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If you plan on keeping your Cruze a long time get the extended warranty!

11K views 28 replies 21 participants last post by  6SpdCruze 
#1 ·
My biggest regret with this car was not getting the extended warranty. I was always told that they're a rip off but the amount of money I've thrown away on issues they would have covered since my standard warranty expired is approaching $5k. Not trying to complain, just a heads up for those thinking about it. I had very few issues until the warranty went.
 
#2 ·
Isn't the powertrain warranty 5yrs 100k miles? Are these all non drivetrain issues? I do not have my Cruze anymore but my turbo/engine failure on my 2011 ECO was fully covered under warranty.
 
#5 ·
You wouldn't have found anyone reputable to insure your Car with 130K? Once the 3 year 36000 mile period expires you can't pick up the GMPP. I remember the Billy Mays Car Warranty that would cover any Car, regardless of condition. He also has his own Medical Care plan, similar to Obamacare. Didn't work too well.
 
#6 ·
In the spirit of fairness I will represent an example of a cruze member who decided not to purchase an extended warranty for close to $2500. So far I have spent approximetly $ 370 for parts and $ 690 for labor in service and repairs after the factory warranty expired. There are plenty of DIY cruze owners that are capable of cutting costs by replacing these parts on their own. I would say if you have some repair skills and trust the quality of GM vehicles like I did take a chance and save yourself some money by thinking twice about an extended warranty. If your an average driver with little experience under the hood and plan on keeping the cruze as a long term investment and want to purchase a piece of mind knowing your covered if anything should happen then an extended warranty might be right for you.

While on the subject of extended warrantys do not be fooled by the junk mail warranty scams sent in the mail. Do your research before purchasing an extended warranty.


Here is a list of repairs on my vehicle. I took a chance and decided not to purchase an extended warranty. I took comfort, pride and confidence in the workmanship of GM vehicles assembled in America.

30k AC Refigerant Recharge******* Warranty
100k Oil Pan Gasket ( oil leak )***** Warranty
105k Valve Cover ( air leak )******* Parts $ 90 Labor $ 140
180k Valve Cover ( air leak )******* Parts $ 90 Labor $ 140
185k Water Pump ( coolant leak ) ** Parts $ 145 Labor $ 255
190k Purge Valve *************** Parts $ 35 Labor $ 130
235k overflow hose ( coolant leak )* Parts $ 10 Labor $ 25
***************************** Total $ 370 Total $ 690
 
#14 ·
In the spirit of fairness I will represent an example of a cruze member who decided not to purchase an extended warranty for close to $2500. So far I have spent approximetly $ 370 for parts and $ 690 for labor in service and repairs after the factory warranty expired. There are plenty of DIY cruze owners that are capable of cutting costs by replacing these parts on their own. I would say if you have some repair skills and trust the quality of GM vehicles like I did take a chance and save yourself some money by thinking twice about an extended warranty. If your an average driver with little experience under the hood and plan on keeping the cruze as a long term investment and want to purchase a piece of mind knowing your covered if anything should happen then an extended warranty might be right for you.

While on the subject of extended warrantys do not be fooled by the junk mail warranty scams sent in the mail. Do your research before purchasing an extended warranty.


Here is a list of repairs on my vehicle. I took a chance and decided not to purchase an extended warranty. I took comfort, pride and confidence in the workmanship of GM vehicles assembled in America.

30k AC Refigerant Recharge******* Warranty
100k Oil Pan Gasket ( oil leak )***** Warranty
105k Valve Cover ( air leak )******* Parts $ 90 Labor $ 140
180k Valve Cover ( air leak )******* Parts $ 90 Labor $ 140
185k Water Pump ( coolant leak ) ** Parts $ 145 Labor $ 255
190k Purge Valve *************** Parts $ 35 Labor $ 130
235k overflow hose ( coolant leak )* Parts $ 10 Labor $ 25
***************************** Total $ 370 Total $ 690
I totally disagree with your train of thought which is very flawed. First of all there is no such thing as an "Extended Warranty". These are known as "Service Contracts" and $2500 is not even a realistic price, the Dealer was trying to hose you. I found out that for GM, the best Contract to have is the GMPP. I bought the Platinum Contract and got better coverage by cancelling the selling dealer contract contract and buying a better one with the Zero $ deductible from another Dealer for $500 less. It was $1000 for 7 years/72,000 miles! Clearly says you can't do it but I did. Who sells you a contract at their cost (plus $100) when they never met you? A Dealer who doesn't like the Dealer who sold me the Car in the first place!
 
#7 ·
Don't these extended warranties only go for X amount of years and mileage anyway? If you drive allot of miles that means by the time you needed repairs you would probably be out of warrenty again anyway.

Just think of it this way, by not wasting your money on the warranty you had that money for the repairs you had to make.
 
#11 ·
The one that I got expires at 72,015 Miles or in 06/2019.
My b2b ran out based on mileage at 1.5 years. At my average miles driven that extended warranty would only cover me for an additional 2 years. I've had no out of pocket repairs yet, suspect I will make it to 72K(currently 53K) without a repair that's not already covered by the powertrain warranty.

I've had one part fail since my b2b ended, my trunk switch. I just use my key fob so probably will never fix it.
 
#12 ·
+1 On fixing things yourself. Sure, my dealership service department service writer is always smiles when I come in for warranty work(Not that I have had really any major issues). But somehow, I feel like that smile would turn into an evil grin after the warranty is up.

The way I always looked at extended warranties is this:
-If you don't like working on cars or don't know how, get the extended warranty.
-If you do know how to work on cars, save yourself a ton of money and fix it yourself! :go:
 
#13 ·
+100, fixing it yourself is the way to go! If you have the room and a bit of mechanical knowledge a decent set of tools is worth its weight in gold. A service manual helps too!
 
#19 ·
All the GM Extended Warranty Protection plans you can purchase expire at 100k miles, just depends on the months needed to get there and the mileage you are already at. So beyond that you'd have to go 3rd party.
 
#20 ·
When I purchased my new 2012 cruze I was offered a service contract from Zurich which covered an additional 36k miles b2b and 100k miles powertrain for $2,259 with a $100 dollar dectuable. So basically for an extra $ 2,259 I was covered for 72k miles b2b and 200k miles powertrain which I felt was an average deal. Ultimately I decided against the service contract and declined the offer. Instead I ended up accepting another offer from the same company for $409 which included 15 oil changes from the dealership.

Im happy about my decision not to accept the service contract and ended up saving myself approximately $1200 dollars which eventually I ended up spending on maintenance.
 
#23 ·
I didn't like any of the extended warranties time frame and mileage. I wanted something like 150,000 miles and 15 years. but to me 7/72000 miles isn't worth the money. all you are buying is two years extension on the power train so it doesn't really make sense to me.
 
#24 ·
The longest warranty I was offered was 10 years/120K miles for $2500 with a $100 deductible. What is the probability that you will spend $2500 plus deductibles on repairs for your Cruze in 120K miles? I would guess that the probably is very low, maybe less than 10%. Those are terrible odds.

Also, with an extended warranty you must take your car to their shop, and they can deny a claim for stupid reasons, and you might need to wait for their claims adjuster to look it over before they even start the work.

Some people are purchasing peace of mind. I will admit that it's hard to put a price tag on that. The $2500 might be well worth a little happiness and peace of mind. I would never argue with anyone about that.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Its highly unlikely to accumulate $1000-2500 in repairs before 100,000 miles(especially with a 5 year/100K powertrain warranty). Seems that money would better be used as a down payment on your current car or your next one. Either way it would allow you to get out of the car that much sooner if one had numerous issues.
 
#26 ·
I did get the extended warranty when I bought my car, but only because it's the first year of the diesel. Didnt want any unforeseen hpfp issues popping up like with the vw's.

If it was the 1.4T then I wouldn't have gotten it because I have a hoist, heated garage, and tool boxes full of tools.


Sent from the sexy electrician
 
#27 ·
The extended warranty is just an insurance policy for auto repairs. The vendors have actuarial staff who are experts at setting the price (insurance premium) to assure that the premium covers the average price of covered repairs, commission for the salesman, vendor profit, plus a fudge factor for unexpected costs. So the average extended warranty buyer will pay much more for the policy than the actual value of the coverage. It may be a good deal for buyers who subject the car to severe/abusive usage (which voids the warranty) if they can do this without detection by the vendor. The vendors control the cost by limited coverage, denial of the problem, and cheap/used replacement parts etc. I have received about 500 offers for extended coverage on my 2008 Pontiac Vibe (50K miles) since new. My experience is that if anyone is this eager to sell a product it is a bad deal. Glad I didn't jump since this extremely reliable car has never required a repair. When I declined the coverage for my new CTD the loan officer almost started crying. These policies are a bad deal for the average buyers who take care of their cars.
 
#28 ·
My dad always taught me: if you can't afford to pay off the car by the time the bumper to bumper warranty expires, you cannot afford the car. Nothing like having repair bills on top of a car payment. Once it's paid, take that your payment and throw it into a separate account for vehicle repair/maintenance/replacement and watch it grow. As for the extended warranty, I would have just taken what it would have cost and thrown it into that account.
 
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