An Investigation of the Use of Automobile Warranties in the Air Force.

摘要

While the warranties provided with the commercial automobiles bought by the Department of Defense offer potentially large repair cost savings, little research has been documented on the extent to which the DOD has actually taken advantage of the warranty provisions. The researchers maintained that the DOD does not exercise warranties to the maximum extent possible. Limiting its investigation to the United States Air Force, this study was conducted to test the researchers; hypothesis that the average warranty repair cost of Air Force automobiles was higher than the average warranty repair cost of civilian-purchased automobiles. A significantly higher average warranty repair cost for the Air Force would have indicated that it returns its automobiles for generally higher cost warranty repairs than the civilian sector suggesting that smaller and perhaps less significant problems are ignored more often by the Air Force. Statistical tests were run on samples of Government and civilian-purchased automobiles that had undergone warranty repairs, the results of which did not support the researchers' hypothesis. An improved Air Force vehicle repair record keeping system and a more economic method of disposing of retired automobiles were recommended. (Author)