Hammer Time: Don't Buy A GM Orphan . . . Yet
There are three things you really can’t avoid if you’re an American: death, debt (government inherited) and sales. Now that four GM brands have officially Oldsmobiled themselves, you’re going to hear a lot of retail sales cheerleading in the MSM. “Now’s the best time!”, “Vultures are gonna feast on these deals!”, and my own personal favorite “Get ’em while they last!” But unfortunately that last cliché is a really big part of GM’s problem.
The axe has one hell of an arc to swing this time around. And the targets aren’t exactly the cream of the crop either. For every G8 and Astra that may truly be a great deal, there’s thousands upon thousands of G8’s and Astra’s lined up right behind them that likely have the wrong options and features. Time to buy? If the government does provide the sugar candy of subsidization to consumers, yes. Debt be damned. But keep one thing in mind.
When Isuzu and Oldsmobile went kaput, we were seeing their near-new cars sold at less than half the price at the auctions. Now that four brands and about eighteen models are hitting the permanent pavement, the best carcasses may not be from the first “vulture” flyers. In fact with Pontiacs at least running through 2010, and GM still sucking at the government teat, this may be a “Toe Tag Sale” that’s well worth missing. After all, a real vulture usually waits until the carcass is long dead before feasting.
More by Steven Lang
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ConspicuousLurker : April 29th, 2009 at 1:25 am you bring up great points. Points that I nearly cannot understand myself when I was at the auction today in dallas 2500 registered buyers 4000 units and did millions in transaction today in one sitting. The factory sales are up bc of credit in my opinion. Dealers cant afford to buy open used cars, bc they have no floor for them, so they turn to the gmac and fmcc lanes, bc thats the only place to get somethign floored, hence driving the price up.
A is A, I think it's Orren Boyle's Associated Steel that's the best analogy here. 20th Century didn't take any government money, while Associated did nothing but soak it up. Furthermore, Associated's products were of low quality - if you remember, they were used to build a government housing project, which collapsed due to substandard steel. (For those who are lost, we're talking about Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, which remains remarkably timely after all these years). D
I have owned an unreliable Saturn Vue for the past 3 years. When I finally had enough of the electrical problems (it just decides not to start some days, the radio comes on for no apparent reason, the horn honks intermittently as I drive - at only 50 000 km - barely broken in)and asked GM nicely to get out of my lease and get me into a Traverse, GM fought me all the way. They won't let the dealer sell me a demo 2010 because (and I quote) there are just too many incentives to help me out on the price. They are only willing to get me into a bottom of the line Traverse model with no options and have me stuck in it for the next 5 years (or more as GM no longer LEASES vehicles). I can get into a (used) LUXURY VEHICLE with all the appointments I can think of for the SAME PRICE as their crappy base model. This truly is a kick in the face. I have been a loyal GM customer for the past 23 years and this is what I get for being so. The almighty dollar is more important than the safety and security of the drivers of their vehicles. God forbid my car fails to start in the middle of winter and I am left stranded somewhere with my small child in the back seat. I wonder how GM would take to press about a frozen family stranded in a crappy product. I can honestly say that this will be the last GM product I own and I encourage all out there to have the same view. You aren't even a number to them.... far less than a pee-on!!!!!!