Your work regarding both original warranties and service contracts does not stop with your purchase.
June 3, 2006 (Press Release) --
Your work regarding both original warranties and service contracts does not stop with your purchase. To make sure both remain effective, you have to care for your vehicle. In particular, you must keep up with regular maintenance.
“Customers frequently misunderstand their responsibilities to maintain the vehicle,” says Joyce Nolan of General Motors. “Read the service and owners manuals. Follow the recommended service schedule,” she advises. “If we can attribute the repair needed to a lack of maintenance, we maintain the right to refuse a warranty claim. If you’ve made an effort to maintain the vehicle, we give you the benefit of the doubt.”
That doesn’t mean you have to rely on a dealer for service. But you have to be able to demonstrate service has been routinely performed.
“You need some kind of documentation. Keep receipts, and keep a log,” advises John Paul, a spokesman for AAA of Southern New England and a former warranty-dispute arbitrator for the Alternative Dispute Settlement Board. Also, he says, understand that you have to cover the replacement of parts that are expected to wear, such as brakes, clutch components and wiper blades.
He points out that, in many states, lemon laws give you a final recourse if warranty claims don’t satisfy you. In Massachusetts, one state in which Paul handled arbitrations, the lemon law gives manufacturers three tries to fix a significant problem. The law also stipulates that cars laid up for excessive periods for warranty repairs have to be bought back by the company.
Paul witnessed one case in which a Connecticut buyer of a Lincoln Town Car felt dissatisfied with AM radio reception. After returning to his dealer three times for repairs, he filed a claim under lemon-law provisions. “Did that person deserve a new car because AM radio didn’t work well? Probably not, but the consumer seemed to think so,” says Paul. His claim was denied.
But in another case, a buyer of a Ford Excursion SUV experienced repeated failures of the vehicle’s 6.0-liter diesel engine. Eventually Ford agreed to replace the engine, but a replacement wasn’t immediately available. “Under the new vehicle warranty, the manufacturer said, we’ll continue to service the vehicle,” recounts Paul. “But they were asking him to wait longer for a new engine.” Under the state’s lemon law, “he got his money back.”
Source: http://search.msn.com
Posted by Jeff Zygmont
“Customers frequently misunderstand their responsibilities to maintain the vehicle,” says Joyce Nolan of General Motors. “Read the service and owners manuals. Follow the recommended service schedule,” she advises. “If we can attribute the repair needed to a lack of maintenance, we maintain the right to refuse a warranty claim. If you’ve made an effort to maintain the vehicle, we give you the benefit of the doubt.”
That doesn’t mean you have to rely on a dealer for service. But you have to be able to demonstrate service has been routinely performed.
“You need some kind of documentation. Keep receipts, and keep a log,” advises John Paul, a spokesman for AAA of Southern New England and a former warranty-dispute arbitrator for the Alternative Dispute Settlement Board. Also, he says, understand that you have to cover the replacement of parts that are expected to wear, such as brakes, clutch components and wiper blades.
He points out that, in many states, lemon laws give you a final recourse if warranty claims don’t satisfy you. In Massachusetts, one state in which Paul handled arbitrations, the lemon law gives manufacturers three tries to fix a significant problem. The law also stipulates that cars laid up for excessive periods for warranty repairs have to be bought back by the company.
Paul witnessed one case in which a Connecticut buyer of a Lincoln Town Car felt dissatisfied with AM radio reception. After returning to his dealer three times for repairs, he filed a claim under lemon-law provisions. “Did that person deserve a new car because AM radio didn’t work well? Probably not, but the consumer seemed to think so,” says Paul. His claim was denied.
But in another case, a buyer of a Ford Excursion SUV experienced repeated failures of the vehicle’s 6.0-liter diesel engine. Eventually Ford agreed to replace the engine, but a replacement wasn’t immediately available. “Under the new vehicle warranty, the manufacturer said, we’ll continue to service the vehicle,” recounts Paul. “But they were asking him to wait longer for a new engine.” Under the state’s lemon law, “he got his money back.”
Source: http://search.msn.com
Posted by Jeff Zygmont
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