...Dennis Fichtner, of course! After much procrastination, I finally pulled the trigger on a GMPP, an Dennis made it easy...
I had asked for a quote over a month ago, but didn't do it. Now, as I start a job soon with a longer commute, and it's my DD, I knew what I needed to do...plus I had just turned 10K miles, and wanted to get one before I exceeded the initial 12 mo/12000 mile "new vehicle" GMPP prices.

Emailed Dennis, again...he quickly replied...sent me the quotes I had before, and made it seamless and easy.

Fill out the form built in to the quote, and viola'...a receipt came shortly after, confirming my purchase and the appropriate plan selected...

Price was the best, and his quick responses and service were great!

email him at dfichtner@fichtnerchevrolet.com..."just DO it!!"

 

Sweeeeeeeet that is where we bought ours

 

I didnt realize GMPP can range in price, I thought is was the same formula that every dealership uses... you can service the car anywhere right? doesnt have to be Dennis Fichtner?

 

Dealers (specifically, their Finance Mgrs) can charge whatever they want, basically. They get a dealer cost and a Suggested Retail Price (SRP) booklet...but they can sell it for even more than SRP if they want.

The great news about GMPP is, once you buy one, it is reported through a system that pegs it to your vehicle's VIN, making it good and accessible at any GM branded dealership anywhere in the US or Canada. It will be in their Service system already!

Easy to use (have had 2 of them on previous vehicles), easy to transfer one, and easy to cancel one, if need be.

Another huge plus is the coverage for items that just have wore out, and not yet failed. Many other plans require failure of the part to pay. GMPP is much easier: if it is not performing as it should "normally", they'll pay to replace it. An example would be a power window that is going up/down slowly due to a dying power window motor.

I used to work for GMAC (now Ally) and worked with GM dealers and their F/I depts throughout Indiana parts of Ky specifically on these. Have also been in all levels of management within a dealership.

There is no way I would purchase ANYTHING else!

(No, Dennis is not paying me on the side for this...lol)

 

I bought my last one from Dennis and I'll buy my next one from him as well, when the time comes. But it was interesting, I got a quote from my dealer's finance guy when I bought the 2012, which I turned down assuming it would be high. Comparing their prices and a quote from Dennis later and they are the same! So not all dealers charge extra.

 

True, but most do...for various reasons. Sometimes, it is because someone is financing vs paying cash, so the effect is $xx/month to the customer, vs seeing a large $$ amount upfront, making profit easier to get.

-Or, it could be the dealer's policy "you must charge $$ dollars over cost on every plan, every time"
-Or, the state can regulate it. In Florida, if you want to buy a GMPP or ANY other extended warranty, you must pay SRP/list price. No discounts. Same price if you want one. Period. End of story. It's the law there.
-Or, a dealer could be in a Reinsurance program, meaning, they are essentially self-insuring and sharing in the profits. The administrator of the plan, which could be GMPP, would charge a per-policy-written fee, plus an additional amount payable outside of the reinsurance to go to the dealer's pocket. The F/I Manager would be none the wiser, as they usually do not know this. The "cost" book provided by the Service Contract provider would have the jacked up costs built into the original cost, so they'd be starting from a higher number, thus higher cost to you.
-Or, many times the Finance Mgr's pay plans are based on how much $$ they generate per deal, and even $$ per GMPP/Service contract sold. Industry average is at least $500 over cost.

The reasons TO offer a strongly discounted price are simple but also numerous:
1) Dealers, if they floorplan with Ally, who owns GMPP, have certain benchmarks to achieve to hit certain "bonus" payouts. GMPP sales are one of those required benchmarks. The more they sell, even at slim margins, the more bonus dolalrs Ally pays them, potentially.
2) Increased Service business. Hopefully, if the purchaser is relatively local, they'll come back in to see their Service Dept resulting in svc/parts dollars with no hassles.
3) Ease of getting any potential borderline claims paid. If a store has a very strong and large book of business with a service contract provider, GMPP or otherwise, then if a claim arose that needed an exception, it is likely to be granted.
4) Portability (for GMPP). If you were trading in a vehicle at another GM dealer, you could cancel that plan at that moment, and apply any refund immediately toward that next purchase.
5) if you were in Reinsurance, more policies writtne means more income and income growth potential as the policies earn out, plus they'd have a bigger portfolio to absorb any sudden large claims.
6) As stated before, on a cash deal, an $800 price, at $100 over cost, let's say, is an easier sale than $1395 SRP, so it's path of least resistance
7) Occasionally, GMPP or other Service Contract companies have contests for hitting certain goals, resulting in cash payments to dealers or finance personnel, and also fancy trips for the higher levels of sales, etc. So, perks for volume, basically. On top of everything else.
8) Sometimes, when closing a sale on a vehicle, they'll reduce the price as an enticement to do the deal.

So, as you can see, there are many many things that influence the "price" of a GMPP or other service contract.

In my case, I sent quotes to 6 different self-proclaimed, "save hundreds", "lowest price on a GMPP", etc from other dealers and by googling...needless to say, Dennis was the least expensive. So there you have it.

An education of sorts, that you didn't ask for.

 

Dennis also writes coverage for other GM vehicles. Just bought a 36/36 for my low mileage
Pontiac G8 GT. He was a pleasure to deal with.

 

Found out Dennis would sell a GMPP on the 08 Jaguar XK I bought the wife. But decided to trade it on a Chevy Volt. In the mean time my son is buying his GMPP from him on his 2010 Camaro SS.

When the time comes I'll buy my GMPP on the Volt from him.

Tom