Help! - Need some Advice....

Here's the story...

I have a '06 Vue (4cyl, 5spd) I bought in 11/05. I do a lot of driving and
my wife talked me into an extended warranty for it (6yr/64K). I'm just
approaching 36K now.

The problem is that the dealer I bought the car and the extended warranty
from closed (Saturn of Medford, NY) 8 months after I bought the car.
Anyway, a new dealer just opened (Saturn of Smithtown) a bit further away
and I'm having a grinding/rubber band noise out of the steering column when
I turn the wheel in either direction and a slight whistle noise when I turn
it to the left. No problem I thought, I'm covered. Well, the new Saturn
dealer ran my VIN and told me that the extended warranty company Saturn of
Medford had sold me is now also defunct and also out of business. So what
does that mean to me? They told me basically that I'm screwed and the car
is only covered to 36K.

Does this sound legal to anyone? An Authorized Dealer of Saturn sold me an
Authorized Extended warranty service THROUGH Saturn when I bought the car
that I am still paying for in the form of a higher monthly bill/loan, and
I'm being told "we're still taking the extra money because you agreed to it
at the time of the sale, but you don't get the service" Since Saturn sold
me the extended warranty, shouldn't they be responsible for picking up the
warranty should something like the above happen?? If not, this is real
Bullshit...

Something is not right or fair about this.

IYM

 

Hi, IYM,
Sorry to hear of your problem.
Have you contacted Saturn Customer Support to ask them about this? I forget the number but it should be in your
owner's manual.

 

First, call your X-tended Warranty company yourself, cut out the middlemen
and get the facts straight from them: What type of warranty you purchased,
what exactly it covers and doesn't cover and dates & miles of coverage.
Also, ask them if what you are trying to fix is covered.

Second, if you are covered, go straight to the Service Manager or Store
Manager and calmly explain your situation (remember, you attract more flies
with honey). Explain to him that you have already called your extended
warranty company and you should be covered (if such is the case).

Third, if they still refuse to provide you with a viable solution, explain
to the manager that you intend to call Saturn Customer Service and file a
complaint against them. This is a last resort only and should resolve your
problem hopefully. Saturn Extended Warranties are useable at any Saturn
dealer and should be honored, that is unless you don't have a real Saturn
Warranty somehow.

 

If you bought the Saturn warranty it is honored at any Saturn
dealership. If you bought a third party warranty and they no longer
exist then you got "a big problem". If you buy an extended warranty
always make sure you get the one from the manufacturer.

Assuming this is a third party warranty:
Keep in mind you didn't buy anything from Saturn. Saturn sold the car
to a dealer who sold it to you. The dealers is an independent
business and that is who you bought the car and warranty from.
The dealer you bought the car from paid for the warranty at the time
you bought the car. Saturn corporate wasn't involved in the
transaction and didn't make any money off of it. They can't give your
money back because they don't have it...

A similar situation would be if you bought an HP printer from Office
Depot with a third party warranty. If Office Depot and the third
party warranty go out of business your are left holding the bag. HP
will still fix your printer for you but you have to pay.

This really sucks and it has to be causing more people than you grief.
You might give your atty. general office a call and see if they are
aware of anything regarding this situation.

Steve B.

 

OK - I have a feeling it's a third party warranty, as when the new dealer
checked, he ran the VIN and could tell me that it wasn't with Saturn itself.
I'm really pissed because the original dealer never said anything about a
third party. It's my fault I guess that I didn't look carefully at the name
on the sheet when I signed, but when your buying, there's so much paperwork
from different organizations (banks, etc) that I must have missed it.

Now that said, what if the dealer was still in business but the warranty
company was out? Is the dealer liable to do something? The reason I ask is
that Saturn of Medford was owned by "DCH Auto Group", which owns a lot of
dealers including 2 other Saturn dealers. Wonder if one of the other DCH
owned Saturn dealers is liable to cover me....They always advertised "3
Saturn locations", although the other 2 are nowhere near me. Guess I should
start there....

IYM