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April 04, 2009
Hunting for the Government Goodwrench Office
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Hunting for the Government Goodwrench Office
by Lee Cary
I’d like a new pickup truck and the GM models look nice. So I went hunting for the government office that will stand behind warranties, just in case.
So I searched for the government office I’d contact if GM didn’t do all I thought it should to honor the warranty on any new truck I might buy. I believe in contingency planning.
I looked for a phone number for the Federal Warranty Guarantee Service. None. How about a Department of Government Motors Vehicle Warranties (DGMVW) on the internet? Nope.
When you don’t know what animal you’re hunting, you go to the zoo and scan the options. I printed out a healthy list of agencies from the Federal Citizen Information Center on-line. A few looked promising.
I called the National Technical Information Service. I know the workers who repair vehicles in dealerships are often called “technicians.” The nice person at the NTIS told me they only sell scientific documents to the public. Strike one.
Next, I called the Consumer Product Safety Commission hot-line. If I have trouble getting my prospective vehicle repaired by the manufacturer, GM in this case, and I drive it – that’s can be safe, right? The nice person there said they couldn’t help. He suggested I call the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). At last I had a hard lead and felt like the third try would be the charm.
The nice man at the FTC said that, yeah, he’d heard the news that the federal government was going to stand behind GM and Chrysler warranties (I don’t like Chrysler trucks, sorry), but he’d heard no further information about it. And, he didn’t know anyone who had. He suggested I call my congressman. Strike three.
I gave it one more swing, and called the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. I explained the trouble I was having trying to find out how the U.S. government was going to stand behind vehicle warranties, and said I hoped that - since a vehicle on the highway that wasn’t operating properly because the warranty hadn’t been honored must surely represent a safety issue - maybe they could help me. No can do.
When President Obama declared that, from that day forward, the U.S. government would stand behind GM and Chrysler vehicle warranties, I suspect there was, and still is, no mechanism to do that.
I think I’ll just keep driving my old Toyota Tundra. It’s paid for.
Wild Thing's comment.........
Love how Lee Cary wrote this article.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at April 4, 2009 05:55 AM
Comments
Where in the heck did he get that the government can stand behind our vehicle warranties? Are they going to stand behind other warranties too--like for a tv, refrigerator, dishwashers, computers and electronic toys and hair dryers? To me, he's blowing bubbles out his ass and writing checks the governments butt can't cash and he has no idea what's really going on out here. I'd call him a shweinhund (pigdog) but that would be making fun of the pigdog.
Posted by: Lynn at April 4, 2009 06:41 AM
Well the first thing they'll do is form a committee to determine what there first step will be. Then call in experts to testify how best facilitate the repair warranty.
Then they'll call Henry Winkler, 'The Fonz' and George Lindsey, 'Goober', as their mechanical experts, after all they were X-pert mechanics in the shows they were in. So they can steer congress right off the cliff.
By the time any warrantys come due it will be time for another election. The honoring of the warranty will be nominal and afteral they tried, the typical liberal excuse for every failure.
So the consumer would be better off buying a Ford or Toyota, their warranties can be counted on. Especially Toyota, if the mechanic screws up he does the honorable thing and uses the 'short knife'.
Posted by: Mark at April 4, 2009 09:27 AM
Yep. "Paid for" covers a lot of warts.
Posted by: Rick at April 4, 2009 10:45 AM
Where's the warranty on good government? This government is broken down and (financially)broke.
Posted by: TomR at April 4, 2009 01:39 PM
Lynn, LOL good one and yes about the pigdog too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 4, 2009 05:47 PM
Mark, hahaha that is right, I lovoe hwo you put that, they will form a committee to determine what there first step will be, then another committee too I bet and another.
The nightmare of who we will call and the round around a person will get will be awful.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 4, 2009 05:50 PM
Rick, it sure does.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 4, 2009 05:52 PM
Tom, good one, exactly! I have no confidence in our government to do the right thing only to mess things up.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 4, 2009 05:55 PM
