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Originally Posted by wolf
... we had missed seeing this, it's our fault for not checking, but there's these springs in your rear suspension, and it broke and the sharp end was poking right into the tire. It didn't flatten your spare because that's a smaller tire and it didn't touch it, but the full size tire just popped."
Ah-hah. Here it comes.
"So, since we've seen this happen a couple of times, well, we're going to replace that spring like it was under the warranty."
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Nothing new in her story. Better automobile companies have identified design failures AND therefore warranty that part for vehicle life - if you are an original owner. Some companies now extend that warranty to second owners.
A Honda Accord about 9.5 years old with 98,000 miles on it when I noticed a rusty support bar. Asked dealer if that was a problem. It was a $400 part that attaches to front suspension, steering, and engine. They told me that should not have happened and that the part would be replaced for free. Free - and this was almost 20 years ago.
Meanwhile I also worked as a parts department manager. They told me to get out my warranty parts because GM was sending someone to negotiate. Negotiate? Yeph. We got about $0.20 to $0.25 for every dollar of warranty. I believe DeLorean discussed this in his book. GM decided that dealer profits were too high. Therefore GM dumped warranty costs on dealers. If you took a warranty problem to the dealer, then dealer must do everything possible to dump that warranty cost on you. This directly traceable to GM that too long has been run by bean counters.
Recently discussed this history with a parts department man. GM has started doing this 'dump warranty costs on dealer' again. After fixing problems on (not yet sold) cars, GM sent an inspector to verify those repairs. Two cars were found with tire pressures less than 2 pounds below minimum level. Therefore all warranty work on both cars would not be honored by GM.
Ask yourself why any car arrives at the dealer requiring rework. GM still has this serious problem.
Was the car designed by a car guy or by a bean counter? Bean counters view warranties as an expense. Car guys regard such problems as a corporate mistake - to be corrected by the company. Getting a warranty problem solved has little to do with the dealer and more with whether the manufacturer is product oriented.
Wolf cited a Ford. "Quality is Job #1" means the management is product oriented. GM executives come almost entirely from finance departments which is why such 'extended' warranties become difficult to learn about and to have honored. Wolf's story should be common today among most auto makers.