GM Sending Debit Cards to Owners of Thirsty Crossovers

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Owners of full-size 2016 General Motors crossovers will get a welcome present in the mail to make up for the automaker’s window sticker snafu.

About 135,000 retail customers will receive debit cards worth between $450 and $1,500, Automotive News reports, making GM square with owners of affected Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia models.

Due to a “data transmission” error, the Monroney stickers on 2016 full-size crossovers listed an incorrect EPA fuel economy rating that was one to two miles per gallon higher than it should have been.

GM said “emissions-related hardware” was installed on the models this year, explaining their unusual drop in mileage, despite an unchanged powertrain.

The payout, which begins next Wednesday, compensates owners for the difference in mileage depending on their lease term. Those who purchased the vehicle can choose between a gas card or an extended warranty.

Fleet buyers will have to stay in the dark until GM figures out how to compensate them.

There’s no word yet on any charges from the Environmental Protection Agency, which began investigating the sticker discrepancy after GM made the issue public last week. There is one class-action lawsuit, though.

The owners in the suit are represented by the same law firm that sought compensation for Hyundai and Kia buyers in that automaker’s gas mileage controversy.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
14 of 23 comments
  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on May 20, 2016

    What those things need is a 100 MPG carburetor.

    • VoGo VoGo on May 20, 2016

      Only the Buick can be Trifecta Tuned.

  • VoGo VoGo on May 20, 2016

    Doesn't cut it. If you expected 200K miles from your crossover, and 17 mpg and $3 gas, then you would expect to spend $35.3K on gas over the life of the vehicle. If you then got only 15 mpg, you would spend $40K on gas over its 200K miles. So you are out the difference of $4,700. A debit card for $450-1,500 just isn't getting it done, GM.

    • See 4 previous
    • Rpn453 Rpn453 on May 21, 2016

      @yamahog I'm pretty sure Range Rovers suffer far greater depreciation rates than Corollas. I'll wait for someone else to provide the exact numbers.

  • Brettc Brettc on May 20, 2016

    As much as I don't really care for GM, their response to this has been lightning fast, unlike another large auto manufacturer that was hoping no one would notice their lying (aka VW). So good for them in trying to make customers happy before it escalates too far.

    • See 2 previous
    • Art Vandelay Art Vandelay on May 22, 2016

      In fairness GM spent up all of their goodwill on these types of situations with that whole ignition switch bit. I have no doubt that if they could somehow pin this on "Old GM" they would.

  • SC5door SC5door on May 20, 2016

    I liked the Hyundai idea better. They reimbursed you for the difference plus a certain percentage as a "sorry". You had 2 options; either take a lump sum payment or get a yearly debit card based on mileage. We chose the card which gets around $2-300 for as long as we have the car; it's paid about $1200 thus far (The lump sum was around $500). The process is pretty simple, although there's people out there that moan and groan they have to take it once a year to the dealer for them to read the mileage.

    • Robert.Walter Robert.Walter on May 23, 2016

      It would seem a hybrid approach for "owners" would be most appropriate. An initial lump sum to compensate for mpg-related overcharge (whether this is enough to cover additional depreciation due to bad rep could be argued), and then an annual milagr-based reimbursement based on fuel costs (how to be determined? AAA lists for owner's area?) Regardless, I think the initial debit cards and the class action lawsuits will probably cross in the mail.

Next