Good Luck In The Meantime

Saab has been my car of choice for a long time. They’re fun to drive, great in the snow, and last a long time with proper care. A few years ago, I was sorry to see the company drive off to the big parking lot in the sky.

Since Saab is now parked permanently, I’ve been working hard to keep my current 2004 model alive for as long as possible. Luckily I have a fantastic Saab mechanic, Cliff Story of Story’s Garage. Cliff and his team are experts at keeping your car running without diving deeply into your wallet. His shop is a 3 bay place that sits down a long gravel driveway, surrounded by trees and dead Saabs…old cars that finally decided to retire.

I thought all was well with my 9-3 until an envelope arrived a few days ago with Safety Recall Notice in big red letters next to my address. I opened the envelope to find a warning from Jeffrey M. Boyer, Vice President, Global Vehicle Safety, General Motors (GM has taken over dealer issues for Saab owners) about the possibility of my old Saab sending ME to the big parking lot in the sky.

“In some vehicles, the driver airbag inflator may experience an alteration over time, which could lead to overaggressive combustion in the event of an air bag deployment. This condition could create excessive internal pressure when the air bag is deployed, which could result in the body of the inflator rupturing upon deployment. In the event of an inflator rupture, metal fragments could pass through the air bag cushion material which may result in injury or death to vehicle occupants.”

In other words…my old Saab’s airbag has become a fragmentation grenade aimed directly at my chest.

The next paragraph begins in bold: “Parts to repair your vehicle are not currently available, but when parts are available, your Saab Official Service Center will replace the driver airbag inflator.”

In other words…good luck in the meantime.

Did anyone at General Motors read this and consider the reaction of those of us receiving it?

Clearly lots of attorneys did their best to absolve General Motors of any responsibility should you wind up the victim of your airbag while waiting for them to make parts to fix the problem. Yet, notice how they didn’t think it necessary to include any information at all about what to do to ensure you survive until they manage to deliver and install the new parts.

All too often I see business messages like this. Over lawyered and not including the information you require. The messages are more about protecting themselves than helping you, their customer.

Should I stop driving the car? Should I get Cliff to disable the airbag?

Or should I just hope that nothing happens that will set it off?

How long do I have to wait, exactly, while living in fear that someone will run into me and set off the explosion? A week? A month? A year?

Mr Boyer gave me lots of information I don’t need or care about describing why it might kill me (really, the very fact that it might was enough…), and none about what to do while waiting for the repair.

And he didn’t even have the courtesy to end his letter with a “good luck”.