Recently my service rep called me to report that he was having difficulty reaching Continental Warranty to pre-certify a coil pack repair for my Mercedes CL600. Every time he called he got an immediate busy signal. When he told me that I assumed he had a wrong number so I decided to check for the number at www.continentalwarranty.com and received a "Sorry, we're having technical difficulties" message. Uh oh. I figured they were out of business and I was out of luck.

However, I dug up a two year old message I had received from Steve Dunn and left him a voice mail message anyway. To his credit, Steve phoned me the next day and confirmed that he was cleaning out his desk because Continental Warranty HAD CLOSED ITS DOORS last week. However, he explained that warranty holders could still get protection. Owners of warranties backed by Lyndon Insurance should call Royal American Services at 1-800-871-0467. Warranty holders backed by Great American should contact 1-866-773-6442. My dealer was able to get quick adjuster attention by phoning Royal American. Of course you might still have all the travails that come with having to be forceful about your rights. (My dealer was told that a coil generating misfire codes and going into limp mode by operating just 6 of my 12 cylinders was not considered a "hard failure". I've had some other hassles like that, but I've ultimately been successful in getting them worked out).

So while you still have to work harder than you'd like, you don't have to be concerned that your warranty has become worthless. Your rights will still be respected as long as you push for them aggressively. Frankly, except for the occasional slowness in getting adjusters to certify repairs, I'm not going to complain about my warranty backed by Lyndon. It's not as easy as having a dealer warranty, but it has been effective -- and my service items have gotten paid.

This is written to let others know that hope is not lost just because Continental Warranty closed its doors.

Paul
St Louis, Missouri
U.S.A.