With Cadillac’s sales remaining stubbornly slack, the GM luxury rband is looking for every opportunity to win back customers. Image-conscious fashion victims have the CTS Coupe to coo over, but what about the Consumer Reports-reading luxury buyers who want a well-managed, hassle-free customer experience? Cadillac is trying to make inroads with these buyers as well, introducing a 4 year, 50,000 mile maintenance program for all 2011 model-year vehicles [full presser here]. The program includes
scheduled oil changes, tire rotations, replacement of engine and cabin air filters and a multi-point vehicle inspection
Sorry CTS-V drivers, but that doesn’t include free tires. And as much as we might like to laud Cadillac’s decision to back up its products, this move doesn’t really get them ahead of the game. Instead, Cadillac is only just keeping pace with the likes of BMW, which has offered a four-year, 50k mile scheduled maintenance program for some time. So now Cadillac can say that buyers who switch from BMW won’t be surprised by first-year maintenance costs, eliminating one possible frustration on the customer experience level. Still, this is hardly a perception-shifting, Hyundai Assurance-level gimmick for the luxury game. [Update: The BMW program does not include tire rotations. Standard Of The World after all?]
Glad to see GM is doing something to help make Cadillac better. I am guessing soon that others will be doing the same thing. I know VW at one point did this same thing as well.
VW offers gratis scheduled maintenance, which is OK, I guess. On the other hand, I’m not sure about the schedule. My higher powered 2L turbocharged engine is said to require oil changes every 10K. I’m hesitant to go this long/far, and so I spring for service every 5K. Who knows? Maybe 10K is as good as 5, these days. I don’t know how often GM requires routine service. It’s always a selling point, though, whenever you get anything “free” (wink wink). Besides, today, with synthetic, you’re almost pushing a C-note for crying out loud.
I wish you could match Hyundai’s 5 year, 60,000 mile warranty.
“Great I’ll TAKE IT! Yeah that car in the ad. What da mean that Cadillac hasn’t made cars like that in at least 40 years? (Fleetwood aside.) Well I guess I’ll keep looking then.”
I like this idea, and I wish Cadillac the best with it. But I’m not convinced that this trend is good for consumers who actually buy cars instead of leasing them. My experience with these “service included” deals (MINI in my case) is that the service intervals are dictated by some software algorithm’s interpretation of the way the car is driven. This approach means that you have little or no “cost” during the warranty period, but that the insufficient maintenance that is included essentially ensures that the car’s life isn’t too much longer than the warranty period. The cynic’s view is that manufacturers are including the “service” up front to shorten the car’s life span.
Regardless, it is naive foolishness to call this included service “free”–it’s simply prepaid in the cost of the car.
For a typical Cadillac driver, it will probably amount to three to four oil changes and tire rotations, just like BMW’s program. Still, small things like this mean a great deal to this class of buyer, who seem to have an inherent fear of a car breaking down and being left stranded in an iffy part of town. Also, like most luxury cars, Cadillacs are typically leased, so the buyer knows that there should not be any other items to budget for during the lease period, tires excepted.
In Canada anyways, Cadillac’s have had 4 year/80,000 km free maintenance for awhile now.
Doesn’t actually mean the cars are any better. Will just suck in a few more buyers, who will again be reminded why they don’t want a Cadillac.
baby step, but in the right direction.
OK, so that’s worth about $100-200/year. They’ll make up for the expense by ‘finding’ problems during the multi-point inspection that you have to pay for.
-end cycical rant-
educatordan +1
I’ve not actually owned a BMW, I like Volvos and VWs better when I go European, but on the last few BMWs I’ve helped my friends maintain, the manuals explicitly recommend against rotating the tires. Makes sense if you think about it a while.
Also, I don’t think BMW’s service includes alignment. And I’m unsure about brakes.
BMWs with the Sport Package have unequally sized tires on the front and the rear, therefore making rotation a moot point. But BMW has for at least 20 years stated in the user manuals that rotation isn’t necessary if the tires are properly inflated and aligned.
I have to add my experience with BMW’s no cost maintenance. I took it in from 24K miles on, as I bought my 03 525IT used. The oil changes, including the engine and cabin filters were no charge. At 48K miles, after a hard run down the PCH through Big Sur, the front end began to shake, rattle, and roll.
I called the local BMW dealer in Pleasanton, CA. Couldn’t see me for 3 weeks, at which point the odometer was over 50K. The entire front end, including bearings and arms, was replaced, under warranty. They also replaced the front brakes, including new rotors, and pads, all free under the warranty. The only thing I ever had to pay for were windshield wipers.
Oooh, what a beautiful car! What a beautiful ad too! I mean, it’s good that Cadillac is now making cars such as the CTS coupe, but still, nothing screams “Cadillac” more to me than the car pictured. Lovely color too!
The BMW maintenance includes brakes, wipers, filter changes, oil, etc. etc. The only thing that’s not included is tires.
When my “free” Volvo maintenance period expired, I asked the dealer how much the service would cost me. The answer sent me to my friendly local independent, who did the work about 15% cheaper, including a switch to synthetic oil. It sounded like the dealer was trying to make back what they thought they were losing on the factory stipends.
GM’s flagship, once the competitor of Rolls-Royce, is just now offering something that world-class automakers have been offering for years? Why am I not surprised.
“I wish you could match Hyundai’s 5 year, 60,000 mile warranty.”
Cadillac has 4 yr/50,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and 5 year/100,000 mile powertrain coverage including roadside asistance.