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Jul 22, 2023

CarShield Silver Plan Coverage and Cost (2023 Guide)

Alex is a MarketWatch Guides team writer that covers automotive and personal finance topics. She’s worked as a content writer for over a dozen car dealerships across the U.S. and as a contributor to

Alex is a MarketWatch Guides team writer that covers automotive and personal finance topics. She’s worked as a content writer for over a dozen car dealerships across the U.S. and as a contributor to several major auto news websites.

Rashawn Mitchner is a MarketWatch Guides team editor with over 10 years of experience covering personal finance, loans, insurance and warranty topics.

Touted as the company’s most affordable extended warranty plan, the CarShield Silver plan provides basic powertrain coverage for vehicles. In this article, we at the MarketWatch Guides team will explain the specifics of the CarShield Silver plan, discussing its cost, coverage and benefits in depth. If you want to know more about what CarShield offers, read our detailed CarShield review.

Key Takeaways:

The MarketWatch Guides Team is committed to providing reliable information to help you make the best possible decision about a warranty for your vehicle. Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best extended car warranty companies. We collected data on dozens of auto warranty providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. After 500 hours of research, the end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the companies that scored the most points topping the list.

Learn more about our methodology.

The CarShield Silver extended auto warranty is the cheapest warranty the company offers, according to its website. It functions as a lower-tier powertrain plan, only covering your vehicle’s essential components.

The Silver plan is a slightly scaled-down version of the powertrain plus coverage provided by the Gold plan, which covers the bulk of mechanical parts that are difficult to fix if your vehicle has a mechanical breakdown. The Silver plan can be a good fit for those who drive used cars and want a basic form of coverage to protect against unexpected repairs.

The Silver plan provides coverage for car repairs to a vehicle’s major systems. Of all six CarShield plans, this provides the most basic coverage. It covers components in the:

Below, we outline which covered repairs are protected under warranty.

CarShield provides sample contracts online that clearly outline coverage and exclusions for all levels of coverage.

CarShield Silver

Your CarShield Silver contract will explicitly detail what is and isn’t covered under warranty. For example, the Silver contract won’t cover auto repairs if you made modifications that could increase the risk of a mechanical breakdown, or if you misused the car for rougher activities like street racing.

The CarShield Silver plan excludes items that naturally wear out over time (like tires and brake pads). The plan also doesn’t cover damages caused by:

Specific components that are excluded in the CarShield Silver plan but are covered in other CarShield plans include:

The Silver plan is described as the cheapest CarShield extended warranty. In our research, our editorial team reached out to CarShield for a free quote and found that the Silver plan tends to average around $90 per month, whether you’re making monthly payments or on a set period plan. See the quotes we received for Silver plan coverage in the table below.

You can expect to pay a deductible for car repairs with your Silver plan, along with a down payment when you purchase CarShield coverage. This usually equates to the first month of the plan.

There are two main ways to get a free quote from CarShield for the Silver plan. You can reach out to the company by phone or fill out the contact form on its website. You’ll need the following information to receive a quote:

The CarShield representative will then use this information to give you a personalized extended warranty quote for the Silver plan or any other CarShield vehicle service contracts you’re interested in.

Along with the coverage and cost information provided above, the CarShield Silver plan also comes with several benefits. This section will provide additional information on perks, coverage transferability and the claims process.

As with other extended warranty providers, CarShield offers plan benefits with its Silver contract. You’d get the following additional benefits with the CarShield Silver plan:

In most cases, you can transfer your CarShield Silver plan to a new vehicle owner or new car. To transfer coverage, you’ll need to submit the following documentation to CarShield:

With all CarShield coverage options, there’s a waiting period before your warranty goes into effect. This is because CarShield wants to ensure there are no pre-existing conditions that will be covered under warranty. For the Silver plan’s coverage to kick in, you must wait 30 days and 1,000 miles from the contract’s effective date.

CarShield must approve any covered repairs before work can begin on your vehicle. Here are some steps to take into consideration if you file a claim with CarShield for your Silver plan:

While today’s cars are built with durability in mind, mechanical breakdowns do happen. The CarShield Silver vehicle service contract is an affordable plan for those who want basic coverage for older vehicles. It covers all major vehicle components, like the engine and transmission, which can help keep you covered and keep your car on the road longer.

Below are frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the CarShield Silver plan:

In our research, we found that the CarShield Silver plan covers six major systems. Most components are covered in the engine, transmission/transaxle, turbocharger/supercharger, cooling system, transfer case and drive axle.

There are several components not covered under the Silver plan, as it’s the lowest-tier powertrain warranty plan offered by CarShield. We found items like the fuel pump, engine control module and brake pads are not included.

No, the CarShield Silver plan doesn’t cover motorcycles and ATVs. However, CarShield does offer a specific Motorcycle & ATV plan that’s designed for specialty vehicles like motorcycles, mopeds, RVs and more.

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best extended car warranty companies. We collected data on dozens of auto warranty providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the companies that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

Our credentials:

*Data accurate at time of publication.