Chevrolet extended warranty: cost, coverage and plans

Chevrolet extended warranty coverage

Chevrolet’s official extended warranty program is called the Chevrolet Protection Plan. Like all extended warranties (also known as vehicle service contracts), Chevy Protection Plans only cover repairs needed due to manufacturing defects — not accident damage or normal wear-and-tear items, like brake pads and clutches.

You can purchase a Chevrolet Protection Plan for any Chevy vehicle under eight years old or with under 100,000 miles. If you’re near that limit, however, your only option may be a one-year/12,000-mile plan, and it won’t be cheap.

» LEARN: What does a car warranty cover?

Chevrolet extended warranty plans

Chevrolet Protection Plans come in three coverage levels:

• Powertrain covers what you might expect from a powertrain warranty — mainly parts of your engine, transmission, drive axle and hybrid powertrain, if applicable.
• Silver covers all of the same components as the Powertrain plan plus components that make up your suspension, air conditioning, electrical system, steering and brakes.
• Platinum covers up to 1,500 components across all major component groups.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of each Chevy Protection Plan and what it covers, as listed by Chevy itself:

The Platinum plan is Chevrolet’s closest equivalent to your factory bumper-to-bumper warranty, which expires after three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. The Powertrain plan extends your factory Powertrain limited warranty (normally five years or 60,000 miles), and the Silver plan offers something in between the two.

Platinum is the best-selling of the three coverage levels. In fact, two of the dealers we spoke with had to check to see if Silver plans were still being offered. (They are.)

» MORE: What is a manufacturer’s warranty?

Chevrolet extended warranty terms

For Silver and Platinum plans, terms can range anywhere from 3 years/30,000 miles to 8 years/100,000 miles. Term limits for Powertrain plans start at 4 years/60,000 miles.

These terms begin the day you purchase the warranty, so you may want to wait until your factory warranty is about to expire before purchasing a Chevrolet Protection Plan. Even though the price may be a little higher by then, you’ll likely get more coverage and better value.

Chevrolet extended warranty benefits

In addition to covering repair costs, Chevrolet Protection Plans come with the following benefits:

• Roadside assistance, including towing for a covered breakdown (up to $100 per occurrence), battery service, flat tire assistance, emergency fuel delivery (up to three gallons three times), emergency fluid delivery (cost of fluids not included) and lockout assistance
• Rental car coverage of up to $40 per day for a maximum of 10 days while your vehicle is in the shop for a covered repair
• Trip interruption compensation of up to $200 per day for up to five days to help cover the cost of meals, lodging and other emergency travel expenses if your car breaks down over 100 miles from home

Overall, these are above-average benefits for a factory extended warranty. (Some other automakers limit rental car coverage to $35 per day and trip interruption compensation to $500 total.)

Chevrolet also has a “disappearing $100 deductible” option that waives your $100 deductible if you have your vehicle serviced at the dealership that sold you the warranty. However, in our experience, dealerships often mark up extended warranties by up to 40%, so it’s probably cheaper to simply buy a $0 deductible plan directly from Chevrolet online.

Chevrolet extended warranty cost

Overall, the Chevrolet Protection Plan quotes we received for our sample vehicles indicated rates slightly above the average cost of an extended warranty, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad value. On the whole, warranties for Chevy vehicles tend to be more expensive than average, no matter who you’re getting the warranty from. (More on that later.)

Chevrolet Protection Plan costs

The cost of your Chevrolet Protection Plan may vary based on your vehicle, coverage level, term and warranty seller. These quotes came directly from Chevrolet — prices from dealers may vary but will likely be higher.

Keep in mind that these terms start from the date you purchase the warranty. For example, the 2022 Camaro SS quoted above still has 21,000 miles of factory limited (bumper-to-bumper) warranty left. Ignoring the age of the car, if the owner purchased a three-year/36,000-mile Platinum Protection Plan, they’d only be getting 15,000 more miles of Platinum protection for their $1,395.

That’s also a possible reason why some of the shorter warranty terms for the Bolt and Camaro SS are considerably more affordable than similar terms for the Silverado.

Chevrolet extended warranty terms and conditions

We read the sample contract for a Chevrolet Protection Plan to see if we could spot any contractual “gotchas,” and it looked pretty standard for the industry. Still, here are a few key terms to keep in mind, especially if you’re not familiar with how extended warranties work.

We strongly recommend reading your entire contract carefully to ensure that the parts you want covered are covered and that there aren’t any unfortunate surprises later on.

Is a Chevrolet extended warranty worth it?

Generally speaking, extended auto warranties are worth considering if any of the following are true for you:

• You drive an unreliable vehicle.
• You can’t afford the cost of a major repair bill, but you can budget for a warranty.
• The cost of your warranty is less than you expect to spend on the repairs it would cover.
• You don’t mind paying for additional peace of mind, even if you never file a claim.

For Chevrolet Protection Plans, specifically, the answer depends on the balance between the cost of the warranty and how much you can expect to spend owning your Chevy out of warranty.

According to J.D. Power, modern Chevrolets rank significantly above average in terms of reliability. The firm ranked Chevy fifth out of 33 carmakers in 2023, edging out even Toyota (which placed 7th).

That said, Consumer Reports — which draws from a wider range of model years — ranked Chevrolet 20th out of 24 in its 2022 survey.

Such a disparity could indicate that Chevrolets are becoming more reliable, but models made in the late 2010s still seem to be plagued with issues. You can see evidence of that in consumer reviews for Chevy products.

“I will never buy another Chevy,” wrote Richard, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer from Maryland. “Bought a brand new 2018 Malibu at 38k miles. Motor has fuel In the oil and I’m pretty sure a piston rings is bad. Chevy service said they would not fix it. … The whole motor will need replaced.”

Tammy, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer from Delaware, told us, “I bought 3 automobiles in the amount of two years starting 2018, we bought all the bumper to bumper warranties tires and everything. … Well within the last couple of years the service department is horrible. I’ve had all three of my cars out there several times with problems and they have never been fixed.”

“I have always said Chevrolet [were] the best vehicles; but I was wrong. My next car will NOT be a Chevrolet,” wrote Lisa, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer from Kentucky. “I bought a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu in 2020 with approximately 40,000 miles. In November of 2021 the car just died as I was driving. My mechanic finally discovered the issue. An electric modulator went out. Since I bought the car used, Chevrolet refused to cover the cost. Thanks Chevrolet for nothing. Won’t waste my money again.”

It’s worth noting that J.D. Power’s 2022 rankings — which analyzed vehicles from 2019 — ranked Chevrolet much lower at 10th. These trends indicate that Chevy began working out the kinks for the 2020 model year, but anyone owning a 2016 to 2019 model year vehicle might want to seriously consider warranty protection.

» MORE: Pros and cons of extended auto warranties

Chevrolet extended warranty alternatives

Getting an extended warranty for a less reliable Chevy can be a good idea, but that doesn’t mean you have to get your extended warranty directly from Chevrolet. Dedicated extended warranty companies can often offer more coverage options at lower prices than manufacturers. We got some quotes to see if that was the case here.

For coverage similar to a Platinum plan from Chevrolet, olive quoted us $147.82 per month ($8,871 total) to protect our 2017 Silverado for five years with an identical $100 deductible. That’s almost triple our quote from Chevrolet ($3,045).

Extended warranty quotes can differ in seemingly random ways. That’s why it’s important to shop around for a deal from a company you can trust.

Endurance quoted us $92.30 per month for three years of coverage ($3,322.84 total). For a comparable three-year Platinum plan, Chevy quoted us $1,813.

For our 20,000-mile Bolt, olive quoted us $30.72 per month for three years ($1,105.92 total), and Endurance quoted us $4,658.97. While olive’s quote fell in line with what Chevrolet charges ($1,176), the quote from Endurance was far more expensive.

These elevated prices may be the result of Chevy’s well-publicized build quality issues in the late 2010s, but it’s hard to know for sure.

So, while Chevrolet Protection Plans aren’t cheap, they may still be your best option for your pre-2020 Chevy. The surest way to know you’re getting a good deal on your extended warranty is to get quotes from different companies and compare their offerings. That way, you have the context to make a smart purchase you’re comfortable with.