Auto Warranty Scam

Even Import vehicles need car warranty protection

Recent events have brought to light a deep dark secret in the automotive industry.

Have you been keeping up with the news lately? Recent events have brought to light a deep dark secret in the automotive industry. A secret that the auto industry has been able to keep undercover for years! For the last decade import manufactures like Toyota and Honda have made steady inroads into the driveways of the American car buying public. They have accomplished this in no small part by the popular and widely held (but not necessarily accurate) belief that these cars are more dependable and therefore more reliable than American built cars.

However recent events have opened the door to the notion that maybe, Toyota and Honda are just better at concealing the defects and manufacturing problems that they have encountered over the last several years.

There have been several events over the last several years that show import manufacture's have had more than their share of manufacturer defects! However they have used deceit, and tactics that one judge characterized as "trying to win by cheating" to keep these facts secret. In 2002 in a product defect case against Honda, their expert witness intentionally destroyed critical evidence in an effort to give Honda an unfair advantage. Honda was able to successfully keep this fact (that their expert witness destroyed key evidence) secret from other trials and investigations for several years while Honda and other import manufacture's continued to use this dishonest expert witness on several other cases where poor manufacturing resulted in lawsuits brought against them.

As recently as March 31st 2010 U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden ruled that Honda must defend a lawsuit claiming that Honda knowingly sold cars with defective air conditioners and refused to pay for the repair costs. This ruling affects Honda vehicles sold between 2000 and 2009.

And Toyota is no better, Toyota is finally being exposed as a fraud . The national media is finally investigating the poster child for dependability and they are discovering that there have been numerous occurrences where Toyota has concealed known defects and safety issues in order to keep their name clean. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that it has uncovered several incidents where Toyota concealed or delayed recalls even after several complaints were made.

For instance Toyota had an issue with it's 2003 Sienna where a plastic panel could dislodge and potentially lead to unintended acceleration issues. It took 26, 000 units and 6 years before Toyota chose to address the problem. Then there were steering issues in 2005. More recently an ex-Toyota lawyer alleges that Toyota hid safety data and evidence in rollover cases. And of all Toyota's recent problems, the recent unintended acceleration issues stand to be the biggest hurdle yet for the import manufacturer.

So what does all this mean? It means as consumers we need to open our eyes. Cars are built better than ever before, but with all the new technology , more convenience, and better gas mileage, do we really believe that cars don't break down? I know of a Honda dealer that services and repairs up to 3000 cars a month. We have been listening to a myth perpetuated by car manufacturers in an effort to sell more cars that they never break down. In reality it seems to be that how reliable a car is depends more on how good the manufacturer is at concealing the poor workmanship from the public, than the actual quality of the car.

So what can consumers do to protect themselves? Should they just take their chances? As I've heard many consumers say. Let me ask you, are you willing to cancel your car insurance and just take your chances that you won't get in a car accident ? Obviously cars do have mechanical problems and more than we've been led to believe. With the high cost of technology and labor rates going through the roof many consumers are choosing to protect themselves with a car warranty. Just one major repair such as anti-lock brakes, GPS, an air conditioner, or a transmission and more than likely you've saved yourself a ton of money. Not to mention the peace of mind. Many people are choosing to keep their cars longer than the typical 3 years that most cars are covered by the factory warranty. There are extended car warranty plans available that meet the needs and driving habits of individual consumers, to find more information on the types of plans available and whether an extended warranty is right for you, go to www.carwarrantyprotection.com they have warranty plans for most makes and models regardless of age or mileage.

Article by Randy Floodman