it appears that bankruptcy is imminent for at least one of the major car manufacturers, and there's no question that chrysler will end up pulling the trigger in that game of russian roulette. the obvious question is what happens to the continual car service contract? because if there's no contract, the continual car isn't a forever living vampire, sucking down the world's resources; it's nothing more than a zombie waiting to get shot in the head -- just like the car you drive.
i don't need that.
it's so easy to get wound up in speculation about "oh, what if this happens?" and "oh, what if that happens?" that it becomes easy to ignore the obvious, which is why don't you just ask the people directly involved. from an information point of view, by far the biggest weakness of the internet is hearsay, false rumor, and the absolute worst -- idle speculation. i'm not going to fall into that trap so i call daimlerchrysler service contracts, the people i have a legal agreement with for the continual car.
i dive deep into a voice recognition phone tree for my service contract number, ultimately not being able to tell what choice i'm supposed to make so i just say "operator." a short pause brings me to a real live person that batters me with questions. what's my name? what's the last 8 digits of my VIN? what's my address and phone number? who was president after millard fillmore?
i know all that stuff and at four minutes past my dialling the telephone we're through all the nonsense. which means we're to the good part.
me: "as i'm sure you're all too aware, chrysler is in big time financial trouble. they might go bankrupt. if they do, what happens to this service contract?"
service operator guy: "sir, we have no information regarding the financial situation of chrysler. as soon as we do, we'll inform you. but if something like that did happen, your service contract still applies. it's a confidential {i'm pretty sure that's the word he used, it stuck to me because i'd never heard it in that context} legally binding contract."
me: "i just want to be absolutely clear here ... unless something totally insane happens, like chrysler declaring chapter seven {that's the form of bankruptcy where a company just vanishes}, i am covered. if chrysler were to declare bankruptcy, like a chapter 11, i'd still be able to get my car fixed under this service contract."
service: "that's correct. is there anything else i can do for you?"
me: "no, that's quite enough. thank you."
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