Saturn (GM) STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE
When we at GM discover an epidemic costly flaw in our cars (like casting flaws in our cylinder heads that will cause the head to eventually CRACK); and before we become aware of the problem, tens of thousands of cars with the flaw have gone off the assembly line to dealers:
We withold that information (sending out a service notice) for as long as we can- so as to get as many of those cars affected, OVER the warranty period. That way, we are not liable to cover the cost of the repair or replacement and we are able to cut our loses!
Also: If a new car customer who has been taking his car to the dealer for regular scheduled maintainance, CHANGES ADDRESS, and the dealer fails to notify the company of the new address and because of this dealer failure- we send out a service notice to the old address and thus the notice never reaches the customer:
When the service notice is returned to us as "undeliverable"; we will NOT make any attempt to reach the customer at his new address and notify him of the service notice. We are not liable for our dealer's failure to notify us of the customer's new address, nor will we take any action against our dealer for this failure in an attempt to compensate the customer,should he have been unaware of the notice and suffers a costly repair bill after his warranty has run out!
Anyone who doubts the above policy can contact (among many others): Grand Rapids (Michigan) Saturn.
(That is; if anyone there has the knowledge of and COURAGE to verify the above policy) signed.
Michael Cohrman snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com