A long time ago, the standard powertrain warranty for nearly all automakers was three years or 36,000 miles, whichever came first. This was a pretty basic warranty and would be a good call to action to get buyers to spend the extra money on an extended warranty once they were in the finance office. Little by little, automakers started one-upping one another offering standard warranties that were for longer time periods and for more miles in an effort to show more “faith” in their product and provide added piece of mind to car buyers.
In 2007, GM decided to one-up the competition by offering a standard five year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty across their entire lineup – a huge display of faith in their product and a strong effort to win over buyers who thought Japanese cars were the only dependable cars on the road. Since GM went to the five year/100,000 mile warranty, there have been few automakers who have done anything beyond five year/60,000 miles so the ball has been in GM’s court.
As it turns out however, GM just released a statement that for 2016 they will be reverting back to a five year/60,000 mile warranty for their Chevrolet, GMC, and Buick brands. This may come as quite a surprise, but according to GM, the long-term warranty did not turn out to be the selling point they thought it would be. GM released the following statement saying ““Through research, we have determined that when purchasing a new vehicle, included maintenance and warranty rank low on the list of reasons why consumers consider a particular brand over another.”
So that’s it folks, the standard five year/100,000 mile warranty is a thing of the past for GM. What do you think about this change? Is the warranty important to you when you buy a car? Let us know in a comment below!
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