If the big 3 declare bankruptcy are warranties ok?

acruxksa

Just asking for thoughts on this. I was wondering how a bankruptcy filing from one of the big three automakers would affect warranties on the cars they've already sold. I'm betting it could get ugly!

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:59:54 Post Subject:

Could be scary!

But, mine seems about worthless anyway. I haven't had big issues, but the dealer has successfully made the small ones so annoying that I won't go back to them for anything.

mrweasel · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:55:36 Post Subject:

warranties shouldn't be affected just for bankruptcy....if they fold, someone will buy up the assets and they'll cover the warranties.

BeerCheeze · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:32:40 Post Subject:

They won't fold (fed's won't let them), and I doubt the warranties would be voided. Specially the extended ones.

Biggest thing the government needs to do is calm people's fears right now, so a lot of bad stuff that could happen the government can't let happen.

FOX · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:46:42 Post Subject:

the media is zero help in this as well... they just put fear into everyone. I can see one company going away but not all of them... If I had to guess I would say Dodge will disappear. I don't see any of those where I am anymore and repairs are spendy on those from what I hear. But, I don't know the financials from any company

acruxksa · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:26:20 Post Subject:

I can't really imagine them folding, but I definitely could see a bankruptcy, restructuring scenario. I'm not really looking for a new car myself and the vehicles I have wouldn't be affected if they did lose their warranties, but if I were to buy a new vehicle I don't think I would do it until after the dust settles. If I'm wondering about it you can bet others are too, which can't be good for current sales.

FOX · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:29:16 Post Subject:

im never buying an american vehicle again. When you compare costs vs some of the euro cars or even japanese cars it doesnt seem as appealing. They wouldnt be in such hurt if they would stop making crap vehicles like the hhr and ssr or whatever its called. Stupid milk truck ffrom 50 years ago and that half truck/ car thing.... They are incredibly ugly and they cost far too much for what they are. Aside from the vettes and supercharged cars theres nothing that american vehicles have going for them. They all handle poorly including the new z06 vette... Its sad imo

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:40:26 Post Subject:

Don't be talking junk about the big bodied American sedans now! (300, Charger). Laughing

The big hurt has to be the union labor rates... The big three pay close to double what Toyota pays people in the US. And it isn't like the Toyota people are under paid.

BeerCheeze · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:18:13 Post Subject:

acruxksa · Posted: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:01:25 Post Subject:

Many European and Japanese cars are in fact made right here in the USA so it's not like we as a country can't put out a quality product. It's just that somewhere along the line the big three lost focus. As much as I like the muscle cars and would love to have a Charger, Chrysler/Dodge has some of the worst gas hogs around. GM and Ford are no better either, I've got friends with GM trucks (6.0l gas engine) that literally get 13 or 14mpg on the highway. The Hummers are even worse!

Unions aren't all bad, I'm in a union and have to say I do quite well, although I benefit more from a high cost of entry and certification (in terms of time and money) in my field than the union. In some cases though, they can fail to be reasonable and end up squeezing companies out of business rather than realizing things need to change. The differences in labor contracts can also be partially attributed to location, generally it's much cheaper to live in the Southern US than in the North East. This trend toward the Southern States is also in jeopardy though, because I've read studies done by some foreign auto manufacturers that point to Canada as a better choice because of a generally higher level of education in the workforce at the same or slightly lower overall cost.

It's not all the Unions though because there are literally hundreds of occasions where unions were told they needed to make concessions to keep the company alive and were happy to do so, only to have management take huge bonus's for saving the company money. Continental Airlines was a nice semi-recent example. The pilots took a small wage reduction and management turned around and sent themselves millions of dollars in bonus's and pay raises. Sort of like Congress cutting our pay by raising taxes and then voting behind closed doors to give themselves a pay raise.