I'm talking service, repair, warranty.... I've heard from all the "experts" (Congress, CEOs, UAW, etc.) about not letting them fail, but IF they do (and it's still a STRONG possiblity in light of yesterday's abysssssssmal December sales results), what does someone do if they have issues with an in-warranty car? I've heard nothing about alloting $$ to service any cars in the future.

Does this mean we go to Joe's Car Shop and he does the work? Will there still be functioning dealership service shops? Should we demand another $10K OFF a car when we buy American since we'll have to foot the bill for EVERY issue?

I may have been sleeping too much the last 3 months but I have yet to hear anything on this.....

 

I dont think warrenty is gonna be an issue, most warenties are actually from the dealerships themselves, most of not all car companies have a 1 year unlimited warrenty anything after that is dealer based so if a dealer decides after that one year to not give u a warrenty then they wont.......but thats not smart considering that most of there money is made from parts and repair sales compared to selling a car.

 

Here's my example- I buy a Vette, GM fails & goes under, GM dealership where I bought my car closes (and other dealerships as well), my wind shield wipers stop working 6 months into my purchase: WHO FIXES THEM???

 

Independent mechanic would become your best friend

 

That's what I figured...

 

You've been asleep we have talked about this in detail in a few threads. I will merge soon

Oh, if they fail, the economy will be in the dumps for at least 10 years.

 

I know Sick, I posted on the Big 3 stories several times ... I'm talking service... I'll run a search....

 

Define what you mean by "fail"? If you mean one or more of them files bankruptcy, then it detemines bankruptcy they file under. Assuming it is not liquidation, they will have to provide a plan for their restructuring to become viable that would be overseen by the court. To think that anyone of the dimwits running GFC would think they could survive by abandoning current vehicle owners stretches credibility. So whoever was in bankruptcy court would have to say how they are going to reimburse dealers for warranty repairs. As a vehicle owner, you probably would never know anything happened unless your dealer is a real schmuck and is looking for any reason to not do work and then get in line for reimbursement. In which case you would need to look for a better dealer.

If one or more were to liquidate, it depends who acquires the assets and whether they will continue to operate the company as a going concern or sell off the assets. Ultimately my guess would be that the taxpayer would step right up and pay for the warranty claims on those existing vehicles that the companies were not able to cover. Of course you will put up with a long time of really getting upset and if you hang onto the car instead of giving your business to a company who will be around to support you, you obviously are fine with that situation.

 

My fear (not personally, I don't own American), as far as things have gone, is now liquidation. I don't see $17 billion pulling GM & Chrysler out of their tailspin, and said $17 billion pushes things past the point of no return. My thought was if one were to buy now, and get a hellacious deal, as AllenK mentioned better get "Buddy buddy" with your local mechanic. As for acquisition, I'm not sure as to what warranty, if any, would be required to be honored by the aquirer....

 

There was a time when I had a soft spot for GFC but that is pretty much gone now. I haven't seen very many people that are enthusiastic about tossing taxpayer money at them other than those who are one way or another financially intertwined with them. Maybe they work for them or have a relative that does or is retired or work for one of their suppliers, etc. But purely speaking as a consumer, I sure wouldn't be looking at a GFC car regardless of the deal or financing. Even if they survive it isn't clear what brands/models will survive and how soon they will be obsoleted. And that's a lot to get to before you get worried about warranty.

Whatever reasons I can come up with to look at a GFC car I can come up with just as many to shop the competition. My wife was commenting the other day that a Fusion we were following wasn't a bad looking car. Now I don't want to get all wound up in what the Fusion competes with but I asked her if she were in that market, would she get one over a Camry or Accord? Any guess what the answer was? GFC should earn customers not buy them, be given them, or "expect" them. And that could take a while.

 

So, I guess we are agreeing that, no matter what the circumstance, you would be in a world of hurt not only at purchase, but anything having to do with long-term ownership....

With that equation- how in the hell do they have a chance at survival? So back to my point: Treasury/Bush dropped $17 billion on them= bottomless pit

Is someone finally going to scream, "ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!"

 

I don't have a feeling we disagree at all. But I am not trying to say that anyone buying a GFC car is defintely going to have warranty service issues because one or more are definitely going to wind up in bankruptcy. My point is much more straight forward. If I am spending my money on a car, I don't want to even think about such a concern. And there is nothing that GFC offers that I can't find and equivalent or superior product for. When I am buying a car, I have no desire whatsoever in buying decades worth of somebody else's problems. If GFC really cared about their customers, this would be a non event. They could offer an outside warranty with every vehicle purchased right now that would take effect in the event of that particular company's filing bankruptcy. It might cost them some bucks but in order to get sales they better come up with a better reason than funding UAW retiree pensions.

 

The biggest problem you would face will be the immediate shortage of parts, an often ignored fact by those who prefer chapter 11 or 7 for the big 3 is that parts suppliers are teetering on bankruptcy as well, if even a percentage of the money they are owed is dismissed by a court they most likely go under, since transplants and domestics share the same suppliers longer repair times and premium price for replacement parts will be in order as well much higher costs for transplants who will then pass them on to the consumer.

 

In a perverse twist, the people who would most likely get caught would be those with older (in which case they don't care much about the warranty issue) or very new models. The new models that have items that are not shared with any previous models could be in a world of hurt. Like I said, not an issue that I have any desire to be anywhere in my mind when I go car shopping.

 

Spoke with a GM dealership owner (30 years in our town) at lunch while checking out some Vettes. He says he's been assured the gov't, no matter the type of bankruptcy, will allocate funds to honor any warranties regardless of what happens. I said, "What if they don't? What if the new "owner" doesn't want to honor these warranties?" Said he'd honor them even if they didn't sell the line any longer. I said, "With all respect, if you and GM go under, that's worth about nothing". He said, " As far as Chevy goes, don't worry."

Interesting.....