Vauxhall “Unlimited” Warranty is Bogus
If you’re reading this in the US, you’ve probably never heard of Vauxhall. Well, it’s a veteran automaker from England that’s owned by General Motors. They make primarily little fuel-sipping hatchbacks for use in Europe.
Their latest selling point is what they’re calling an Unlimited Warranty. They even had the audacity to use an “infinity” symbol (you know, the one that looks like a sideways 8?) in advertising.
However, the warranty is hardly infinite. It’s 100,000 miles.
Still a great warranty, but “unlimited” it most certainly is not. It also only covers certain parts of the car (powertrain, steering, brakes, electrical)… so it’s not unlimited in its coverage either.
Vauxhall is trying to psych up the automotive press with terms like “unprecedented move in the industry” …I guess they slept through the barrage of Hyundai ads touting their 100,000 mile warranty that they came out with in, the early 90′s?
In fact, I think equating “100,000 miles” with the car’s “lifetime” is a bad move by Vauxhall. They’re insinuating that 100k is how long their cars are capable of living. LOTS of cars have over 100k on them. Even my Land Rover, the epitome of unreliability, was at 106,000 when I let her go to a new owner.
100k is good coverage Vauxy, but I call this advertising pitch both false and poor.
Connections in the Car Industry
When you buy a Lincoln Navigator, you’re getting a Ford Expedition with a nicer interior and a body kit. Same goes for a a Cadillac Escalade and its dad the Chevy Tahoe. Even a Lamborghini Gallardo has a lot of carry-over from an Audi.
These automaker alliances are well known and pretty easy to spot just by parking the cars in question next to each other. But just how many connections exist between competing car companies around the world? Turns out, a lot more than even I would have thought.
While browsing the Fast Company Magazine website the other day I discovered a really cool interactive “web of auto alliances.” I learned a lot in just a few seconds… which is of course the best kind of learning.
Take a look:
FC Infographic of the day; Financial Times’ Car Alliance Web
Click on the link, then you can move the mouse over your favorite automaker and see who they’re working with.
