Saab suspends all warranty coverage indefinitely - GM comes to the rescue

The Saab brand officially appears to be dead with government aided bankruptcy and liquidation processes well under way, but things have just gotten worse for current owners and Saab dealerships as the Swedish automaker has announced that all standing warranties on privately owned vehicles will no longer be honored and new vehicles sold from now on will not come with any of the warranties previously offered.

According to the people at Automotive News from a statement issued yesterday by Saab, "warranty coverage is suspended indefinitely for all new Saab vehicles sold. During this period, the warranty booklet must be removed from the owner information packet. For any vehicle sold or leased during this period, the customer should be affirmatively advised that the vehicle does not carry any warranty coverage and is sold 'as is.'" This means that if you buy a new Saab vehicle, there is absolutely no warranty of any kind so someone buys a new Saab today and the car breaks down tomorrow – the owner will have to foot the bill for repairs. Needless to say, this is going to make selling the remaining Saab vehicles in dealerships around the country.

Also, Saab has announced that it has “suspended” any processing or payments related to warranty claims on privately owned vehicles including basic new-car warranties, powertrain warranties, emission warranties, safety belts and airbags issues, towing, recalls, service campaigns, certified pre-owned coverage, and their no-charge maintenance. Saab suggests that owners keep receipts of all work that would have normally been covered by the company warranty contracts “until further notice” – so maybe the company hopes to be able to reimburse owners in the near future…or maybe Saab just doesn’t want to come right out and admit that they have burned the few loyal customers who bought a new Saab vehicle in the past few years by removing the warranty contract that was issued when the vehicle was purchased. 2011 Saab models all came with a 4 year, 50,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty which included roadside assistance and towing along with a 3 year, 36,000 mile no-charge scheduled maintenance program.

The good news for current Saab owners comes from General Motors, who has stated that they will honor warranties issued on Saab vehicles when they were marketed and sold by the American automaker. GM took over Saab in 1989 and vehicles as new as the 2010 model year could fall into this category so if you bought your Saab before GM sold the company to Spyker, you might still be able to get warranty work done free of charge through GM dealerships. GM issued this official statement on the topic of Saab warranty concerns:
"In the event Saab cannot or will not fulfill its obligations to administer the warranty programs with its U.S. and Canadian dealers through Saab Cars North America or otherwise, GM will take necessary steps to ensure that remaining warranty obligations on Saab vehicles marketed by GM in the United States and Canada will be honored." GM hasn’t given any specifics on how they will manage this but the fact that they are have something in mind for those folks who bought Saab vehicles from a GM dealership prior to 2011. This is a smart move by GM, who is being (foolishly) blamed by some Saab owners for the demise of the Saab brand after preventing several investment deals with Chinese firms.

However, if you bought a new Saab this year…you might be stuck paying for every cent of repairs as even dealerships are not expecting reimbursement as the company is liquidated.

Other Saab News:
Swedish automaker Saab files for Bankruptcy
Saab receives salvation in the form of cash from Chinese firm
Saab sold to Chinese companies Pang Da and Youngman
Saab chooses to cancel $340mil investment deal with Chinese firms
Saab receives a multi-million lifeline from the United States
Swedish Automobiles sells Spyker Cars to US equity firm
A third Swedish labor union demanding Saab bankruptcy

Source: Automotive News