A neighbour had purchased a pre-owned Nissan Juke and a Nationwide warranty from Stormy's. The warranty provided peace of mind by ensuring that future major issues with the car were covered. Stormy's represented that the warranty was good to 200,000 Km and that ALL mechanics would accept this 3rd party warranty. Stormy's mechanic provided the safety certificate on the Nissan Juke.
On that basis, I referred a friend to Stormy's to purchase a car. Stormy's sold her on a 2011 Subaru Outback and the Nationwide warranty and furthermore said that if the warranty is never used, the premium would be refunded. They also agreed on a trade-in for her current vehicle. Stormy's mechanic provided the safety certificate on the 2011 Subaru Outback.
Funny thing though, when it came time to sign the deal, Stormy's netted out some numbers (purchase price vs trade-in) for reasons that they could not explain. It had no impact on my friend but it confusion and uncertainty at the time of signing since the numbers were not at all the same as were discussed for the purchase price and the trade in. That should have been a clue however to events that followed.
Fast forward several weeks. The neighbour's Nissan Juke would not start. She had to replace the battery. The safety inspection should have verified that the voltage of the battery and the charging system are within the manufacturer's specifications. Perhaps they overlooked that or perhaps it is a coincidence that the battery died within weeks of the safety inspection.
After three months, my friend's car was taken in for routine maintenance at her local Subaru dealer's service centre in the east end of Ottawa. The Subaru dealer refused to recognize the Nationwide warranty. They observed that Nationwide would not pay promptly and would require cheaper non-original manufacturer replacement parts. The Subaru mechanic also observed that the brake pads in my friend's car were not original manufacturer's brand and furthermore they had been installed upside down! The Subaru dealer reversed the brake pads at no charge.
This is really strange given the safety inspection requires: "Brake drums and disc brake pads shall be removed from all wheel brakes, except from those wheel brakes which are designed to provide adequate examination without removal of brake drums or disc brake pads but not including a brake which by inspection or performance testing indicates a defect, and all operating and structural components of each wheel brake assembly shall be inspected and tested."
When Stormy's was asked to comment on these issues they denied any wrongdoing, claimed that mechanics routinely criticize other mechanics' work. Furthermore, they said, because 3 months have passed since the warranty was issued, any refund from Nationwide is unlikely. This is even though the warranty has not be used. My friend will have to contact Nationwide to determine if a partial refund might be available. Stormy's did verify that the Subaru dealer at the west end of Ottawa would recognize the Nationwide warranty but that would be quite inconvenient to travel across town for servicing. Stormy's suggested paying by credit card for repairs and then seeking refund from Nationwide. This suggestion would require my friend assuming the administrative task of warranty administrator.
My neighbour and my friend are concerned that the safety inspection done by Stormy's was superficial and that there was serious misrepresentation regarding the warranty.
These are clearly an ongoing issues. Both my neighbour and my friend did not receive peace of mind from their car or warranty purchases from Stormy's.
When you purchase a car from Stormy's, I strongly recommend an independent mechanic do the safety inspection certification and to think twice about purchasing a warranty since it may not be recognized by other mechanics.
Stormy's people were very friendly, hence the two stars. Unfortunately their representations fall short of reality.
We are currently looking into filing formal complaints. read more