Back in 2015, General Motors reduced its powertrain warranty on 2016 model-year GMC and Chevy vehicles from 5 years/100,000 miles (whichever came first) to 5 years/60,000 miles. At the time, some critics characterized the decision as a bad move, especially for GMC, which is considered to be more premium brand compared to Chevy. Now, however, eight years later, it appears as though the powertrain warranty reduction in 2015 made no difference in terms of sales for GMC.
When GM Authority covered GM’s 2015 decision to reduce the powertrain warranty on 2016 model-year GMC and Chevy vehicles, many readers chimed in with comments calling the decision a major mistake. Fast forward to today, though, and the decision does not appear to have had any sort of impact on sales, which remained more or less consistent after the decision was made.
Total GMC sales numbers for the 2015 calendar year in the U.S. market amounted to 558,697 units, followed by 546,628 units in 2016, 560,687 units in 2017, 556,449 units in 2018, and 564,946 units in 2019. Sales dropped off in 2020 (515,311 units) and 2021 (482,437 units) due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related effects, but began to rebound in 2022 (517,649 units). Total GMC sales for the 2023 calendar year in the U.S. market amount to 429,481 units as of September.
Looking over a table of warranty coverage details, Big Red later reintroduced a 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty for certain engines, including the turbocharged 2.7L I4 L3B gasoline engine (2024 GMC Sierra 1500), as well as the 3.0L I6 LM2 turbodiesel Duramax engine and 3.0L I6 LZ0 turbodiesel Duramax engine (2021 and up model-year vehicles). Meanwhile, the Duramax 6.6L V8 LML and L5P engines kept the 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty throughout the time period in question.
Also notable is Big Red’s warranty coverage for its latest EV propulsion systems, which stands at an impressive 8 years/100,000 miles.
| Model Year | Bumper to Bumper | Powertrain – General | Powertrain – TurboMax 2.7L I4 L3B (Sierra 1500 Only) | Powertrain – Duramax 3.0L I6 LM2/LZ0 | Powertrain – Duramax 6.6L V8 LML/L5P | Propulsion – EV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | - | - | 5 years/100,000 miles | - |
| 2016 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | - | - | 5 years/100,000 miles | - |
| 2017 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | - | - | 5 years/100,000 miles | - |
| 2018 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | - | - | 5 years/100,000 miles | - |
| 2019 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | - |
| 2020 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | - |
| 2021 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | - |
| 2022 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | 8 years/100,000 miles |
| 2023 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | 8 years/100,000 miles |
| 2024 | 3 years/36,000 miles | 5 years/60,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | 5 years/100,000 miles | 8 years/100,000 miles |
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Comments
Speaking purely from the profit standpoint, it was a brilliant move.
GMC customers are typically younger in age and do not keep vehicles as long, therefore some buyers don’t care about the warranty length as they likely won’t have the vehicle then anyways.
Not true. I actually switched to Ram because of it.
Most buyers don’t know the warranty has been reduced. I didn’t know when I bought my 2021 GMC
I have a 2015, 5.3 with almost no problems so far with 77800 miles. Still runs almost like new after I changed no.4 spark plug and coil-wire . I get around 20-21 miles per gallon, and enjoy driving this pick-up. I like the looks of the new ones ,but thinking about 20-30 thousand difference, mine is not that bad !
That is only one of the reasons I’ve keeped my 2014 LTZ for 9 yr’s and counting. The price of trucks are ridiculous and can’t justify the expense even though I can easly afford it.
The manufacturers are just price gouging their customers untill sales start declining.
I had a 2015 GMC great truck. Just bought 2023 Durmax 3.o… love this truck even more
Here’s another good shocker for people that buy the 2500,3500 with duramax and Allison transmission your not getting a Allison transmission gm is lying to you gm stopped using the Allison when 10 speed come out its not a Allison gm and Ford developed it gm just bout the right to use Allison name for a while
I have a 2015 GMC Sierra 1500, at the I bought it I was looking to get the 2016 as they just arrived at the dealership. The dealership/sales manager told me about the change in the warranty. I bought the 2015 for the sole reason of the change with the warranty regarding the transmission.
This truck was mostly freeway driving, not pulling any trailers and around 30000 miles the transmission just died, I know it was still in that window the 2016 warranty would have cover but I lost my confidence that at 30,000 miles with a new one last?
I also have to agree with some of the comments before about the high cost of the new ones.