Extended warranties have surprises for car owners

Extended warranties have surprises for car owners

EDITOR:

Readers should be alerted to the pitfalls of so-called aftermarket auto warranties.

My wife and I both bought new cars. She purchased the manufacturer’s extended warranties. On the other hand, I bought an aftermarket warranty when my three-year, 36-month new car warranty expired.

I was told that anything covered under the car’s original warranty would be covered under the aftermarket warranty. When the radio, tape and CD player failed, it was replaced.

About three weeks ago, my antilock brakes failed. I thought there would be no problem because anything covered by the factory warranty was covered by my warranty.

I took the car to the dealership where it was bought expecting the repairs to be covered. I was subsequently told by a service representative that the repairs would not be covered because there is some corrosion on the brake parts. I was told that a factory warranty excludes rust damage, but not surface corrosion, and that any car in northeastern Ohio accumulates surface corrosion on all underside parts after a winter.

Reading my warranty, I found that it excludes fire, theft, vandalism, riot, explosion, lightning, earthquake, freezing, rust or corrosion, windstorm, hail, water or flood, acts of God, acts of war, acts of terrorism, salt and environmental damage. Under this last disclaimer, the aftermarket warranty can even blame the air around your car as a reason to deny repairs.

Imagine the millions of dollars the warranty company can keep as pure profit by refusing to pay claims in Northeastern Ohio due to “corrosion” that is unavoidable in our area.

LEE GUY

Boardman

Save Youngstown’s music

EDITOR:

With the economy being in the midst of upheaval, our society is paying meager attention to the arts. Individuals fail to realize that local/regional arts mend and build communities. During the Depression era, citizens sought escapism through radio shows and vaudeville musicals. Taking a cue from past eras, why can’t we take a good look at the Mahoning Valley’s timeline of modern music?

Music education and archiving should span beyond the manufactured contemporary world. The government should issue grants to preserve music that is unique to our area. One important aspect visitors notice about the Youngstown area, is its vibrant music scene. Every act from The Zounds, Blue Ash, Poobah, to Sacksville R&B, and modern Indie Rock influences of Boogie Man Smash and The Zou, embodies a priceless music that is worth archiving. There should be federal preservation grants to save lost and unreleased recordings from these local artists.

There is a need to preserve the signature sound that is so unique to our area. I feel that Youngstown should have an Underground Music Preservation Society that preserves the timeless music that gave our area a unique musical identity.

GARY S. ANGELO

New Middletown