The Problem of the COACH GUARANTEE
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The Continuation of Our Article Deal
, ing with the Opinions of Makers and Agents.
IN our issue for last week we dealt at some length with the opinions of chassis makers and others on what should constitute the guarantee mileage-period of a long-distance coach.
We said in our original remarks upon the matter that a fixed maximum of 20,000 miles was not sufficient, and one managing director crosses swords with us in this connection, although he agrees with us that there must be a limit to a manufacturer's guarantee, and having regard to the tremendous difference in mileage per annum which the various types a vehicle run (anything from 10,000 to over 100,000 miles), he entirely agrees with us that the only reasonable and possible limitation is on a question of mileage.. He adds, however, that if a man bought a touring car and ran it for two or three years, with no trouble, he would think it a good vehicle, and if anything happened at the end of this period he certainly would not expect to have the work done under the guarantee; but, on the average, a touring car does only 5,000-6,000 miles per year, so that in three years the total would be, at the
most, 20,000 miles. •
The Result of Changing the Drivers.
Quite apart from this, coaches may be run by two or three shifts of drivers, and it does not, follow that the drivers are employed on the same vehicle to-morrow and the next day, and it,is possible. with a large fleet to have 18 different drivers no„ a single vehicle in' a week. Twenty thousand miles under these conditions is much s30 more strenuous and serious, in his opinion, than 1)"0,000 on a vehicle in the hands of one driver,
One of our readers who is interested in the matter of coach guarantees expresses' the opinion that such guarantees should be based on mileage, using 20,000 miles as a standard open to the full guarantee, with a sliding scale up to 40,000.. The time period, ho Suggests, should stand at six months. He also puts forward . the point that manufacturers should adopt a scheme whereby customers who have not had any occasion to use the guarantee offer could claim a small rebate in the form of useful spares up to a value decided by the makers, and he adds, "for, after all, what constitutes a better advertisement than a satisfied customer?"
Opinions from Concessionnaires of Foreign Vehicles.
A. Ti. Tapper and Co., sole concessionnaire for Broekway commercial vehicles for Great Britain and Ireland, writes : "The period of the Brockway guarantee is limited to six months from date of purchase, irrespective of mileage. "In our experience such cases of defective material or faulty workmanship that may from time to time arise come to -light in the first few thousand miles ; that the vehicle is in service. It is quite possible, however,' under certain modern conditions that as high an' average as 1,400 'miles per week may be 'attained and, in fact, several concerns operating Erockways do, to our knowledge, exceed this figure, but. these are rather the -exceptions thanthe rule._ ." In our opinion, with modern conditions, -three months is, on the whole, a sufficient length of time to expect manufacturers to give as the period • of their guarantee, as, should a defect or fault subsequently arise 'after the three months' •guarantee.has expired,
and, of course, taking into consideration the lengili of time the vehicle has been in service and the mileage admitted, most manufacturers would generously meet a claim of this nature in order to, retain the goodwill of the • user and their own reputation for fair dealing.
To give a guarantee on a mileage basis would, in our opinion, be impracticable on the grounds that not all machines have mileage recorders and those that have speedometers frequently run many thousands of miles without these accessories in an efficient condition:"
A vehiclewhich is very popular for long-distance coach service is the Lancia, and in its letter theeon
cessionnaire, Lancia. (England), Ltd., says: " do not lay very much stress on mileage covered during the period of the six months of guarantee. Cases have to be dealt with on their merits, as abuse, with consequently excessive wear and tear, must be taken into consideration when the desire exists to . extend liberal treatment to the user; but if a part, however much it be worn in the ordinary way, be found not to be up to our usual standard, a replacement will be 'made or an-allowance given.
In its comments upon this matter United Motors, Ltd., states the following:— " It is quite obvious that if a motor coach does cover, say., 50,000 miles per year, any question of even a six months'. guarantee from the manufacturers is out of the question. We would advise you that we ourselves, like many other manufacturers, have in the past given a six months' guarantee, or 20,000 miles.
"If coach running be developing on these lines and big mileages per annum are being carried out, then there is no
doubt that manufacturers will have to base their guarantee entirely on the maximum mileage, irrespective of time occupied in covering these miles, although here again is the difficulty that if a vehicle be working at a very high strain of road running and be practically in service both day and night, the question of tAking down the engine would vary very considerably
according to whether the 50,000 miles were covered in 12 months or two years.
"However, in concIusion we would suggest that all manufacturers of chassis for motor-coach work should agree that the basis of guaranteeshould be .. given on the •maximum number of --miles Covered in a minimum period. No doubt you will obtain further views from a number of manufacturers and it is Possible that this question will eventually be settled by an agreement of manufacturers at a consultation
amongst -themselves." • —
The attitude of Minerva ' Motors (England), Ltd., expressed in the. following terms: de not think that the extraordinary mileages covered during the six months' period, of the guarantee haVe much bearing on the defects which the usual guarantee covers. It is not, as a rule, very difficult to decide whether a defect be due to wear and tear, or to faulty workmanship or material, provided that the approximate' mileage is known.
"Commercial vehicles of most makes are now so reliable that a mileage, such as 60,000, in the half year does not seriously tax their capacity.
"Our own experience is that users are very fair in their claims and do not expect a guarantee to cover wear unless this becomes apparent in very much less mileage than that under discussion.
." For the above reasons we see no benefit in basing the gbarantee on mileage often difficult to ascertain."