Extended warranty: Olympicare. Worth it?

[pounamu]

Hi everyone,
Finally, you see before you a proud new owner of a new orange 2013 Sonic LT! Technically, I'm picking it up on Monday, but I finished all the particulars today, so here I am

My dealership (Best Chevy in Hingham, MA) offers Olympicare extended warranty. I gathered all the information and told them I'd mull it over the weekend and let them know on Monday if I'm interested. In general, I've heard not so good things about extended warranty provided through the dealerships, but this one seems to cover a fair amount of stuff. Nonetheless, I want to do my research before I commit to anything. Can anyone tell me if they had experience with extended warranty, and Olympicare in particular? What is your general stance on extended warranties? How about service contracts? Extended warranties offered by the manufacturer? What is the best way to go?
Thank you!

 

[radsonic08]

ive worked as a mechanic at dealerships and ford extended warranty sucks. infinity is great...lol i got the 7yr 70k extended warranty bumper to bumper. my deductable is 100 which is cheap infinity was 500 i heard. it depends on the dealer when i was at ford we were only allowed to replace that one faulty part. with infinity it was great customer pays 500 deductable and we would flag 20-30 hrs of work on that one car which means customer got a bunch of new parts in the thousands for cheap. when my extended warrany kicks in im just gonna tell them to replace whatever needs to be done and call me when its done

 

[pounamu]

ive worked as a mechanic at dealerships and ford extended warranty sucks. infinity is great...lol i got the 7yr 70k extended warranty bumper to bumper. my deductable is 100 which is cheap infinity was 500 i heard. it depends on the dealer when i was at ford we were only allowed to replace that one faulty part. with infinity it was great customer pays 500 deductable and we would flag 20-30 hrs of work on that one car which means customer got a bunch of new parts in the thousands for cheap. when my extended warrany kicks in im just gonna tell them to replace whatever needs to be done and call me when its done

Thank you! Just to clarify, you have GM's extended warranty now, right? Major Guard?

 

[rodslinger]

Don't do it...

Skip the extended warranty. Put that money in savings instead.

Picture the warranty administrator as something like a Las Vegas bookie. He's there betting on the odds that you'll never need his service and wants to take your bet. You're betting you'll need repairs that cost above and beyond what you paid him.

You'll almost always lose that bet. Some members have good feedback on your options at the link below.

http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/factory-specifications/1713-warranty-1.html

 

[mowcowbell]

I never take extended warranties, and never will. That is the one part of the negotiation process where I just have to sit and smile while the salesmen tells me how great this extended coverage is. They usually add some line such as 'one repair and you'll MAKE money on this warranty. My response is always 'Thanks but NO thanks!'.

Like wisely stated by rodslinger, take the money you would spend on the extended warranty and put it in a savings account. You most likely won't need to pull money from that account, and you'll be collecting interest on your savings to boot.

 

[ChrisJ]

I have GM's warranty on my Sonic but not on our Cruze. Reason was I drive 25K+ a year so I went with a 100K 3 year so called bumper to bumper.


Like others have said, I'm betting the car will break before the warranty is up, and GM is betting it won't. Fact is, the amount I use my AC combined with compressor failures I've seen mentioned on here I think I'll make it out ahead. My AC is essentially on almost all year except when cold temps won't allow it. Even then I'm on defroster so its technically on, just the compressor won't engage. The other day it was in the high 40s out but humid so I had AC and recirculate on.

But who knows. I got the 100K 3 year for under $1K.

 

[ColonelPanic]

I operate on a GMPP or don't bother philosophy.

MajorGuard has been very good for me on previous cars, offering far more in benefits than the purchase price. Things like repeated A/C compressor replacements, A/C controls, steering racks, power steering pumps, alternators, fuel pumps, etc. Even a transmission at one point, which is a moot point now with today's 100k powertrain warranty. But at the time, that saved me about $5k. Zero hassles with it, it operated much like the factory warranty.

Of course, it also can work the other way around. It's a gamble. The last car I had (non-GM product) I bought the manufacturer's extended warranty and never had to use it at all. That money would have been better spent elsewhere.

I don't know anything about the third party warranty company mentioned. I tend to stay away from third party warranties. They're a good way for the dealer to get extra profit on the transaction, but are they really giving the customer a good value? Will they control which dealers I can have the car repaired at? What is the list of things they'll cover? Will there be any hoops to jump through when it comes time for a claim?

 

[gdideric]

Loophole city. It's aggravating and you're more than likely not going to get your money's worth.

 

[KartRacer]

Very good question. I have never purchased an extended warranty on anything for 45 years. BUT, I did this time on both my new sonic and my wife's new Buick encore. Why you ask?
My 09 Silverado, covered by the 100m warranty had a mirror motor failure. I tried to get the part and fix myself but could not get the part only the assembly. $490 bucks for the mirror. Yes we are gambling that the cost of the factory extended warranty will be less than the 5 yr 100m problem cost. Also getting to old and tired to do the repairs myself. So it comes down to piece of mind. Really hope that we don't need the warranty but glad we don't have to worry about it.
It comes down to the insurance issue we pay for insurance with the hope we never need it.
BTW if I had bought the extended warranty on our washer,dryer I would not be buying a new one now.

 

[Lovehanayo]

I use major guard extended warranty and it's better than the warranty offered for my sonic.

I always do extended warranties, because if you ever get into a wreck, parts start messing up even after you got your car fixed and having an extended warranty helps that.

My ex hit someone in my Saturn and after his insurance fixed my Saturn, different parts on my ac stopped working and the car was only 4 years old. I don't think the car was poorly made either. Just nothing drives the same after it's been hit.

 

[rodslinger]

BTW if I had bought the extended warranty on our washer,dryer I would not be buying a new one now.

It's hard to do sometimes but you can't look at it on a transaction by transaction basis. Look at the total of ALL the extended warranties you did NOT purchase and figure how much money you saved. It is likely in that 40 years you are $20k ahead. You've certainly saved enough over the years to pay for that replacement washer and dryer 20x over.

 

[cndctrdj]

I got mine at best Chevrolet also and they are great for service. Probably the best .. no pun intended. I would drive it 20 or so thousand miles and see how it holds up.

Do you plan on coming to any of the car meets or shows? Pm me we have a ton of stuff going on all year round. And it would be cool to meet up.

 

[pounamu]

I got mine at best Chevrolet also and they are great for service. Probably the best .. no pun intended. I would drive it 20 or so thousand miles and see how it holds up.

Do you plan on coming to any of the car meets or shows? Pm me we have a ton of stuff going on all year round. And it would be cool to meet up.

Oh fantastic, thanks! The way they made it sound was that the window on buying the Olympicare was only 7 days, so I declined. I'm thinking I'll wait for a bit, and then either get GM's warranty, or something through my credit union. But yes, I liked the dealership a lot, they were NOT pushy. Interestingly, they didn't have my plates ready when they said they would (they said because of a delay caused by Geico), so they gave me dealer plates, and came out the next day to my office to install the new plates. I appreciated that.

So just to make sure, you didn't get the extended warranty from Best Chevy? But you'd recommend them for service?

I'm a noob to the Sonic (just picked up the car on Monday!), but I'd love to come to a meetup, and be more involved. I feel like it's amazing to have such a strong support group, there is so much information and help here!

I'll PM you separately to see what events are going on. Thanks!

 

[JimmyQ]

This is the way I look at extended warranty's, they wouldn't be selling them if they were not making money off of them. This being said i passed on mine

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

Congrats on the new Sonic purchase and welcome to the forum. Please let me know if you have any other questions concerning your warranty or anything else Sonic related. You can always send me a private message and I will assist you.

Jackie
Chevrolet Customer Care