Wettbewerbszentrale, the German Center for Protection against Unfair Competition, said exactly that yesterday and even asked Opel to stop advertising the untrue warranty. If not, Wettbewerbszentrale will even go as far as to take legal action.
"We object to the misleading, eye-catching advertisement, because contrary to the grandiose statement made in it, Opel is not actually offering a 'lifetime' guarantee," Reiner Muenker, member of the Wettbewerbszentrale's executive committee was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal.
Of course, the German carmaker is not at all happy with the observations made by Wettbewerbszentrale. They even try a sort of a “but it works!” cry, saying in a response that they will look into the matter, even if "the guarantee offer has achieved great resonance with our customers."
The lifetime warranty announcement made by Opel covers in fact the service life of the car, but not the actual period of time an owner can drive the car. There is also a mileage limit for the warranty, 99,500 miles (160,000 km).
“The lifetime warranty covers all labor costs. Parts are completely covered in the first two years under the manufacturer’s warranty or up to 50,000 km. After that, the owner is paid on a graduated scale for the fair value of parts according to the number of kilometers driven. The warranty is limited to the current value of the car at the time of a claim,” the carmaker said when the campaign was launched earlier this month.
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