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2009 CTS AWD Sedan Owners NEED YOUR FEEDBACK...

3K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  dean77 
#1 ·
CTS 2009 AWD SEDAN OWNERS...I AM SO SHORT ON TIME AND MUST MAKE A DECISION. MY 2009 WHICH I PURCHASED BRAND NEW AND HAVE USED EVERY DAY TO COMMUTE BACK AND FORTH TO WORK IS ABOUT TO REACH ITS FINAL MILES FOR WARRENTY COVERAGE, VERY VERY SOON I WILL BE HITTING 50,000 MILES AND I HAVE TO DECIDE IF I SHOULD PURCHASE THE GM EXTENDED WARRENTY. FIRST AND FOREMOST I HAVE HAD ZERO PROBLEMS WITH THIS CAR...THE CAR IS A DREAM...NO PROBLEMS..NO COMPLAINTS AND IT HAS MADE MY DAILY COMMUTE HERE IN NJ A LIFESAVER. THE CAR IS TAKEN WELL CARE OF AND WE USE ONLY THE BEST SYNTHETIC OIL OUT THERE WHICH IS AMSOIL. SO WITH THIS ECONOMY THE WAY ITS BEEN THESE DAYS I REALLY AM HAVING A HARD TIME IN MY MIND CONVINCING MYSELF TO TAKE THE CHUNK OF CASH AND PURCHASE AN EXTENDED WARRENTY. MY HUSBAND TELLS ME NOT TO..FEELS THAT THE OFFERED 3 YEAR, 45K MILES IS GOING TO BE A WASTE FOR THE CAR IS NOT GOING TO NEED IT AND I AM THROWING MY MONEY IN THE GARBAGE.....SO I AM REACHING OUT TO YOU ALL OUT THERE THAT HAVE A 2009 AWD CTS SEDAN..HAVE YOU HAD ANY MAJOR COSTLY PROBLEMS?????????...ANY CONCERNS THAT I AM NOT AWARE OF??????PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I VALUE YOUR EXPERIENCE...:bonkers:
 
#3 ·
I wouldn't do it. I agree with your husband. Of all the new cars I bought I never had any problems at all. I was just quoted $4000 on an extended warranty on my 09 with 30k on it. I laughed at the guy on the phone. GM just extended the timing chain issue on our cars to 120,000 miles. That was the only thing I was worried about. Put the money in your pocket and use it IF you every need any repairs. I bet you come out ahead. Just remember they are making money on these extended warranties. I also wouldn't buy one from a third party. I have a lot of friends in the business and you have to see what these third parties do. They will try to put a200,000 miles junk yard motor in your low millage car. NO THANKS!

Also turn the cap lock off. It is very hard to read.
 
#5 ·
gratefulone81,

You're too late to get the "best" deal on GMPP Major Guard (price breakpoints at 12Kmi, 24Kmi, 36Kmi). Nevertheless, for comparison if your quote is from local dealer, here's Black Cadillac's online discount prices for a 36mos/45Kmi contract: $50 deductible = $1,720, $100 deductible = $1,575, $200 deductible = $1,350 (all after $50 OFF for payment by check or money order).
 
#7 ·
underpsi68 said:
I wouldn't do it. I agree with your husband. Of all the new cars I bought I never had any problems at all. I was just quoted $4000 on an extended warranty on my 09 with 30k on it. I laughed at the guy on the phone. GM just extended the timing chain issue on our cars to 120,000 miles. That was the only thing I was worried about. Put the money in your pocket and use it IF you every need any repairs. I bet you come out ahead. Just remember they are making money on these extended warranties. I also wouldn't buy one from a third party. I have a lot of friends in the business and you have to see what these third parties do. They will try to put a200,000 miles junk yard motor in your low millage car. NO THANKS!

Also turn the cap lock off. It is very hard to read.
4,000! Really?!

I too would take my chances if that is what I was quoted. Given that the powertrain is up to 100k miles, all I'm really worried about is the electronics and that can be expensive.

Let me share a personal story though. In 2004 we purchased an extended warranty when we bought my wife's Toyota Landcruiser. It was through Toyota and think I paid around $2k for it. The factory bumper to bumper warranty was 3 years/36k miles.

At 40k miles the infotainment screen started giving us a cryptic message about a fault with the connection which resulted in the inability to use the navigation, HVAC and audio. Apparently there was a problem with the 2004 model year Landcruisers and Lexus LX470s. There was a TSB out on it. Who knows if I could have gotten some goodwill out of it since it was a known problem, but I was technically out of the factory warranty. .

Fortunately I had purchased the extended warranty because the dealer's cost on the part alone was $5,000! Yes that is five thousand dollars! The dealer even showed me the invoice. The service manager even told me that when he went to get authorization for the repair the Toyota warranty rep was trying to look for alternatives. First to maybe repair the unit, but the service manager referred them to the TSB that said the only acceptable repair was to replace the part (I assume there was an issue with the parts for that year). They then tried to direct the SM to look for a salvaged unit. Again the SM had to remind them that there was obviously an issue with the 2004 model year and if they replaced it with a salvaged unit, I would probably have the same issue again.

Begrudgingly the repair was authorized. If I had not purchased the warranty I would have had a $64k vehicle with only 40k miles in which had no HVAC, navigation, and radio. I may have been able to get some goodwill out of it, but that's not certain, and it's probably certain I would have paid for something.

In addition to that, the backup camera failed. That too had a TSB on it and Toyota later extended the warranty for that and offered to reimburse anyone who paid out of pocket for that. The switch that electronically locks the transfer case also failed, along with the Bluetooth function failing twice on it and that too was replaced through the extended warranty. So in my case the warranty paid for itself many times over.

The ironic thing in all of this is that those electronic issues surfaced pretty early on. We still have the truck. It has over 158k miles on her and all the car has required since about 60k miles is regular maintenance. It has been rock solid.

My case was unique though. If I was quoted $4k for an extended warranty which as I said, will probably just cover the electronics since the powers rain is covered, I might take my chances.
 
#8 ·
If you can get it under 2K with a $100 deductable, I'd go for it. You would be amazed at what repairs cost on these things, particularly at the dealer. One or two seemingly small repairs will probably pay for it. Anything major and you will have saved significantly. Some of the extended warranties offer a partial refund if you end up not using it at all. You might look into that as well.
 
#9 ·
I agree with the last post! Anything more than that, I'd take the gamble or shop around, but below 2K you will likely get your money back from it as the car ages. BTW, glad to hear your '09 AWD has been trouble free. Sadly, mine was anything but. Before I traded it, I was seriously considering an extended warranty.

While no modern car is cheap to work on, the CTS seems to be very expensive from a labor standpoint and AWD just adds to the complexity. I subscribed to the alldata service manual so I've read up on what some repair procedures involve. I'll use the fuel pump as an example as these can fail as a car ages. The pump on all cars is in the tank. Replacement of the fuel pump on the CTS involves removal of the fuel tank, which itself involves removing the drive shaft and some other underbody components. Not sure how much that would cost, but the labor on all that work alone can't be cheap. By way of comparison, on 2 other RWD cars I've owned, replacement of the fuel pump simply involved removing the rear seat as the tank has access ports to make fuel pump and jet pump replacement much easier. Now, I don't know which design is better from an overall structure perspective, but I can darn sure bet removal of the rear seat cushion is alot less labor wise than lifting the car and removing the drive shaft and tank. So while one may not think a fuel pump would be a huge cost(after all, it's a relatively small and simple part), the labor is what runs the cost up. For reasons such as that, I'd get the warranty if keeping the car long term.
 
#10 ·
Personally, what makes Caddy such a safe choice is the standard powertrain warranty until 100K. I almost bought an Audi A4, but the CTS was nicer and the warranty was icing on the cake.

I have about 70K on the odo right now. There are a few little squeaks that could be addressed, but I feel pretty safe with the Powertrain warranty for the major stuff. I also got the goodwill letter on the timing chain up to 120K if that becomes an issue.

--
Doug
 
#11 ·
$2000 and under is worthy of consideration, but only with an actual OEM GM Warranty. Accept no substitutes IMHO.

Some others may be okay (may), but I have heard many horror stories about non-OEM warranties that I personally would not get one.
 
#14 ·
I purchased the extended warranty on my 2009 CTS AWD as the internet convinced me I would have problems. I am at 68000 miles give or take and have never used the warranty. I have come to realize most internet users are like myself.... the car has been trouble free and probably the best car I have owned but I have not posted the fact. However if I had issues I probably would have posted all over the net!

I would still go with it if the price is right, its like insurance, you may never use it but it comforting to have!
 
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