raylo

I have sort of been on the fence about getting an extended warranty... which I have never done on a car before... and just had the decision made for me. Somehow I had in my mind that less than 10k miles it would be reasonably priced. But to get the favorable prices I was quoted before you also need to be within the 3/36, which I just went out of. GMEPP prices are now a couple thousand more for the packages I would have been interested in so this is no longer a cost effective option as compared to self-insuring... of course it could work out otherwise depending on what follows. Or maybe it's time for that supercharger....

Just a heads up for others who are leaning that way. Don't let the 3/36 expire before you decide.

cowboy casey

After that 3/36 the prices hurt

raylo

Not if I don't buy one. Which I won't now.

Vetteman Jack

Yeah, sellers of the extended warranties say you need to buy at least a month before the 3/36 warranty expires. It does get expensive if you wait.

Dallas007

I was listening to Dave Ramsey this morning and someone called in about buying an extended warranty. For those that listen to him know he’s not a fan and against them (but a net worth of 50 million probably comes into effect on that). Anyway he stated 12% of the cost of a warranty actually pays for covered repairs and the remaining 88% goes to profit, commission and advertising. The Conservative Income Investor state the average person pays triple in extended warranty premiums than they receive in repairs. Consumer Reports says over 50% of people that purchased an extended warranty never used it and those that did on average still spent more on premiums than they received back in covered repairs. Knowing all this I’m probably going to get one since I have the A8 and no plans of trading for C 8.

2ZORNOT2Z

All of the American cars I've owned (many Mustang Cobras back in the day, Camaro SS vert, Chevy Maliby, Traverse, even an SVT Focus) all had 100% of the issues I found show their head within the 3/36. Knock on wood, I've not had any out of warranty expenses on anything but the one BMW 335 I had for a few years (never own a BMW/Merc out of warranty, they don't improve their parts over time but instead keep putting the same parts that are proned to failure back on the cars). I also typically age out on warranty with 15k miles so take that for what it's worth. Obviously an extended warranty is a waste of money if you plan to mod the car as well. I always politely decline the extended warranty based on my experience and the fact I plan to mod the car at some point.

The Rabbi

Buying an EW is all about the risk. I'm a former Finance Mgr for dealers and believed in them but that was in the '80s when cars were simpler. I didn't buy one of my C5 and am happy I didn't. I'm looking for a used C7 & will look at getting one due to the electronics

Flame Red

Another consideration - buy the EW a week before the B2B expires. No problem for Dennis. The cost is the same if you buy it the week before the B2B expires or at the time time you buy the car and the B2B is put in service - but the end time for the extended warranty is later if you buy just before the end of the B2B since the extended warranty starts the day you buy the warranty!

raylo

He is exactly right for "most people" and "most cars". But the C7 has many potential repairs that I would normally be able to knock out in no time that I can't because half the car needs to be disassembled to get to something. It is about risk management. A little $$ up front for insurance on this puppy is not a bad idea.

VictorBarron

EW on my 2015 Z that I purchased new is great peace of mind. I purchased the warranty with 1 month left on the BTB program.

tjdismee

I think you should look at an extended warranty as you would most insurances. Its purpose is to avoid having to pay for a catastrophic event, engine blows up, etc. I have had auto and homeowners insurance for 30+ years and have never made a claim on either. But I still purchase them. My health insurance doesnt start paying out until I reach a $6250 deductible, but I still have it.

v.vet's Z06

My measure for buying an extended warranty has been predicated on what problems have I had during the 3yr/36k miles period. On my 2004 C5 none so didn't buy one. This was a good Corvette and a good decision as I traded it in 2008 with no issues. On my new 2008 C6Z I had all kinds of warranty issues - rear end clutches replaced, power steering rack leaking and replaced, drivers side air bag replaced, seat memory issues and a few other minor nuisances. As soon as I bought the GMPP warranty the transmission locked in 3rd gear. I could drive the car in the other gears but couldn't shift to 3rd without serious grinding since it was locked and spinning in this gear. The extended warranty paid for itself with the tranny teardown and repair. I had no issues after that and drove the car to 64,400 miles. Additionally I was concerned that I might have a valve guide issue with the LS7 engine but didn't.
With my 2019 GS regardless of what happens on warranty claims, none so far, I am likely to buy due to all the electronics that drive nearly every facet of the great Corvette. I'm a year in at 5300 miles so have 20+ months to pull the trigger

raylo

Well, good/bad news news. Dennis was able to fix me up at a reasonable price after all. I guess you could say he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. The bad news: yes I spent some $ on an EW, which I have never done before. But think of all the $ I will save now that I won't be able to mod my car! ;-)

I hope I never have to use the EW but you never know with this car with all the electronics and tight packaging. One thing I did was to get one with $100 deductible. I did this for 2 reasons. First it was significantly cheaper... and second I believe if I go to the dealer with a problem it might get taken more seriously when I have a little skin in the game. IOW, I won't be taking it in for nuisance stuff. Also I am a pretty fair mechanic so I usually have a good idea when there is a real problem. Also won't hurt with resale if/when I start liking the C8. YMMV.

AORoads

Ramsey is right on many things, but even IF it's 12% or whatever is actually paid out for real repairs, if it's YOUR 12% coming out of YOUR wallet---how you feeling now? I mean, we now know an ediff can be $5K + dealer installed---that's just for a rear and that can come out of YOUR wallet. Is the dash completely plug-and-play such that you can replace individual parts of it---$500 here, $400 there? The days of, "Oh, I need a new carb--even a double-pumper," are gone. So is the distributor cap.

Yes, an ext. "warranty" (which it is not---it's a pre-paid service plan) is costly, but if you don't have the money sitting around waiting to be spent, the car becomes "lawn" or "garage" art. Your money, you decide. The OP decided his way-I'm fine with that.

msdunkel

The insurance providers have highly trained actuaries who know more than you. Taken as an individual, an extended warranty might be worthwhile but that's not something you know in advance. Your odds of making money on an extended warranty are worse than playing roulette in Vegas, and I'll remind you that the roulette tables in Vegas have funnels to collect your money because its too inefficient for the casino to count it on the spot they're taking it in so fast. If the extended warranty buys you peace of mind then get it but as a financial vehicle its a worse buy than your corvette.

Apocolips

I think another reason to get your extended warranty at least 30 days prior to the 3/36 running out is that most extended warranties have a 30 day waiting period for it to take effect. If you wait until the last minute, you might find yourself out of coverage for 30 days!

raylo

So is health insurance.... until you need it. I am wayyyy farther in the hole financially on that than I will ever be on car stuff.

golden2husky

I never bought one before, and never had an issue. But I did go for it with the C7. First year GM and all that. Now at a hair over five years, my first two problems showed up. RF tire monitor intermittently loses communication and the infotainment screen sometimes does not work - this takes the radio out and all the features on the screen). So I guess I made a right choice.

raylo

Same here. Never had one before and always do 99% of my post warranty repairs. But these plans are priced very reasonably compared to the covered liabilities. And as I keep saying there are plenty of what would be easy routine repairs... like an AC compressor... that are rendered next to impossible for home mechanics with limited space when the first step is "remove the front subframe." A lot of folks here chiming in that EWs are a waste of $ are probably guys that trade their cars every few years so it becomes irrelevant to them.

kennyjames21

Hey Raylo, how much would it have cost you if your car was still under 3/36 and what kind of coverage?