REPORT: GM dealers opting out of 60 day satisfaction guarantee?
GM Chairman Ed Whitacre in GM's 60 Day Satisfaction Guaranteed ad
It looks like a group of General Motors dealers aren't fond of the company's new 60-day satisfaction guarantee. In fact, they dislike it so much that about 3.5 percent of the General dealers are opting out of the program, according to the financial site 24/7 Wall St. Although GM has stated it will foot the bill for returns, it appears there's enough concern (or confusion) that it's causing a car-fuffle.
According to the report, at least 149 of the company's 4,000 dealers will let other retailers handle the claims. Other reports put the number of non-participating dealers even higher. The 24/7 Wall St. crew phoned a few dealers to find out why they weren't participating, and the reasons cited included everything from not liking the new ads featuring Ed "I don't know anything about cars" Whitacre to beliefs that the program sends a message of desperation (duh), and fears that there will be financial risks to the dealers.
The promotion allows a buyer to return a new Chevy, Buick, GMC or Cadillac after 30 days of ownership, with GM refunding the purchase price minus any rebates and sales tax as long as the car is returned before the 60th day of ownership. It does seem like there's plenty of potential for the campaign to backfire, but we were a bit surprised that so many dealers would choose to pass on the promotion altogether.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Martin 5:41PM (9/21/2009)
That 3.5% is going to have some slow sales from the sound of it.
What's that? GM is going to shed 3.5% more dealers? You don't say...
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derek 6:41PM (9/21/2009)
Well...I can safely dream of all the people who will be buying all those Corvette ZR-1s and return them in 59 days...
ahhh the smell of irony in the air is wonderfulll!!!
Tool 7:13PM (9/21/2009)
Maybe GM could ask Jim Press (soon to be leaving Chrysler) to work his magic with these dealers to get them on-board. He could probably use the money!
naggs 8:48PM (9/21/2009)
sounds like the bottom 3.5 % of the barrel
i want a list so i know who's time to waste when i want to test drive a camaro
Nightcrawler 9:04PM (9/21/2009)
If someone was buying a new GM from one of those 3.5% of dealers that aren't participating, would they even know it? It seems like the kind of thing buyers would just assume was in effect at every GM dealer from the commercials, and wouldn't think to ask about when they made their purchase.
Stars Fan 12:49AM (9/22/2009)
@derek
That would be a pretty expensive 59 day rental.
Remember you'd lose that 10-12k of sales tax you paid for that 130k car.
ufgrat 1:39AM (9/22/2009)
If these 3.5% of the dealers don't want to play ball, I'm thinking there's some recently closed dealerships who'd be more than happy to work closer with GM.
HotRodzNKustoms 5:41PM (9/21/2009)
3.5% doesn't seem like a significant amount of dealers opting out. I bet more McDonald's opt out of promotional programs than these dealers.
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Tourian 6:01PM (9/21/2009)
It isn't a significant amount, and this is just hype to make GM look bad. There's a lot of fine print to read, that would make a dealer think twice.
adam1drift 6:25PM (9/21/2009)
agreed
Upthewazzu 5:42PM (9/21/2009)
I know the old blue-hair in the commercial is the CEO, but they could not have picked a more vanilla spokesman. I've seen 4th string weekend newscasters with more personality. Terrible terrible terrible.
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Venom 5:43PM (9/21/2009)
He is one of the worst choices for a spokesman that I have ever seen.
He completely turns me off from their products.
Brian 5:45PM (9/21/2009)
He's a major league douchebag, it's suit monkeys like him that led to his company having to live in Uncle Sam's basement.
Todd 5:49PM (9/21/2009)
I was thinking the same thing when I first saw the ad this week end.
Didn't think it was possible to replace Wagner with someone even older, someone even less appealing, more out of touch, but them to have done it.
"Spokes model" Whitacre and the Cash for Clunkers dead cat bounce makes October 2010 ( Volt available for sale ) seem that much farther off.
Polly Prissy Pants 6:22PM (9/21/2009)
Usually I ignore stuff like that but I'll have to ditto this one. The only thing that came to mind when I saw the commercial was "Wow, is he the epitome of generic, ancient bureaucrat or what." The only car I could imagine this guy getting excited about would be a resurrection of the 1989 Buick Electra.
Mark 6:26PM (9/21/2009)
He's not the CEO, he's the Chairman of the Board. Extremely different.
Judy Zik 8:11PM (9/21/2009)
I have to agree. He speaks with a stiff mouth like a man who has had a stroke (I don't know his medical history and don't mean to be disrespectful but it matters when you put someone out there as the face of your company) and he also walks like an old man. I half expected him to be using a walker. He might as well have been offering a 67 day guarantee instead (he is 67 yrs old). It is pretty obvious he knows nothing about cars. To top it all off he apparently never had a computer in his office or used email at AT&T. He just seems so much like the stereotype of the old out of touch manager. If he brings some managerial smarts to the table great but he should be the last person GM should be putting in front of a camera. Is this more of that marketing magic Lutz is supposedly working on?
Unfortunately for GM the best cars have been winning for years. It is ridiculous that they would bring out a new plan like this and not have taken to the time to make sure all their dealers are on board with it.
Brian 5:44PM (9/21/2009)
"May the best car win...or not".
Same old, same old old GM behavior. They're on the fast-track to a second Chapter 11 (chapter 7?)
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Pokey 5:58PM (9/21/2009)
You must save a lot of time just copying and pasting the same comments over and over again, and just editing in a few different words depending on whether you're bitching about Ford, GM, or Chrysler.
Seriously Brian, even the other Detroit 3 haters on this site are getting sick of your broken record mentallity.
Do you think you are changing any minds here? No. You're just a bitter, blindly biased little troll that obviously knows nothing about the cars of today.
Brian 6:05PM (9/21/2009)
Did I touch a nerve there? Too bad, truth hurts.
SOMEBODY has to balance out all the Detroit cheerleading on this site. The only other unbiased person here seems to be Matt.