also restricting yourself to a limited network with an independent service provider, whereas Chevy and GM have a presence across the entire country.

CONCLUSION

As you can see above, the extended warranty truly does offer value for money. If you’ve already spent a significant amount of money in purchasing your car, why not pay a nominal amount (in comparison) to protect it as well. Knowing that you are protected against any unexpected vehicle repair costs is a great relief, especially in today’s challenging economic times.

Considering that a car is an investment, you should make efforts to ensuring that that investment is protected as well. If you were a businessman, then you would want to secure your investment. Why not take the same approach when it comes to your vehicle as well? Especially when you consider that a car is something you have to live with for a while, an extended warranty is a prudent idea.