New Car Warranties

“All Buick models come standard with the industry’s best coverage, including a four-year/50,000-mile vehicle warranty, and a five-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.”

And that good warranty is the most boring thing about Buick’s new models. Buick is reclaiming it’s prominence in
the car buying public’s consciousness by reintroducing Buick’s definition of “super”.

“Buick has rekindled a name from its storied 20th-century past to mark the beginning of a new level of refinement: Super. The badge is designated exclusively for Buick’s most premium, powerful models and returns to Buick vehicles after 50 years. It will debut on the 2008 model year LaCrosse and Lucerne sedans.

“We’re bringing back the Super badge to represent our most premium models,” said Steve Shannon, Buick general manager. “Our Supers are not just about increased horsepower; they represent an elevation in design, premium content and ride characteristics that are exclusive to the Super badge.”

GM Performance Division

The Supers are engineered for Buick by the GM Performance Division to inspire performance on demand. The LaCrosse Super is powered by a 300-horsepower (224 kW)* 5.3L small-block V-8 with GM’s Active Fuel Management technology. The LaCrosse Super’s chassis has been sport-tuned to deliver responsive handling characteristics, and the vehicle maintains Buick’s renowned quietness inside.

The Lucerne Super adds a more powerful version of the legendary 4.6L Northstar V-8. It is rated at 292 horsepower (218 kW)*, an increase of more than 6 percent over existing models. The Super has an enhanced chassis with a specially tuned version of Lucerne ’s Magnetic Ride Control system, for a refined, premium ride that simultaneously enables crisp, responsive handling.”
(Source)

Hyundai faces grave challenges even as they seek to become the world’s fifth largest car maker. Their chairman, Chung Mong Koo, privy to every decision made at Hyundai, faces a year long appeal and possible jail time stemming from charges of embezzlement.

Chung was pivotal to bringing Hyundai from being the “butt of jokes” to standing as a viable competitor to Toyota, hoping to soon introduce  Hyundai’s  new mystery luxury brand, the BH, to challenge Toyota’s Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Nissan Motor Co.’s Infiniti. Unfortunately Chou’s legal crisis has delayed that.

“Delays in such symbolic and significant projects as the BH are very negative for the company, especially when the head of company’s legal problems caused them,” says Hyun Hye Jung, an analyst at Woori Credit Suisse Asset Management Co. in Seoul, which manages $5.7 billion, including Hyundai Motor shares. “It’s such a critical period to become a real global player and further delays will hamper its growth.”

Chung, the son of Hyundai founder Chung Ju Yung, took office in December 1998 amid the Asian financial crisis. He immediately introduced a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty on vehicles sold in the U.S. to counter a sales slump.

Sales in the U.S. began rising the next year and increased fivefold from 1998 through 2005. The carmaker also improved the quality of its vehicles, ranking third among brands last year in J.D. Power & Associates’ annual study.”
(source)

From the humorously titled Chrysler Suicide Watch 10, to everyday folks sounding off on message boards, to Daimler Chrysler stock going up and GM seeming to retreat , to brooding speculation about what possible bidder Magna’s, choice of private equity partners could portend, Chrysler and it’s future has all of the pundits guessing.

“U.S. media reports have pointed to private equity firms Cerberus Capital Management and a group consisting of Blackstone Group LP and Centerbridge Capital Partners LP as the leading bidders for Chrysler.”

“The name Cerberus rung a bell from my school days; it’s the three-headed dog that guards the gate of Hades, ensuring “that all spirits could enter, but none could return.” Or, to borrow from the last line from Hotel California, the dog is “programmed to receive; you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
Not exactly the kind of vision that a Chrysler shop rat wants to see. Canadian Auto Workers boss Buzz Hargrove didn’t like that vision much-“That’s a big concern to us, because their history is to cut a lot of jobs, close a lot of plants, get lean and mean in a hurry to sell and make a lot of money for executives and throw a lot of people out of work.”

How does your Saturn look in the future? If you are Saturn fan, their 2007 Opel Gran Turismo Coupe Concept car should assure you that your loyalty will be rewarded.

From the Automobilemag.com review:

“In the past, a gorgeous Opel concept would have gotten us only mildly excited. Now that Saturn has been completely Opelized, this coupe has us running around screaming nonsensical things to the sidewalk walkers outside our windows. Called the Gran Turismo concept, it has a greenhouse that is very Infiniti G35, while the rest of it is fresh and beautiful while carrying over some styling cues from the current Vectra. And just look at those exhaust outlets-they’re as big as the taillights. The car’s turbocharged, 300 horsepower V-6 must be putting out some pretty intense fumes. The interior looks great too, and only a few shiny bits are far-fetched for production.

The Gran Turismo sits on a chassis that will underpin the next-generation Vectra and Saturn Aura, and the design is meant to hint at the future of those cars. Will we get a high-powered Aura coupe when the next car hits the streets? We’ll have to wait and see.”
By Stuart Fowle

Once you put a new battery in your car you generally are good to go for three to five years. Apparently, with all of the demands that consumers are now putting on their car batteries,they now are being replaced at a much faster rate.

‘A steady increase in the number of electrical accessories in the average car is shortening battery life. As vehicles are now being designed to operate more systems, they still use the same basic type of 12-volt battery that has been in use for decades.

In the past decade or so cars have evolved from basic transportation to something resembling dens, kitchens and offices on wheels, with everything from DVD screens, subwoofer sound systems and mood lighting to built-in refrigerators and cup holders that heat coffee and cool soft drinks. The automotive aftermarket also offers an ever-growing range of gadgets that help multitasking drivers and passengers talk, eat, find their way around and get their work done on the road.

For consumers, the proliferation of onboard electronics means increased comfort, convenience, efficiency and safety in the form of computerized engine controls, tire-pressure sensors, and powerful navigation and entertainment systems. The downside: All these power-sapping accessories — coupled with vehicles’ increasingly complex networks of electronic-ignition systems, pollution-control devices, security systems and display screens — could be helping to drive up the death rate for car batteries.

Even parked cars are using more juice than they used to. It isn’t that owners are simply forgetting to turn off the headlights, or leaving their cellphones charging overnight. There are many electronic devices in today’s vehicles that continue to draw power even after the ignition is turned off.”
(Source)

It’s a sad day to see a Viper in this condition, obviously well beyond the scope of any new car warranty. The story is told in a good auto blog you might like to bookmark for future reference, goes by the name Jalopnik.
Here the proprietor of Jalopnik ponders what could have caused this wreck,and no, a high rate of speed in not the reason.

“My uncle has been bugging the hell out of me to help him find a red Viper. We end up finding him a nice 04 with only 3K miles on it. Perfect shape and not a scratch or mark on it! He brought it by Friday afternoon to show it off to me. 24 hours later I’m having dinner with my wife and my cell phone keeps ringing. Pissed off, I finally pull it out of my pocket and it’s his boss/friend telling me that I needed to rush to the hospital and my uncle just flipped his new Viper. He’s going to be fine, but his passenger / brother in law got ejected (for some reason he didn’t put his seatbelt on and he’s got broken bones all over including his pelvis. Also, there’s tire marks all over his jacket as if the car ran over him after he got thrown out). Really odd accident!
Need help here for anyone with thoughts on what could have happened. My uncle told me he just pulled out of his neighborhood and knew the car was cold so he wasn’t getting on it at all. Plus, he lives right where it happened and knows there’s a stop sign just up the road. So, speed really didn’t have much to do with this. He says he just went into second, barely rolling along at about 30-40 mph and he hears a LOUD bang or pop! His first instinct was that he got rearended somehow, said that’s what it felt like. The next thing he knows, the steering is gone and the car veers off the road, across a driveway and then BAM, he’s upside down, stuck in the mud!”
(continue reading here)

Something that is not covered by your new car warranty is that “new car smell”. While most people welcome that new car aroma there are those who are concerned that the odor is full of toxins.

“Everyone knows that cars are a major source of air pollution. But most people don’t know that it isn’t only what comes out of tailpipes that’s the problem, but what’s inside cars as well. “New car smell” for example, comes from toxic chemicals being released from plastics, foams and fabrics used to make steering wheels, dashboards and seats.

These chemicals are inhaled or ingested by drivers and passengers through dust and air, potentially causing allergic or other acute reactions or even long-term health impacts such as birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity and cancer. Since the average American spends more than 1.5 hours in a car every day, toxic chemical exposure inside vehicles is becoming a major source of potential indoor air pollution.
from healthycar.org

In fact, if you drive a 2007 Nissan Versa, your toxin exposure is at it’s highest in the small car class while a Chevy Cobalt represents the least concern in the same class. You can determine the toxicity of your new car here.

Volkswagen joins Toyota in targeting new product at a specific region. Volkswagen is closing out talks around agreements with Malaysia’s Proton facility in development of a new sedan for the Asia-Pacific region.

“Volkswagen’s head of international sales Kevin Rose says talks between Volkswagen and Proton are now at a fairly advanced stage, and both parties clearly know what they would want from such an agreement. Volkswagen said it would also work within the Malaysian government’s March 31st 2007 deadline.

To Volkswagen, having control of the manufacturing facility is essential. “For us as a brand, it’s important that we can always say made by VW, or built by VW. Even in China, where for legal reasons we are a minority partner, we still have great control over the production, assembly, design of our products, and that’s incredibly important for us,” stressed Rose. Without that manufacturing control, the partnership will not happen. I sincerely hope with manufacturing control comes supplier control and the license to show problematic suppliers the door, regardless of know-who.

One of the first steps that Volkswagen will take once the partnership is finalised is to introduced a new small sedan targetted at the Asia-Pacific region. This type of regionally targetted engineering is something similiar to Toyota’s ASEAN Hiace/Hilux/Innova/Fortuner platform, or Nissan’s Livina Geniss. This new Volkswagen small sedan will be made in Malaysia at Proton’s plant. This will be followed by a bigger sedan to mark the opening of Volkswagen’s Singaporean showroom.”
from PaulTan.org

China will test America’s small car market with the introduction of it’s Chery A1 model, to be introduced via Chrysler Daimler. It sells at the equivalent of 5000 US in China.

“China’s Chery Automobile Co. Ltd will present its “Chery A1” model, the first collaboration with Chrysler Group under the U.S.-German carmaker DaimlerChrysler, in April at the auto exhibition in Shanghai, according to an announcement of Chery.

The “Chery A1” will be the first of at least six small vehicle models to be manufactured by Chery with the cooperation of Chrysler under their collaborative production plan for small vehicles.

The Chery A1 is an updated subcompact model of the Chery QQ, known as the “Chinese Beetle”, with a 1.3-litre petrol engine designed to run at a top speed of 156 km/h. The new car, aimed at younger customers, is expected to sell for 40,000 to 65,000 yuan (5,000 to 8,125 U.S. dollars) on the Chinese market.

The Chrysler Group previously reached an agreement with Chery to distribute Chery-made small vehicles internationally to tap the small vehicle sector in the U.S. more quickly with less capital spending.

The new model will probably be sold under the Chrysler brand, Dodge, in the North America market, Shanghai Securities News reported.

Established in east China’s Anhui Province in 1997, Chery is one of the few Chinese companies that successfully produce their own models rather than manufacturing foreign brands under licence.

The company was the country’s seventh largest auto maker and fourth largest producer of sedans in 2006. It exported over 50,000 vehicles last year, up 178 percent over the pervious year.”
(source)

The week-end is almost here and spring is in the air and wouldn’t an open road in this Spanish beauty be oh so sweet. Yes, we are just looking for an excuse not to concern ourselves with new car warranties or used car warranties or any sort of warranty at all. We are taking a few imaginary breaths of air in the stratosphere where there is no need or thoughts of warranties or guarantees – just a long and winding road before us. We will return to our regular programing shortly, but, until then, we can all dream, right?
This is described by MSNBC’s article as one of the “quirky cars that you won’t see on US roads” and with only 12 made, I imagine that they are right. If you’d like to daydream in deeper detail, here is the Tramontana site.

“The Spanish company A. D. Tramontana created this carbon-fiber road missile as a melding of Formula One cars and fighter planes. With a twin-turbo V12 engine that puts out 720 hp, it’s about as powerful as a race car. The company says the Tramontana was “modeled on the streamlined curves of the Costa Brava’s winds.” A concept version of the Tramontana was shown at the Geneva Auto Show two years ago. The full production version unveiled this year will go on sale this summer in Europe. Typical of European haute couture cars, prices were not part of the announcement. But judging from production that’s said to be limited to 12 vehicles a year — plus an interior treated with gold, silver and platinum accents, as well as stainless steel, exotic leathers and specially treated wood — the Tramontana will be priced such that those who can afford it probably won’t even be asking, “How much?”’
(source)