Aggravated4life

Hey people,
Sorry if this is somewhat long...

If some of you remember,several months back I posted about Advance auto not honoring a lifetime warranty,when originally they sold me the part and explained to me its lifetime for every time you have to exchange the part that fails.Not the case as I found out.I explained that before with a caliper that failed.I got 90 days for the replacement.

Before that happened with them,Last year in august,I got a a/c delco reman alternator for my 86 vette from advance.They offered the lifetime warranty and I specifically asked the manager if this alternator fails on me,will the replacement be lifetime or 90 days.They told me Lifetime as long as I own the car,I can bring it back 100 times,doesnt matter,its always lifetime if it fails.
(this was a store in indiana,im in KY now)

Well,last week the alternator with maybe 2,000 miles on it self destructed inside.
I havent been driving the car much since I was doing body work on and off through the fall and winter.So today i bring it in to advance down here in KY and they said they can only exchange it with a 90 day warranty for the new one.I kinda expected that again.

I told them exactly what the other store told me about the lifetime warranty.THis time,the guy was really cool and showed me a warranty form he had explaining the warranty issue.I told him I cant understand why this has happened twice to me and the store I bought it from told me otherwise.I asked ahead of time to be sure what the warranty was and either they lied or this store is.

I told the guy Im better off buying a new one again because 90 days for a replacement that didnt even last a year isnt worth my time.Heck ive only had this alternator 9 months and it still looks brand new all around like it just came out of the box except for whatever broke inside.

The parts guy said he would try and work something out with me which was cool by me but right now Im passing this along AGAIN to warn others about the lifetime warrantys they sell customers.In the past,I never had a problem,from advance or autozone for replacement parts...lately theyre changing things.We called autozone just to see what they say and they only offer a one year warranty on their corvette alternators now.

If I had known ahead of time they were working this way,I wouldve went someplace else for the parts I bought last year.Im going to make a phone call to the store in indiana again and speak to them about it.

Last time I posted about this,the store in Indiana told me those guys down there in Ky were doing business wrong and to come in for a replacement.I couldnt since I was 5 hours away from moving down here.So whos right anymore? SO it seems to me,most stores is now offering lifetime for the first part and only 90 days on a replacement.

If you buy an alternator today and it breaks tomorrow,and you exchange it for the replacement,you get 90 days.
Be sure to check the warranty.I did but it wasnt in writing the first time.Maybe this guy is right and the the store in Indiana didnt know policy but I was decieved one way or another.Also this is my 4th ac delco reman in 7 years.The first 3 were from a GM dealer that junked out right after the 12 month warranty expired.It never ends with these junk parts anymore.
:(

Kale

Ever since reading about the first of these stories on the forum a while ago, if they tell me lifetime, i get it in writing. :yesnod:

bigdan

i used to get lifetime warranty parts from Nationwise Autoparts. now they're outa business. go figure. :crazy:

Aggravated4life

Hey guys,
Thats prob the best way to do it...get it in writing somehow.WHen this happened to me the first time,I had already bought the alternator beforehand so I was SOL this time with this store.
If anything,if I find something out,Ill repost it here.
Just be sure to check those warranties before handing over the cash.That fine print and Lifetime warranty sales pitch can be VERY misleading.
:)

Jim85IROC

Sometimes a product with a 1 year warranty from GM is better than a lifetime warranty from somebody else. Of course, it depends on the store. At the advance stores I've dealt with, I've had no problem returning annually for a new starter or alternator.

But after a while you get sick of changing crap even if they honor the warranty, and you pay extra for a GM product. :yesnod:

Aggravated4life

Hey Jim,
I agree with ya but losing faith in GM parts as well.(I even worked in a GM parts dealer before..we had tons and toins of retruns and warranty exhcanges..they cant make decent parts anymore)

I bought all my alternators from GM..the last one was advance auto but they got it from a/c delco.I went with advance because I wanted a better warranty this time then GM's crappy 12 month guarantee.I already knew the other brand alternators the chains sold were no good either so I paid for a GM unit 3 times every other year from the dealer.

The advance store I bought this recent one from would exchange it with no problem but this advance where I live will not.
Gonna have to find the right store.Im 5 hours away now from the store I got it from.

And yes its getting real old to have to keep changing these junk parts out every year or so.Im even on 5 starters too in 7 years.
Its nuts.Nothing is made to last long anymore.

Ohh well!!
:)

93 ragtop

Hey Bill,

Something you might want to do is report this to the better business beareu. You can do this on line. To me, that is nuts. At worse case, they should refund your money if they choose not to honor the life time warranty.

LeadFoot

Advance has been really getting bad about this. Maybe they have money problems. With an Advance and a Autozone next to each other the Autozone always has 2 times as many customers. Just a thought...

Scoob

Simple: read the warranty. Don't believe a word of what a salesperson tells you. Ever. Ever

Oh My

Just to let you know, I work for DAP in Florida, which got bought out by advanced auto, and we are converting to their product line, and we've already switched over the alternator parts and #'s. From what I understand, we offer limited lifetime warranty's on the reman. el'cheapo brand, and only a one year warranty on the true AC Delco alternators. I'm sorry to hear that happened, but try calling a district manager of the region, atleast in Florida, you'll find them more then willing to help out.

Aggravated4life

Thanks for the replies everyone.Yes,gotta read more carefully,hence this post to warn and help others.Keep in mind the store I got it from would exchange it with no problems and has done so in the past but as I mentioned I moved to a diff. state.

I will call around and see what the real policy is supposed to be,but Id imagine it may depends on the store itself and location.Autozone has never given me any problems exchanging starters under the lifetime warranty at any time.Advance may be misleading customers with the same lifetime warranty sales pitch but with a catch.
Oh well...keep your eyes open people and Ill post my findings soon.
:)

Goody

A warranty is like a contract. If it isn't in writing it isn't legally binding. Sorry to see all this.... :seeya