Beware of Lifetime Powertrain Warranties: My Experience with Saturn of Plymouth

A lifetime powertrain warranty on a car sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right? Unfortunately it may turn out to be a nightmare if there are certain conditions attached to it. I found that out in my dealings with Saturn of Plymouth, located at 9301 Massey Drive, Plymouth, Michigan.

A couple of years back I purchased a 2004 Saturn Vue, used with about 25,000 miles on it, from the aforementioned dealership. The salesperson informed me that every car sold at the dealership comes with a free lifetime powertrain warranty. I thought this sounded like a nice feature, one that put me a little more at ease when buying a used car. The only stipulation to the warranty was that I have all my service done at the dealership.

At the beginning of the summer of 2009, the check engine light came on in the vehicle, so I took it in to the dealership. I was told that an oxygen sensor had gone bad, as well as the seal on the gas cap. I had these taken care of at considerable cost, but I didn't think too much about it.

Five weeks later, the engine light came on again. I returned to the dealership, who told me this time that it was some type of solenoid failure, which they claimed to fix. Four weeks later, the light came on again.

Not wanting to simply take the dealership's word for what was going wrong, I purchased a car scanner and checked it myself. The scan came back with multiple errors, including one indicating that the pressure control solenoid was bad (this is a solenoid within the transmission), as well as one for misfiring pistons.

I called the dealership to ask about the pressure control solenoid and told that replacing one costs about $600 to $700. I decided to check around to see if I could find somewhere that did the repair cheaper. A transmission shop told me they would do it for $200, but suggested that perhaps it should be covered under the powertrain warranty.

I called the dealership, and they admitted that the repair would indeed be covered under the warranty. I set up an appointment and went in. The mechanic asked to run the diagnostic just to make sure that the problem was what I said it was. I told him that was fine, since the repair would be covered under warranty anyways. I also had my 51,000 mile maintenance done while I was in.

Two hours later, the mechanic returned to tell me that they did not find the engine light error codes that I had, but had instead for some sort of fuel evaporation leak, which they tested for but found not to actually be a problem at all. I was given a bill for $400. The 51,000 mile maintenance was only supposed to be $210.

As I looked over the bill, I noticed that I was charged $255 for labor for two hours of work. That's a little over $127 an hour. When I pointed this out to the repair people, they informed me that they only charged $90 an hour for labor. When I asked about the discrepancy, they said that they charge certain prices for certain jobs regardless of how long it takes them (which obviously means that they are actually not charging a fixed rate for labor). They also pointed out to me that they actually had two people working on my car (as if this somehow means they can increase what they charge for labor).

Disgusted, I weighed my options: Should I continue going to these less-than-reputable mechanics so that I don't lose the lifetime powertrain warranty they dangle in front of my nose? After considering the fact that they 1) seemed no more knowledgeable (and in many cases actually LESS knowledgeable) than my normal mechanic who charges MUCH less and 2) seemed unconcerned that they charged me for a problem that they were unable to confirm and/or do anything about, I decided not to return to them despite the fact that I will lose the warranty.

I think they are well aware that the requirement of going to them only for maintenance ends up making them a lot of money in the long run even if something major does go wrong. I should have realized that the dealership was crooked when I bought the car, because when they took me in to go over the numbers, they pressured me really hard to purchase additional insurance for the alloy wheels and other similar unnecessary add-ons. They were clearly upset that I did not bow to their pressure.

After finishing telling the finance person that I would not be purchasing all the extras, I was told to go and wait while they finalize the paperwork. This ended up being a one hour wait, after which I was quickly told to sign at designated places on a number of documents.

Not surprisingly, all the extras that I had firmly refused were back on the final documents. Had I not looked closely and signed them, I would have been paying an extra $50 a month for six years. The salesman had a "Crap, I've been caught" look on his face when this was pointed out to him and apologized for the "mistake".

I should have walked out right then. If a place is so crooked as to try to pull such a bait and switch, are they really concerned about you when they give you a lifetime "warranty"? Unfortunately, I stayed and made the purchase.

As to the engine light, it came on again two days after I took it in to the dealership. While I'm tempted to go back there again just to rip into them and their so-called "expertise", I'll not be darkening their door ever again. Beware of lifetime powertrain warranties.