Should you buy a Chrysler or General Motors vehicle right now?

I didn’t start thinking about this question until GM’s chairman, Rick Wagoner, suggested it several months ago. Sure, he was looking for money to keep GM out of bankruptcy when he insisted that few would buy a car from an insolvent automaker.

But here we are, weeks after President Barack Obama essentially fired him, and the company remains on the brink of some sort of restructuring. Bankruptcy — even partial liquidation — seems like a possibility for Chrysler, extending the taint to it, too. So it’s certainly fair to address the premise of Wagoner’s concern head on.

Why, exactly, did he think so few of us would want to buy his cars?

I can think of plenty of reasons, ranging from warranty and resale concerns to disappearing dealers to whether all of the financial trouble will distract employees and affect the quality of the two companies’ products.

So here’s what you’re up against if you’re considering a GM or Chrysler right now.

Warranties

Last month, the Obama administration created a “Warrantee Commitment” program. It’s paying money into an account that will serve to back up Chrysler and General Motors warranties if either goes into bankruptcy or out of business.

Both Chrysler and General Motors consider this redundant.

“Regardless of any changes that may take place” during any reorganization, a Chrysler spokeswoman, Carrie McElwee, said in a statement, “we are committed to serving our customers.”

John McDonald, a GM spokesman, also said that dealers need not be concerned about reimbursement from the company for repairs, even in the event of a bankruptcy filing.

“What we’re trying to do is have an ongoing business in the long term,” he said. “The way you do that is by paying dealers, honoring warranties and making sure customers have service.”

So what happens if the business is no longer ongoing? The federal government would appoint an administrator, who would help find another service provider to perform the warranty service. If it comes to that, problems and delays are certainly possible.

Dealers

At least one-third of General Motors’ dealers are likely to disappear in the next few years. What happens if yours closes its doors? If you insist on service from a dealer, how far might you have to drive?

McDonald of GM said this should not be much of a concern.

“Most of the issues we have with surplus dealers are in metropolitan areas where we have significant overlap,” he said. “In rural communities, a lot of our competitors don’t have dealers, and we see that as a competitive advantage.” Also, Toyota has far fewer dealers than GM, but you don’t hear many people complaining about their lack of access.

While GM brands like Saab, Hummer and Saturn may cease to exist, McDonald points to the now-shuttered Oldsmobile as evidence that GM knows how to care for customers even after it no longer maintains dealerships for their cars or produces them in a factory.

Service might not be the crucial issue here, though. Jesse Toprak, the executive director for industry analysis at Edmunds.com, said he was more worried about how bankruptcy or insolvency would affect parts manufacturers.

“Where do you get parts if the supplier is no longer in business in five years?” he asked.

Resale values

History offers some comfort here. According to data from Kelley Blue Book, the rate of decline on the resale value of the Oldsmobile Alero didn’t increase much in the first year or so after GM stopped making it. This may be related to the fact that GM announced its intent to retire the brand years before it stopped making some of the cars.

Another likely explanation for the lack of impact on resale prices is that car companies shut down only underperforming divisions. The brand is already so tarnished, and resale values so poor, that the disappearance of the nameplate may not accelerate the depreciation that much.

Juan Flores, the director of vehicle valuation at Kelley Blue Book, also takes some comfort in the companies’ experience in discontinuing models and doing away with certain brands.

“There are people there who have lots of experience in strategically minimizing the costs in the liquidation process” to consumers, he said.

If the whole company were to disappear, however, it might be a different story. That’s something Chrysler buyers need to consider.

Distracted workers

Do employees working for bankrupt companies make substandard cars? The reverse may actually be true, according to D. Kevin Berchelmann, the president of Triangle Performance, a consulting firm in Spring, Texas. In bankruptcy, management is no longer worried about creditors calling, he said, and executives may be spiffing up the company for a sale (or merely making themselves employable if it liquidates).

Then again, front-line workers are still looking at possible wage and benefit cuts, so they may have other things on their minds.

McDonald of GM added that quality depended on many things, including parts that might come from elsewhere and checks and balances that had nothing to do with human beings.

The upsides

Given all the potential pitfalls, there are still at least four potentially good reasons to buy a GM or Chrysler vehicle. The first is because you want to buy American, although for now you can avoid much of the uncertainty by buying a Ford.

Second is distinctiveness — a design you can’t find elsewhere. Some people may feel there is no substitute for a Chrysler 300, a Jeep Wrangler or a Hummer. As a fellow design snob, I salute you, though you might ultimately suffer for your obsession.

Third is quality. Sure, the vehicles are better than they used to be. Warranty claims at Chrysler are at their lowest rate ever, with a 30 percent improvement in the past 12 months, according to McElwee. And GM’s Buick recently tied for first in J.D. Power and Associates’ Vehicle Dependability Study. But Consumer Reports’ most recent annual auto survey still puts the companies’ vehicles dead last (and dead second to last).

Finally, there’s price. According to Edmunds.com data from March, Chrysler is offering an average of $4,889 of consumer incentives per vehicle, the highest among the big seven (Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota). GM is a close second at $4,772. The industry average is $3,153.

That $1,600 or so is real money at a time when funds are scarce.

“All I would simply ask is to give GM a fair shot,” said McDonald of GM. “If we don’t win on quality or value or fuel economy, then don’t buy it.”

Buying a Chrysler seems like an awfully big bet at the moment. And the gamble is similarly high with brands like Saturn and Saab, which have seen better days, or Hummer, which was a bad idea to begin with.

But a Cadillac? Sure, take it for a spin. Just remember to imagine what life might be like trying to get warranty service from the federal government.