Before Saab was purchased by Swedish Automobile N.V. (formerly Spyker Cars), it was owned by General Motors. That sale occurred only a few years ago, which means there are still factory warranted Saab vehicles in the United States branded with a GM stamp. With the recent announcement of Saab’s bankruptcy, the question of who is responsible for these car’s warranties gets raised. Swedish Automobile N.V. made the decision recently to suspend all warranties for vehicles built under their control. Cars will be sold “as is” and with their warranty book removed from the sale entirely. Not all is lost however as GM made an announcement that they will take care of the warranties of Saab vehicles tagged with a GM badge. According to an official statement, “General Motors will take necessary steps to ensure that remaining warranty obligations on Saab vehicles marketed by GM in the United States and Canada will be honored.”
These vehicles may not be new, but many of them are certified pre-owned qualified. Most are 2009 model years while a few Canadian Saab’s are GM covered and 2010 model years. This statement might come as a surprise due to GM’s relationship with Saab, which was one of the many reasons for the Swedish company’s bankruptcy. While Saab scrambles to find receivers of assets while it attempts to pay its creditors, it almost doesn’t have enough time to deal with its remaining inventory of vehicles. According to an Saab North America in a statement to Automotive News, “For any vehicle sold or leased during this period, the customer should be affirmatively advised that the vehicle does not carry any warranty coverage and is sold ‘as is.’ ” Surely, the dealers holding these cars will nothing more than to get rid of them as fast as possible. This means that for a brief time, now might be the time to buy a IIHS Top Safety Picked Saab 9-5 for fairly cheap.
Source: GM & AutomotiveNews.com
