Rover warranties

[AdamW]

I had wondered what would happen to Rover owners, now that the company is in administration:

http://www.mg-rover.com/static/warranty.html

So, it would seem that because the warranty was paid for directly by Rover rather than underwritten by a third party, Rover owners are getting screwed on the warranty.

Now, if I were to buy a Rover at a knock-down price now, I would be buying it in full knowledge that I would have to pay for my own warranty if required. But it hardly seems fair for those who bought their Rovers in the last three years.

The way I am thinking, commercial suppliers work at a risk. As you all know, occasionally people don't pay up, that is a calculated business risk. So, surely the debt owed to the consumer (i.e. PWC need to take some Rover money and put it in a warranty bond), should come before paying off commercial creditors?

 

[WoodYouLike]

I heard that Rovers dealers would still honour the warrantee. That was last week on a news item, not sure when or which news.

 

[AdamW]

Yes, but will they still do it for three years, after all some people would have bought Rovers the day before they went under, therefore there is another 3 years of warranty cover.

 

[WoodYouLike]

I don't know. Is there an insurance that will cover them for this?

 

[david and julie]

I am not certain in the case of Rover but some warranties are provided by a combination of both manufacturer and dealer. 3 year warranties often say 1 year manufacturer 2 years dealer, or similar. I would imagine the dealers would insure themselves for their responsibility, even though it sounds like Rover didn't. The dealers are probably responsible under the trades description act, they were the sellers and they advertised 3 years warranty, not Rover directlly. For this reason the dealers would insure against any possible liability and include the cost in the deal when you bought the car. These insurances are no different to the normal used car warranties which are usually provided by Lloyds backed schemes. I would suggest anyone with a Rover consult their dealer for the full cover details and details about claiming too.

Rover was relatively recently re-branded and the dealerships no doubt borrowed and invested in this rebranding with premise updates etc. Many will be unable to get alternative franchises, so may not be there long themselves. It would be difficult to get info or help from a boarded up building. So with this in mind, anyone with a Rover or MG, should go and find out, even if you are not having any problems at the moment.

 

[masona]

For this reason the dealers would insure against any possible liability and include the cost in the deal when you bought the car. These insurances are no different to the normal used car warranties which are usually provided by Lloyds backed schemes. I would suggest anyone with a Rover consult their dealer for the full cover details and details about claiming too.

I remembered I bought a car from British Leyland just before it folded up, they have to have parts/spares available for the next ten years, not sure if it's the same now.

 

[kendor]

trouble with warranties are they are only worth the paper they are written on.
several furniture stores have conned people into buying extended warranties on furniture they didn't even receive before the company went bust leaving the customers with worthless bits of paper.
The way to look at it with Rover cars is that if you can pick them up dirt cheap then if they do go wrong you havnt lost a lot, in other words don't buy unless you think the risk is justified by the cost.
Not much help for those that paid full whack for theirs unfortunately.

 

[big-all]

my understanding is the warrenties were fully coverd by mg rover[ie usless]and any work done is at the good grace of the dealer ships

ranging from no repairs through fixing vehicles already on premesis then safety only repairs

but i suspect now you wont get any more work done unless your dealear thinks your custom is worth it

 

[chambsesf]

The way I am thinking, commercial suppliers work at a risk. As you all know, occasionally people don't pay up, that is a calculated business risk. So, surely the debt owed to the consumer (i.e. PWC need to take some Rover money and put it in a warranty bond), should come before paying off commercial creditors?

Nice idea, but in practice PwC are currently administrators and therefore (a) have obtained protection from the court effectively obtaining a moratorium from any creditors taking action against the company such as winding-up petitions etc in respect of unpaid debts, and (b) have a duty to obtain the best possible outcome for all creditors. This can take the form of a going-concern sale (if somebody wants to trade the business on), a hive-off of the 'best' parts of the business (MG/Powertrain) to obtain distributable cash, or ultimately liquidation (i.e. the assets are sold piecemeal to the highest bidders).

There is a prescribed ranking in terms of who gets what and when i.e. secured creditors, preferential creditors, costs of administration/liquidation etc, ALL of whom get paid before the unsecured creditors i.e. trade suppliers etc.

In a nutshell then, as an MGR owner is likely to be an unsecured creditor, they will get nowt unless a deal can be done where the warranty obligations can be picked up by whoever buys the business with a view to continuing to trade and manufacture vehicles. Why would they do this though, other than to perhaps retain (diminishing) customer loyalty?

 

[kendor]

Not sure if this reply should be here or in the assisted suicide thread?
but wouldn't it be more dignified to pull the plug now rather than let it go on in the aimless hope that a last minute stay of execution will appear.
All it does is add more stress to the workers involved and possibly hampers a chance of a fresh start elsewhere.
Pay the workers off so they can get on with their lives!

 

[pipme]

Warranties ??

...In total, an estimated 150,000 MG Rover owners are believed to have lost their car warranty cover...

Click for owners problems
All over at lunchtime.
I believe (hope) MG will be bought out, tis all about carrion now, be sold off to highest bidder, like a repossessed house sale, buyers will bid very low, no doubt.

I wonder about spares .. unlike past collapses if there is no 'takeover' then who will make the bits ? Worse, at what sort of price ? Bit of a captive customer base, prey to silly money parts, probably without the backing of a major company ...

 

[2scoops0406]

You know, the sad thing is, even at 50% discounts, I'm still not interested in buying a rover.

 

[jtaunton]

Don't know about the 25,45 & 75's, but I used to have a Rover 600 and that was just a Honda Accord with different trim so spares were widely available.

Funny thing was that every Rover 600 you saw had the same problems - Electric Aerial stuck two inches out, bad rust patch over passenger side rear-wheel arch and one of the front air-scoops missing.

best car I ever had too - Budget Luxury !!

 

[pipme]

...Spare Parts
MG Rover Dealerships continue to source their parts from a third party company which is independent from MG Rover Group Ltd, therefore your dealer should still be able to obtain supply....

That is a little good news then.
P

 

[pipme]

Double P