Rule # 1 Never pass through the door of a dealership after the warranty period.
Rule # 2 Never buy a product with a warranty in order to force rule #1 into effect from day 1 of ownership.
It is not just the Auto industry or only in the USA. Over ½ of all of the products that we have bought in the last 2 years have experienced at least 1 in-warranty failure. Each failure has resulted in a fight to obtain the service that is guaranteed by the warranty.
The worst offenders are BMW, Mercedes and Phillips. I am still under a court order not to talk about the CSi 850 but it is public knowledge that someone was killed as a result of an ongoing in-warranty complaint.
Phillips charges me $0.50/min. when I call their service line to get a service authorization for our plasma TV that has been in the shop 4 times in less than a year and is not useable. At least it is not likely to kill anybody.
Bosch gave me a new hedge trimmer last week after the one I bought in June had been in the shop 3 times without being repaired. (Now the hedges will not need trimming until spring and I had to buy another one during the summer so both will be out of warranty the next time they are used.)
The chuck on the precision drill press/mill we purchased last year self-destructed in less than 10 hours of use. Parts have been on order for more than 5 months.
Thermodyne will not respond to email, snail mail or telephone calls.
The last time I was at Mercedes-Benz/Chrysler´s local service center the Service Manager said these words.
¨These new cars are just too complicated for us to work on¨. EXCUSE ME doesn’t that sign over your door say Mercedes Authorized Service?

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