09/06/06, 1:00PM: GM to announce "Industry Leading" warranties.

Many people have been calling for such a move here.

I think it is a great move for Corporate and Brand image.... hopefully it won't affect consumer cost much, if any.

We'll have to wait a bit for the specifics, and see if it is truely "industry leading".

http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/06/autos/gm_warranties/index.htm


GM to offer longer warranties
Source says GM to announce 'industry leading' extended warranties in an effort to stop slide in market share to import brands.
September 6 2006: 10:26 AM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors Corp., struggling to stop its continued market share losses and close the perception of worse quality with import brands, plans to announce an "industry leading" warranty offer Wednesday, according to someone familiar with company plans.

The company has announced that Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner will announce "a major consumer initiative" at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday.


The company has suffered with customer perception of producing lesser quality cars than many import brands, particularly from Japan, even as some measures have shown that the quality gap has been closing faster than perceptions.

The latest J.D. Power Dependability study, which surveyed 48,000 owners of 2003 model-year vehicles to see how the cars fared three years after purchase put two GM brands, Buick and Cadillac, No. 3 and 4, respectively, in quality, ahead of brands such as Toyota, Honda and BMW. Lexus, the luxury brand of Toyota Motor, finished No. 1.

The lower perceived quality has caused GM to offer larger cash-back offers or other costly incentives to hang onto declining market share. But offering a longer warranty will also cost the company money as it struggles to trim losses from its core North American auto operations.

GM currently offers a 36-month, 36,000 mile warranty on most of its vehicles. Some Korean automakers such as Hyundai, which has also faced consumer perception problems, offers a 5-year, 60,000 warranty on just about all parts of its vehicles, along with a 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty on its powertrain.

awesome!!

We just got an internal notice that Wagoner would be making "a significant consumer announcement" this afternoon. I suppose this is what it is referring to. :cool:

This is potentially great news.

It says industry leading. Does that mean it will top Hyundai's term? Or, maybe it won't be quite as long/as many miles, but will not be shady like the Hyundai warranty (not transferrable, deductible, etc.).

I'm actually pretty excited to see this!

Where is the :bitingfingernails: smilie when you need it? :)

this should be interesting, just look what an extended warranty did for hyundai.

nothin like putting money where your mouth is to drive the point home.

I guess GM got tired of seeing the Ford ads stating they had the best warrenty of any full line manufacturer. I think the loudest proponent on this board for this would be Threxx. Maybe we can get him to buy, not lease, a GM car after this.

I'm extremely excited to hear this. Not just on a personal level but on an overall level because I think this will lead to some great things for GM. It might not even piss off their stock holders if they see the fruits of their decision soon enough. I mean their service departments won't see any decreased income for the first 3 years anyway since all of the new extended warranty vehicles would be under warranty regardless anyway. So maybe within the 3 year period GM will have seen enough of an improvement in sales and (more importantly) second chance customers (people who swore off GM sometime in the last decade due to a previous bad experience), to make up for it.

Here's the one very important key issue though: service departments that make the warranty worthwhile. If I have a warranty but the dealer can't seem to get anything taken care of without multiple trips and lots of bitching on my part, then it's worthless to me.

good move, wonder what they will be? 4/50 for Chevy/Pontiac/Saturn/GMC 5/60 for Caddy/Buick/Hummer?

good move, wonder what they will be? 4/50 for Chevy/Pontiac/Saturn/GMC 5/60 for Caddy/Buick/Hummer?

That's not industry leading by any measure.

At a minimum they better be 5yr/60 B2B for the lower brands w/ 7yr 100k powertrain, and then a step up from that for the lux brands.

I think we're about to see GM's bread & butter & budget retail car sales blast off. :D

That's not industry leading by any measure.

At a minimum they better be 5yr/60 B2B for the lower brands w/ 7yr 100k powertrain, and then a step up from that for the lux brands.

Good point, I missed "industry leading". hyundia and Kia only got were they are today because of that 100,000 powertrain warranty. Hopefully it will work even better for GM. The #1 reason (excuse :shrug: ) I hear for someone buying a Kia/Hyundia is the warranty.

Just announced: Bumper-to-Bumper warranties stay the same, powertrain warranties are now 5 years or 100,000 miles fully transferrable. The "fully transferrable with no deductable" part is what makes it "industry leading"--at least, powertrain-wise.

Not exactly the kind of earth-shattering warranty I was expecting. I mean really, the 3y-36k warranty is so rediculously outdated....how much more would it cost to go 4/50 across the lineup????

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewpressreldetail.do?domain=2&docid=28433

A step in the right direction, but I personally don't think this goes far enough. A 4/50 bumper to bumper with the 5/100 powertrain would make a much louder statement.....all this says is that the powertrains are improved, not the quality of the entire vehicle.

Just announced: Bumper-to-Bumper warranties stay the same, powertrain warranties are now 5 years or 100,000 miles fully transferrable. The "fully transferrable with no deductable" part is what makes it "industry leading"--at least, powertrain-wise.

Not exactly the kind of earth-shattering warranty I was expecting. I mean really, the 3y-36k warranty is so rediculously outdated....how much more would it cost to go 4/50 across the lineup????

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewpressreldetail.do?domain=2&docid=28433

It's a great move by GM. The "fully transferrable" portion will play nice with resale values.

I'm with Guy. I bet the Saturn Aura absolutely destroys the competition from this point forward.

Just announced: Bumper-to-Bumper warranties stay the same, powertrain warranties are now 5 years or 100,000 miles fully transferrable. The "fully transferrable with no deductable" part is what makes it "industry leading"--at least, powertrain-wise.

Not exactly the kind of earth-shattering warranty I was expecting. I mean really, the 3y-36k warranty is so rediculously outdated....how much more would it cost to go 4/50 across the lineup????

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewpressreldetail.do?domain=2&docid=28433


100,000 transferable powertrain warranty should be a big boost to GMs high volume cars. Kia/Hyundia warranties are not transferable. The 3/36 really need to be higher. I'm at 2 years this month on my colorado and I already have 33,000mi. I don't care if the 3 year part stays the same, just raise the milage to 50,000. In the 21st century most people drive 15,000 on avg.

Well, the Powertrain warranty is great news (though I think 6 years would be better). But I agree, the B2B warranty should have been pushed to 4/60 or 5/60 across the board. Some, of course, are already at 4/50 (Caddy, Buick, Saab, I think).

I'm thinking a lot of the advertising will just focus on that 100k mile number, just like the Hyundai warranty, even though that is only the powertrain. Of course, the powertrain warranty is the most important part, IMO (a broken glovebox latch isn't going to leave you stranded and/or FORCE you to fix it before you can drive again). Hyundai ads make a big deal of the 100k mile warranty, and the GM one has the advantage of being transferrable and having no deductible. I think these warranties will get the attention of many buyers.

:cool:

I'm still excited about it, but I admit I'd hoped for just a bit more.

I'm with Guy. I bet the Saturn Aura absolutely destroys the competition from this point forward.

Destroy? Hardly. Aura is a nice car and all but I wouldn't assume it's going to double its sales because of a nice powertrain warranty.

*Mr. Burns voice on* Excellent. :D *Mr. Burns voice off*

David

I'm absolutely let down. Why? I mean, while this is a step in the right direction, what GM's marketing needed was a BIG step, so loud that it creates a buzz and people start talking about it.

I can already forsee almost every conversation on the topic now - 100k mile powertrain warranties, BUT you have to drive 20k miles a year to take full advantage of it, and the 3/36 B2B are still tied for worst of all the non exotic brands.

7yr 100k powertrain w/ 5yr 60k B2B would have created a BUZZ - this is simply going to get a few people saying "hey did you hear about... yeah but the B2B..."

They don't need conversations filled with "yeah but".

I mean even if a year from now they move to 4yr/50k or 5yr/60k B2B, it's going to be spreading out that hype and the sum of it will not be nearly the snowball effect that the two together could have been.

I actually believe most of GM's perceived lack of quality was not in their motors and transmissions, but rather the rest of the vehicle.
Most people I talk to talk about GMs 'falling apart' within 100k miles. Not leaving you stranded on the side of the road, but just not holding together well. Most people see a GM vehicle as something that will keep driving point A to point B, it just may not do it in great style after a few years.

I'm absolutely let down. Why? I mean, while this is a step in the right direction, what GM's marketing needed was a BIG step, so loud that it creates a buzz and people start talking about it.

I can already forsee almost every conversation on the topic now - 100k mile powertrain warranties, BUT you have to drive 20k miles a year to take full advantage of it, and the 3/36 B2B are still tied for worst of all the non exotic brands.

7yr 100k powertrain w/ 5yr 60k B2B would have created a BUZZ - this is simply going to get a few people saying "hey did you hear about... yeah but the B2B..."

They don't need conversations filled with "yeah but".

I mean even if a year from now they move to 4yr/50k or 5yr/60k B2B, it's going to be spreading out that hype and the sum of it will not be nearly the snowball effect that the two together could have been.

I actually believe most of GM's perceived lack of quality was not in their motors and transmissions, but rather the rest of the vehicle.
Most people I talk to talk about GMs 'falling apart' within 100k miles. Not leaving you stranded on the side of the road, but just not holding together well. Most people see a GM vehicle as something that will keep driving point A to point B, it just may not do it in great style after a few years.

This is spot on accurate. 100% agree.

I'm with Threxx on this one. I don't think the powertrains were the issue. Window motors, alternators, ABS, etc. are the problems that I've encountered with my GM vehicles.

I won't bash them for making things better, after all the are basically leading the market in powertrain warranty now.

I'd argue that a 5 yr / 100,000 mile TRANSFERRABLE powertrain warranty is at least as valuable as a 7 year / 100,000 NON-transferrable powertrain warranty... primarily because by making that warranty transferrable, it should add tangable resale value to the car, because the used car buyer will also get the leftovers of that warranty and the buying comfort that comes with it, whereas the Kia/Hyundai/whoever used buyer will not.

That said, I was hoping to see the volume brand's (Chevy, Pontiac, etc) base Bumper to Bumper warranty raised to 4 yr / 50,000 like Cadillac, Buick and Saab have now, and have those premium brands raised to 5 yr / 60,000 miles.

Still, better is better. This is not a bad thing. Remember that these new warranties will not make the quality better, but it will make the perceived quality better in many eyes. As with the Kia/Hyundia warranties... most people only see the 100,000 mile number, and the assume that the warranty covers the whole car for that period of time.

Warranty comparision chart:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c283/darthxed/warranty.gif

^^That chart is a little small, can you make it bigger for us?

EDIT: Never mind, don't know why it didn't do that the first time for me.

Gotta love how they managed to shift the most important numbers in a warranty (B2B) way off to the right but not so far over that wandering eyes looking at the end of the chart would notice it right away, either.:p

BTW it says 50k/4 years on the B2B... which Chevrolet vehicles are covered for that length of time?

edit: Darth Xed, is that a Win 98 Machine running a Netware client? Betcha you've got some old school IT guys there - either that or cheap upper management.:p

Gotta love how they managed to shift the most important numbers in a warranty (B2B) way off to the right but not so far over that wandering eyes looking at the end of the chart would notice it right away, either.:p

Well, I think it is just common sense that they would want to promote the new, good stuff.... ;) Even still, only Kia and Hyundai win that catagory... everyone else is a tie, with GM having an advantage with certain brands (Cadillac, HUMMER, Buick, Saab)

BTW it says 50k/4 years on the B2B... which Chevrolet vehicles are covered for that length of time?

I noticed that as well, and as far as I know, there are none. I am thinking this was a generic chart to be used by all the brands, perhaps, so it is somewhat misleading. Instead of "Chevrolet" being listed it should be "General Motors"

edit: Darth Xed, is that a Win 98 Machine running a Netware client? Betcha you've got some old school IT guys there - either that or cheap upper management.:p

Well, I am one of the two IT people :lol: ... sadly, my PC is the last in the company running W98SE... because we have some legacy software that has to be accessed from time to time and it doesn't function on newer OS systems.... and, honestly, it doesn't really bother me too much.

The Novell server is ancient, but we keep it around because it just won't die (we put the server into server in 1996!)... noone really uses it, but it's a good place to store some old stuff that runs independantly form everything else... and we kind of want to see how long it'll keep running for. :lol:

Yeah that's the only thing I can think of, that the chart was created for GM as a whole but ended up with Chevy slapped on it. I guess we'll see how proactive they are about fixing that one.:p

The Novell server is ancient, but we keep it around because it just won't die (we put the server into server in 1996!)... noone really uses it, but it's a good place to store some old stuff that runs independantly form everything else... and we kind of want to see how long it'll keep running for. :lol:

Right but it looks like you're using a netware client to login. Are you using Netware for your directory/security structure? Or does 98SE require the netware client itself to read files off of one of their servers? Our oraganization was using 4.xx when I first got here. I didn't like it but I'm sure that's mainly because I wasn't used to it. We're running all MS stuff now - Server 00/03, ADS, Exchange, etc.

Right but it looks like you're using a netware client to login. Are you using Netware for your directory/security structure? Or does 98SE require the netware client itself to read files off of one of their servers? Our oraganization was using 4.xx when I first got here. I didn't like it but I'm sure that's mainly because I wasn't used to it. We're running all MS stuff now - Server 00/03, ADS, Exchange, etc.


Yes, I use it to login and setup the directory for my PC. The legacy software resides on the Novell 4.11 server, and needs to have a few different Novell login scripts to run to function properly....

I think the Novell server has a 10 year 100,000 mile warranty too... :think: Actually that'd be expiring this year. :o

Geez some people aren't happy with anything! Maybe GM should just put a 10year 150k bumper to bumper warranty on everything........ that wouldn't hurt an already struggling company.

BTW I wish my truck was an '07

you know the dealer told us when we went to pick up my equnox that most people only keep there car 32 months. i mean mabe thats what gm was thinking that most people will only keep the car 32 months and then when they sell it the next person get some warrenty with it to.

I hope they actually cover things, unlike say, Ford, which repeatedly weaseled out of warranty coverage (that I paid extra for. :mad: )

Me: "My car is leaking trans fluid onto my drive shaft and I smell it burning."
Ford: "It's leaking from around your shifter, that's not part of your powertrain."
Me: "Okay, just take it out, then bring the car around."
Ford: :confused:
Me: "Doesn't the powertrain warranty cover seals and gaskets?"
Ford: "Yes, but this is the shifter."
Me: "What is between the shifter and the transmission?"
Ford: "A gasket. But that one is not covered."
Me: :mad:

Repeat this for the other three transmission leaks and throwout bearing.

I had a VW Jetta. Basically as crappy as they say, but VW always stood behind it. I give them credit for that.

I'm absolutely let down. Why? I mean, while this is a step in the right direction, what GM's marketing needed was a BIG step, so loud that it creates a buzz and people start talking about it.

I can already forsee almost every conversation on the topic now - 100k mile powertrain warranties, BUT you have to drive 20k miles a year to take full advantage of it, and the 3/36 B2B are still tied for worst of all the non exotic brands.

7yr 100k powertrain w/ 5yr 60k B2B would have created a BUZZ - this is simply going to get a few people saying "hey did you hear about... yeah but the B2B..."

They don't need conversations filled with "yeah but".

I mean even if a year from now they move to 4yr/50k or 5yr/60k B2B, it's going to be spreading out that hype and the sum of it will not be nearly the snowball effect that the two together could have been.

I actually believe most of GM's perceived lack of quality was not in their motors and transmissions, but rather the rest of the vehicle.
Most people I talk to talk about GMs 'falling apart' within 100k miles. Not leaving you stranded on the side of the road, but just not holding together well. Most people see a GM vehicle as something that will keep driving point A to point B, it just may not do it in great style after a few years.
I would disagree with you on the powertrain thing. The people I've talked to would make you think that a GM engine couldn't go 36k miles without a problem, but a Honda or Toyota could go 9 million miles without a problem. Ok, so I'm stretching with the 9 million, but you get the point. Also, I know it may only be 5yrs, but milage puts a whole lot more hurting on powertrain parts then years. Especially when said vehical gets abused on vehical maintaince.

I think what is missed by everyone so far is that the B2B from Chevy is equal to all the important players out there, Toyota, Honda, Nissian. Remember Toyota and Honda own the market with the small and midsized cars. They no longer are in the same ballfield with what GM just through out there. This is what will tip the scales in favor of GM with the small and midsize cars. GM no longer has to have outstanding design to sell cars. I would be willing to bet that GM could make mudaine designs and still out sell Toyota and Honda in the small and midsized markets. This is going to hurry the marketshare back to GM.

Also, I'm sure your local dealership will be more then willing to sell you some kind of an extension on your B2B. Sure you have to go back to that dealer, but at least you don't have to worry about the vehical sitting 5 states away. More times then not a B2B related problem will not leave the car sitting. So, you be able to get back to you local dealer to get the problem fixed. Lastly, I wonder how long it will be before somewhat Ford and especially Chrysler meets this warrenty?

Well, not quite what I was expecting, but still a great step.

I haven't had a car since my 75 Malibu that had any trouble going 100,000 miles (or over 150,000 miles in a few instances) without any problems, so I'm not sure if this new powertrain warranty is going to cost GM anything or require them to do anything different than what they do now..

But as someone pointed out before, the issue is GM's components. Alternators, power window motors, etc.

I would disagree with you on the powertrain thing. The people I've talked to would make you think that a GM engine couldn't go 36k miles without a problem, but a Honda or Toyota could go 9 million miles without a problem. Ok, so I'm stretching with the 9 million, but you get the point. Also, I know it may only be 5yrs, but milage puts a whole lot more hurting on powertrain parts then years. Especially when said vehical gets abused on vehical maintaince.

Well IMO they are playing the numbers a bit. The know the average person who drives 20k miles a year for 5 years is doing a lot of highway driving. Highway driving is relatively speaking much easier, for the most part, than city driving for almost every part covered under the powertrain warranty.

The average car currently gets driven an average of 13,500 miles a year according to the latest stat I've seen (I do IT work for an insurance agency). So they know that 50% of the people with this new extended warranty will be limited by the 5 year mark LONG before they will the 100k mile mark. Those people are also more likely to be doing more harsh stop and go city type driving. So for that 50% or so of their buyers the warranty is really only going to be 5 years and 40 to 70k miles. Guess what most other manufacturers are doing for their powertrain warranties even if it's not 100k miles? 5 years. So pretty much, for the average milage car or less, this 100k mile limit doesn't change anything for them. For the higher milage drivers, it will, but those are also typically the highway milage drivers that will see less wear and tear per mile anyway.

Anyway - I'm not trying to say this is not any good, I'm just saying GM has definitely done some math here and has made a very obvious decision to set the years lower than the milage would typically dictate.

I looked in my warranty info, checked Hyundaiusa.com and searched google and several boards and came up with nothing about a deductible on the Hyundai warranty. This from 2002 says they don't have one:

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/specialreports/articles/69796/article.html
If there is one I want to know about it since I have an '06 Elantra.

Here's another article that is clearer with a comment from Ford:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/09/06/gm.warranty.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest

I actually believe most of GM's perceived lack of quality was not in their motors and transmissions, but rather the rest of the vehicle.
Most people I talk to talk about GMs 'falling apart' within 100k miles. Not leaving you stranded on the side of the road, but just not holding together well. Most people see a GM vehicle as something that will keep driving point A to point B, it just may not do it in great style after a few years.

I agree 100% here... Save for my old Formula (which dumped an auto tranny at 75k miles and never really ran right), my experience with GM has been that their powertrains are the ONLY parts of the car worth a damn.

I can't even say that much about my Ford...

Nice try GM, you'll get my attention when I don't have to pay for misc. crap to be replaced on a 3 year old car.

....yawn.......

Dammit why did I buy an 06 ;)

Well IMO they are playing the numbers a bit. The know the average person who drives 20k miles a year for 5 years is doing a lot of highway driving. Highway driving is relatively speaking much easier, for the most part, than city driving for almost every part covered under the powertrain warranty.

The average car currently gets driven an average of 13,500 miles a year according to the latest stat I've seen (I do IT work for an insurance agency). So they know that 50% of the people with this new extended warranty will be limited by the 5 year mark LONG before they will the 100k mile mark. Those people are also more likely to be doing more harsh stop and go city type driving. So for that 50% or so of their buyers the warranty is really only going to be 5 years and 40 to 70k miles. Guess what most other manufacturers are doing for their powertrain warranties even if it's not 100k miles? 5 years. So pretty much, for the average milage car or less, this 100k mile limit doesn't change anything for them. For the higher milage drivers, it will, but those are also typically the highway milage drivers that will see less wear and tear per mile anyway.

Anyway - I'm not trying to say this is not any good, I'm just saying GM has definitely done some math here and has made a very obvious decision to set the years lower than the milage would typically dictate.

Most people only keep their car when bought new for 4 years. GM gave it an extra year for good measure. Why would GM want to warranty a car when the buyers do not keep them longer on average than 4 years? I am not sure resale would impact much on a longer warranty.

Sounds like a great plan to me, and this will not be discredited by the media like you are doing. I highly doubt the 7 year warranty would attract enough more buyers to justify the costs involved. The new warranty they put out of pretty damn solid. GM finally got it's head out of the sand and in my opinion did exactly as they should have on the warranty issues.

Well that makes me upset...mostly because I just bought an '06 :lol: