Ur-Turn: TTAC Commenter Buickman Presents His Plan To Save GM

*sigh* I understand that in 90% of this country you need a car to get to a job to pay for rent and your car and insurance, etc., but I think Buickman is living in a wee bit of a fantasy land. I don't know how many people would actually buy cars from GM if given a free oil change or the like, but I do know that people will be pissed if they realized you just eliminated all the little bullshit rebates to pay for the program. $50 in free maintenance on a car you're being asked to dump/trade in on a new GM that NOW COSTS $500 more?!?!? And how will your potential customers take it when you require them to arrive for said test drive with paystubs in hand. "I'm sorry sir, you only qualify to test drive a used Aveo, not even a new base Spark." "BUT I WANTED TO DRIVE THE CORVETTE!" This is assuming people don't see the program as a ploy to get their cars in there so the GM techs can break something on purpose to show you that you need a new car. I know MOST of the techs are probably honest people, but you have had some *really* shady high-volume dealers (B_LL H_ARD example springs to mind) from the past. Who is going to buy all these new GM vehicles anyway? You've got at least TWO lost generations on your hands, full of people who will probably NEVER have the ability to buy a new car. Millenials who have graduated college into one of the worst job markets ever, saddled with Billions in student loan debt which they can't even get rid of by killing themselves, let alone filing for bankruptcy. And then you have the Baby Boomers, who WILL NEVER be able to retire since the Global Money-Disappearing Event wiped out their entire nest eggs. The people in between these generations, are stuck working for minimum wage $8-10/hr at customer service and fast food jobs that used to be "spare" jobs in our economy, for teens to cut their teeth on their first job and learn responsibility and how to manage money. Now these sad sacks are stuck in these jobs as CAREERS because of the evisceration of the Amercian Middle Class. So yeah, face facts, people generally think everybody else is better off than they actually ARE. You assume people have the money or the credit to just go out and blow it all on a new car. You don't know how bad it is out there and how many millions of people are scraping by paycheque to paycheque and fantasizing about getting Social Security so maybe they can retire to eat cat food one day.

my apology for the delay in responding to the well thought out comments within this thread. between a sick daughter and my own blown out knee, things have been hectic. I sincerely look forward to sitting back and carefully considering everyone's opinion. this weekend is looking good. $50 Outback Gift Certificate for the best comment. btw, simply agreeing with me doesn't get you there. I want the best ideas in order to tweak Return to Greatness. Buickman Founder GeneralWatch.com

after carefully reading this entire thread I would first like to thank everyone for their responses, even the ones from people who have no clue as to what they are attempting to talk about and those who obviously score low in comprehension. you don't have to agree with me to earn my respect or appreciation but at least have some common sense and pay attention. the best thoughts came from (in order of appearance) Sgtyukon, Xeranar, 360joules, philadlj, NormSV650, thegamper, highdesertcat, MyGreenMan, PrinicpalDan, redav, Budda-Boom, and jpolicke. the most important take from this is that yes the Extra Mile program would bring bodies into the showroom but it is imperative that the experience be a fantastic one for the prospect, both in the service lane and in the showroom. if we are going to win their hearts and minds, we must put on our best show, even for someone not ready, willing, and able to make an immediate purchase. after all, as I continuously stress and emphasize, it really comes down to how you treat PEOPLE.

oh, I forgot to pick the winner of the $50 Outback gift certificate for best comment. gonna have to read them again and consider the value of the various opinions and inputs.