Beginning Monday, GM will sell Chevrolets, Buicks, Cadillacs, and GMC light duty trucks that will include a . . .
“60-day money-back guarantee”.
Anyone unhappy with their purchase can return it and get their money back.
There are a couple of little strings attached, including provisions that the car can’t be returned for 31 days, or if miles driven exceed 4,000 within 60 days, or if not current on payments, and the buyer can’t profit from a trade-in deal.
Would this cause you to consider buying your next new car from GM if you were looking seriosly at something else?
CSA
No. they have the right to refuse a return if they suspect something fishy.
You Mean You Expect The Return To Go Like Horror Stories Involving Lease And Rental Cars?
Good point.
CSA
The above offer does not influence me one bit more or less to buy a GM car; I believe Saturn had this arrangement when they first set up shop.
It might benefit those who do very little research and no test diving before buying a car. I know of a number of folks who simply bought the wrong car for their needs.
Actually, they’re putting OUR (the taxpayers) money where their mouth is.
This offer, by itself, won’t make me any more likely to walk info a GM showroom.
PRODUCT is what would make me likely to walk into a GM showroom, and right now there isn’t much GM product that interests me.
They’re getting better, but they still have a long way to go.
This promotion would not make me more likely to consider a GM.
The use of our tax dollars to support the promotion would make me far LESS likely to buy a GM. If a buyer satisfies the terms and receives a full refund, our tax dollars would be paying the depreciation. In NH, as I suspect in most states, a previously registered vehicle cannot be sold as new.
Additional question: would you feel comfortable buying a used vehicle that someone had turned back in after only 60 days or less? I wouldn’t.
I’ll bet the actual selling prices will go up during this promotion.
No. If there was a GM car that I was considering I’d research and buy it with the intent of keeping it for a long time, and being satisfied with it.
I think that this type of promotion is only likely to benefit people who have problems making decisions and those people whose main criterion for picking a car is…I like that color.
The terminally indecisive, or those who buy cars on impulses such as liking a particular color, may be lured by this but I don’t think that most people would be. As MB said, “would you want to buy a car that was returned after 60 days?”. I know that I wouldn’t be interested in one!
“They’re getting better, but they still have a long way to go.”
Cadillac, Buick, GMC, and Chevy trucks are competitive with the best in their class; in some cases they are the best in class. Chevy midsize and large cars are also competitive; only the smaller cars are not. How far do they have to go again? I think the gap is mostly perception, and may auto industry analysts say the same. BTW, the same goes for Ford.
No. I always look at a GM product when I consider a new car. The last 3 of 4 times I bought one, too. I find two or three cars that are similar and I could live with for 10 years and buy the cheapest one.
But I do applaud them for trying something new to get sales.
Theres a couple of GM products I would consider and this helps me decide,because there was a time or two,I would have liked this option-Kevin
All well and good, but I’m not in the truck market. As I said, there isn’t much GM product that interests ME.
I do like the Malibu. And certain Cadillac models.
Patriotic people would try a GM car in order to help all of us recover our tax dollars. I am in favor of encouraging people to buy cars if they can afford them. Republicans can buy Fords if they don’t want to support Government Motors. I don’t want to be a PT Confuser but… Oh well…
I can’t afford more than one car at a time, so all any car maker needs to do is impress me with one model. I’m not a truck guy either, but I do like the two sportscars and the CTS - especially the CTS-V. M-cars sit up and take notice! But the Maibu is more in my price range. If I win the lottery tonight, I’ll buy the CTS-V and the Corvette. 
It is obvious from some of the posts so far that there is little you can do to get some people to get away from their views based on preconceived notions based on history, short test drives, little fresh experience or whatever Consumer Reports tells them to think. Inertia is a terrible thing sometimes.
Or test driving a 4 door version and thinking the 3 door hatchback will be exactly like the sedan.
You’re implying that my views are based on old history or on what CR tells me. You’re entirely correct.
I’ve owned a few GMs. I’ve also owned Toyotas and Hondas in the same eras that I’ve owned GMs. Reliability-wise, the GMs were not even close. So who created my preconceived notions based on past history? GM did.
Yes, CR’s reliability charts show GMs to be more prone to problems than Toyotas. While CR is not perfect, my experience has been very consistant with the CR data. To not use that data when making a selection would be foolhearty.
The only point I’ll dispute is that I lack the ability to think for myself. But making decisions on how to spend tens of thousands of dollars without thoroughly considering experience and available published data is not the same as letting others think for you. Making the decision NOT using that data is letting others think for you.
I support people’s right to choose the product they prefer. Recent events would suggest that far too many have decided that Toyota and Honda are better choices. Even with Cash For Clunkers, GM’s August sales figures were down 20%. Honda’s and Toyota’s were up. People who think for themselves pay attention to these statistics. They have underlying meaning.
Experience is a terrible thing to waste.
This is not a valid group to draw conclusions from for the entire population. We enjoy shopping for cars. This program is for those that are really not into it.