Extended Warranty Solicitations
The last few months have brought a lot of stories online and on TV about service contract / extended warranty solicitations.
The solicitations are coming in by both phone and in the mailbox. You even get them in your email too but who really gives them a look?
The solicitations usually tell you that your warranty is about to expire and they’re going to offer you a really great deal on a warranty.
Don’t buy into it. They don’t know if your warranty is up or not. They would have to have a great database to pull that information from or get the information from the automaker or dealer and none of that is happening.
No one really seems to have a handle on where they’re coming from but it’s likely from a few to maybe as few as one company responsible for it all.
If you do get solicited for a warranty by phone, you’re better off not answering the phone at all and if you do, just hang up. There’s no reason to listen to someone reading a phone script telling you that you’re warranty is about to expire when your only vehicle is likely well past the warranty period.
You will also want to throw out any of the mailings you get.
It’s unlikely that companies that solicit extended warranty coverage this way will be there for you when the time to make a claim comes.
Saab Changes Warranty for 2009
With the 2007 model year vehicles, GM introduced the 5-year / 100,000-mile powertrain warranty and brought Saab closer to copying the warranty coverage of all the GM makes.
It looks like that is changing for the 2009 model year.
For 2009, Saab is going back to future by rolling back to some of the same warranty coverage that was offered prior to 2007.
A separate powertrain warranty will not be offered but powertrain components will be included as part of the 4-year/50,000-mile bumper to bumper warranty. Roadside assistance and courtesy transportation will also be covered for the same period.
In 2007 and 2008, Saabs were covered by a 5-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Included in that is roadside assistance and courtesy transportation.
This announcement comes on the same day that General Motor’s CEO Rick Wagoner said it has no plans on selling Saab and would begin manufacturing Saabs in the United States. Saab has some new products coming online in late 2009 and it appears one of those new products will be produced at a plant in the U.S.
7/28/08: To clarify, not only will the powertrain coverage drop from 5/100 to 4/50 but so will roadside assistance and courtesy transportation
Report of Heritage Warranty Risk Retention Group assets being seized
Automotive News is reporting that the South Carolina Department of Insurance is seizing the assets of Heritage Warranty Risk Retention Group.
No news of this is posted on the South Carolina Department of Insurance web site yet. More to come.
Update 7/28/08: The Automotive News report says that the South Carolina Department of Insurance filed suit against Heriage Warranty Risk Retention Group asking a state court to shut down the company and turn over its property to the Department of Insurance.
I sent an email to Ann Roberson, Public Information Officer for the South Carolina Department of Insurance, asking her if there was any information she could provide me on this. Her response was “I do not have any iinformation regarding your request for information.”
An email to Scott Richardson, Director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance, went unanswered.
The hunt for information goes on.
Update: Read our latest information on Heritage here:
http://www.autowarrantyinsight.com/2008/09/04/heritage-warranty-is-in-a-legal-tangle-with-south-carolina/
Note: I’m seeing a lot of visits from a network that looks like it’s the network for Heritage. I’d appreciate it if someone from Heritage would contact me so some of information I’m hearing can be clarified.
Lamborghini Certified Pre-Owned Program
It looks like Lamborghini is entering the certified pre-owned fray with their own offering starting this month.
Dealers will be able to certify Murciélago and Gallardo sports cars that meet certain criteria.
The vehicles will have less than 22,000 miles, include full documentation of all maintenance performed and pass a 150-point inspection.
Details on the warranty coverage don’t seem clear yet but it’s expected a comprehensive warranty and roadside assistance will be part of the deal.
Gregg Tompkins has been working
in the automotive industry for
21 years focusing on warranty
administration. He is bringing
his knowledge and insight of
warranty to the public through
this blog.
