Buick has reduced warranty coverage for 2020 models.

There are big changes happening at Buick, a brand that stretches back to 1899 and upon which General Motors was founded in 1908. Firstly, Buick, like Ford, is dropping sedans from its model lineup to focus on SUVs and crossovers.

More critically for buyers of any Buick model, however, there’s a major change in warranty coverage for 2020, and not for the better. In our 2019 survey of new-car limited warranties of 35 brands, we ranked Buick’s 11th. We were impressed by the brand’s 4-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper coverage and 6-year/70,000-mile powertrain coverage.

All that changes for the 2020 model year. Buick has reduced bumper-to-bumper coverage to 3 years/36,000 miles, and powertrain coverage drops to 5 years/60,000 miles.

Before, Buick’s warranty was better than that of some luxury brands. Now, it is closer to those of several mainstream brands. There is an exception: if you should find a 2019 model year Buick in dealer inventory, or even a 2018 model, it will still be covered by the longer warranty.

A shorter warranty is usually a cost-cutting tactic, not a reflection of lower quality.

Buick’s warranty downgrade does, however, put a spotlight on considering an extended warranty, either from Buick or a third-party provider, for added peace of mind. We’ll compare both options and explain why we prefer third-party companies. First, let’s see how Buick does on quality.

https://www.motor1.com/reviews/388944/buick-warranty/

 

Dirty move by GM

https://www.buick.com/warranty-information

 

no different than any other cost-cutting move which all brands do. and anyone leasing doesn't care if it's now 'only' 3 years.

from everyone i talk to i think more and more people are leasing because they have no money to put down on a new car to buy or couldn't afford the loan payments for the full amount and certainly aren't interested in 6 and 7 year car loans. there's still tons of car buying going on, but i bet the majority is used.

 

Leasing has so many drawbacks(just my opinion). Cash buying is better. . And if you can’t afford the loan payments, then you can’t afford the lease.

The brand loses anyways as when those lease turns ins show up, the dealer can’t resell with any factory warranty.

 

Nope.....in this (particular) case, it does mean lower quality. Why? Because GM sold off Opel, which provided the platforms and hardware for several Buick models that had good reliability records...and why Buick ranked so high in reliability for several years. Opel's excellence in this area is now gone.....so Buick is now (or will soon be) depending on other (less-reliable) platforms for their products.

 

People are leasing because they want a new car every two or three years without having to face repair bills....or because they use their vehicle in buisness (to the IRS definition) and can deduct the payments.

 

The only drawback I see with leasing is potentially slightly higher cost (per year, term of ownership, etc...). And while paying cash for vehicles feels good, it’s generally not the best idea - more often than not, you can use the cash to generate better returns (buy investment property, index funds, ETFs, etc).
I personally have never leased a car, but the more I dig into it, the better it looks. Always in warranty, minimal maintenance cost (if any - some cars include maintenance), no need for tires, brakes... The advantages are definitely there.

 

People are leasing more and more because people can’t afford high cost to buy. The average cost of a new car is $35Kish, the average salary can barely cover a buy of that price point paid off in the traditional 36 term.

Your points are heard. I am not sure I agree. If I leased a 4Runner since 2004, it would be 192 payments....at $750 per month (I think, but closer to $1000), $144K total (not included interest) . I paid $58K for the 04. Since then, I have had 192 months where I can also invest as well or do whatever I want. And I still have an asset. And have never paid interest

I look at things more from a wealth perspective. Paying interest my whole life for something does not contribute to those goals. We also value the flexibility of doing whatever we want vs km/mile restrictions.

I will say, a very high end luxury brand (non Lexus excluded) leasing might make better sense as upgrading all the time for the new tech is enticing

I would consider buying a used car next time around (perhaps)

 

Agreed. The people I know that lease want to be in a new vehicle every 3 years - that’s why they lease. In fact, most of my colleagues are in a new vehicle every 3 to 4 years regardless of leasing or buying.

 

If someone is paying $750 for a 4Runner, than I guess they they need to negotiate a little better.

Some cars lease better than others - 4Runner is actually one of the cars better bought. BUT, for every 4Runner out there there’s a 3 series BMW that can be leased for as low as $200 (demo cars).

As part of a lease vs buy discussion on leasehackr forum, I did an analysis on my ‘11 CX9, which we bought new. My overall cost per month for the car is right around $300 (and we’re driving 9 year old car w/115k miles). Similar CX9 can be leased for ~$400/ month. So in the 8 years of ownership, we saved about $1200/year which is not insignificant, but we’ve been extremely lucky with the car - couple potentially expensive problems were fixed under warranty and I do my own maintenance.

Here’s the rather “interesting” discussion 😃.

https://forum.leasehackr.com/t/how-d...0-years/213266


But we’re way off topic here.... I seriously considered getting a 1-2 year old TourX, but decided against it. There’s already talk of repairs taking forever due to parts shortage - and Buick is still selling the cars. I can only imagine the potential issues in couple years.

 

so $1200 per year, you have saved. That is $10,800 for the ownership term. I would pocket the cash and drive the older car. And presumably not pay any interest. Does my math work out? No restrictions on miles either. You also have an asset as well, for whatever that is worth.

But back to Buick. This reduction in warranty is not a good thing. I do suspect GM will go downmarket in the future with new Buick models.

 

here's where your confident virtue-signalling is flawed...

if instead of shelling out $58K, you spend lease payments of $750 cdn for 3 years which is $27K, and you put the other $31K in Apple stock. In 2004 adjusted for splits it was under $3 a share. It is now almost $300. So your $31K would be worth $3.1 MILLION. QED.

There's multiple paths to wealth.

 

Wonderful hindsight.....could have given the cash to Bernie Madoff too.

I don’t view leasing cars as one of them. (My opinion).

 

That's true to an extent, but with leasing, technically, you are never out of debt....you are always making some sort of car payment. When you finish paying off the lease on one car in a couple of years, you get another lease (assuming you don't buy the vehicle outright from its residua value) and start the process all over again.

One of my colleagues who leases a new Lexus ES every 27 months (that is the length of his dealer's least-term) gets around that, to some extent, by paying the whole lease-contract off at once, up front, when he first gets his new car. That way, the dealership gives him an additional discount (they like getting their money early, of course), and, technically, he's not in debt every month.

Back to Buick's reduced warranty coverage, just one more (possible) reason I might (?) switch to Lincoln or Genesis next time (maybe even Lexus), but I'm not going to worry abut that now......I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Like it or not, GM just removed one of the credible reasons to get a Buick over a Chevy or GMC with their 5/60 and 3/36 coverage. That, and having dumped all the Buick sedans, gives me little reason to stay with them, other than I like the dealership and its service people.

 

If you had leased 4 Runners since 2004 you wouldn’t be driving a 16 year old 4 Runner lol. Sorry, but I’d rather be dead than have to drive old cars. If it works for you great, but it doesn’t work for me. I get a lot of enjoyment out of my cars and the money I spend on them is well enjoyed.

And simply driving the same car for 16 years isn’t going to make you wealthy. Becoming wealthy requires a plan, and prioritizing investing. You don’t have to stop spending money on things you enjoy to become wealthy.