I bought a '04 Extended cab a few months ago, and I noticed a wind noise. I asked about it a while ago on the forum, but no one could give me suggestions on if it was 'normal' or not. Well, I was driving in a steady rain for the first time on Sunday and noticed I was getting wet. Turns out the speed was causing water to come in from the bottom of the windshield and spray my hands on the wheel.

I bought the Major Guard used vehicle insurance, but it doesn't cover wind noise. Figured it'd cover broken-*** windshield though. Took it to the dealer and they said it was a replacement windshield that was installed wrong and that Major Guard wouldn't cover a non OEM windshield. Luckily, the dealer covered the cost for me since I bought it from them.

My question is, what does Certified Used Vehicle mean really? Shouldn't it mean that it is as close as possible to 'new'? Wouldn't it by default cover what was on the vehicle (aside from add-ons and personalizations) at the time I purchased it? If it wasn't for a dealer in a good mood, I could have been stuck with footing the bill on my own.

 

I would say that it meant, the dealership had gone through an "X" amount of checkpoints, checked everything visually and says that vehicle is inspectable and should stand behind this vehicle. I would say you got lucky with the windshield, where the dealer replaced it, alot of dealers would not have done that. Hope you enjoy your truck, Jim

 

basicaly,it does not mean ****.

Gm presses dealers to go thru this 32 pt inspection thing...us techs would be willing to do it..for the upsells....but you know salesmen,they rarely bring the cars to the shop

 

Well, that makes me feel better[:'(]

I would have thought they would have brought it into the shop at least to make it 'certified'. Perhaps GM should actually make dealers submit a sheet saying what's 'right' with the vehicle (what's checked out) so that a buyer can have some reassurance that if one of those things is 'broken' that they'll get fixed free.

Thanks again Argon

 

Do you have the option to buy the major guard warranty after the initial purchase? I just bought my 05 and it is certified and the dealer said i could wait until the 3 month/3000 mile GM warranty ran out. Also, about how much do they run?

 

I got it at the place I bought the used vehicle from. I don't think you can get it until the 3 year has run out. It cost me $1200 for 2 years/25,000 miles. It's actually better than the original warranty, includes everything that isn't self inflicted. Heck, covers the struts if they leak on equipped vehicles. (Doesn't cover an aftermarket windshield though...)

From: http://www.gmprotectionplan.com/majorguard.html

Covers:
Parts and Labor Costs
Virtually every mechanical, electrical and electronic component of your vehicle is covered against failure even if it results from wear and tear*. You're covered for parts and labor on:

Roadside Assistance
Major Guard provides 24-hour-a-day roadside assistance anywhere in the United States and Canada by calling our toll-free number for:


Alternate Transportation
If your vehicle is repaired under Major Guard, you're covered for alternate transportation. Major Guard will pay the cost to rent a replacement vehicle or for public transportation (some limits apply)


Doesn't cover:
Brakes
Tires
Glass breakage
Manual Clutch Disk
etc

 

I know this is an old thread but I thought someone may do a search on certified cars and find this, so I thought I would explain what a GM certified car really is.
First of all it is a 117 point check, not 32. Second, the dealership decides which cars get certified, not the salesman.
At our dealership we sell mostly certified used GM vehicles. We can sell any GM vehicle as a certified car or truck except for the Caddys. (They can only be certified by a Caddy dealer.) The same used to be true with Saturn, but as they went belly up we now do them too.
As for the windshield problem, if you had contacted GM you would have found the dealer would have HAD to replace it for you. Replacement or not. In fact it should never have passed the certification in the first place and should have been replaced before it was sold.
As for warranty, "everything" is covered on a certified car for the first 12 months 12,000 miles, including rotors and wiper blades and even bulbs. Same as if it were "a brand new car." The warranty on the drivetrain after the 12/12 is up however is the remainder of the 5 years from original date of purchass by the original owner or 100,000 miles, which ever comes first That also includes roadside assistance for the entire time.
It costs the dealer approx $500 per vehicle to make a car GM certified, not counting the repairs it may need to reach that point. We are inspected every 3 month by GM to make sure we hold up our end of the inspection and certification because a certified GM car IS covered "anyplace in the USA at ANY GM dealer." With ZERO deductable on both the full coverage, and the powertrain. As GM PAYS for these repairs, they are going to make sure what the dealer sells DOES pass the 117 point inspection or they will revoke their right to sell a car as a GM certified car.

Buying a major guard warranty does NOT make it a certified car. I agree, it IS a good idea to buy the extended warranty, and no, the salesman does not make a commission on it normally, the F&I guy does howver. That is why HE is the one pushing it to you. We as salespeople like that you buy it simply because if something goes wrong on a "non certified car" you will be taken care of by the warranty and not blame us for selling it to you. I dont usually recommend a person buy a extended warranty on a certified car because that warranty runs along at the same time the extended one does..so to ME you are just wasting 12 months that would have been paid for by GM to begin with. Wait until the Certified warranty expires and then pick up the extended warranty from the dealer or from GM directly. And yes, you can by it from the dealer at ANY TIME, before or after the warranty has expired up to a certain number of miles. The higher the milage on the vehicle the more the warranty will cost of course, depending on the length of time you decide to buy it for, and what you want it to cover. Complete coverage, or just powertrain.
As for the guys in the back having a chance to UP SELL the salesmen, that is a fact. It is because of this that many cars are NOT sold as certified cars. I had service reps tell me it would cost over $5000 to certify a 2005 impala with 42K on the odometer just last week!! I drove the car, I think I would have noticed if it needed five grand worth of work!! (Especially when I wholesaled the car because of what the shop bill WOULD HAVE COST, and the people in the back then TRIED to buy it from the wholesaler cheap.) They would not sell it to them of course, because they knew it did not need anyplace close to that much in repairs. I was told later by the person that retailed it that it needed new brakes all the way around and a set of tires. that was it.
You have to remember folks, service departments make a LOT more money from the used car department in a big dealership than they ever will from warranty work or customer repairs. Most customers do not bring their cars back to the dealer once the warranty expires, they have it done else where because it is almost always a LOT cheaper than at the dealer.
I hope this clears up what a real GM Certifed Used Car is, and what is covered on them. Everything..simple as that. I know this because for the last 5 months I have been the number one "certified" used car salesman in our north east zone. I sell them only because I believe in them.
Thank you for your time. If you have any questions you are welcome to contact me.