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.
Well I just bought (leased) a Cadillac SRX 2016 for my mom.
Can I have one?
Her car is excellent on gas, but, ya know…
I need it.
Because: HELLCAT.
enough of the hellcat sh*t.
What are you? 2.
You must be new. Welcome, at any rate, but realize BTSR is here to stay.
Personal financial advise – select a car you can afford. If you need money because you own a HELLCAT then you can’t afford a HELLCAT. You should consider selling the HELLCAT and getting a vehicle with a comparable level of utility and refinement like a 1967 Datsun 520.
People giving advice are more credible when they spell it correctly.
Noun form, verb form, what’s the difference? :-)
“GM said “emissions-related hardware” was installed on the models this year, explaining their unusual drop in mileage, despite an unchanged powertrain.”
This should be blinking red to me.
Meh – on the G8 GT models they change emissions hardware midway through the 2009 model year that killed 10 HP off the engine – don’t recall the MPG changing.
Has CARB ratcheted things up since 2007 or is there a looming mandatory emissions change in the pipeline?
No idea, but randomly changing a legacy drivetrain on a legacy model is the kind of stuff which really grinds my gears – especially when it robs you of more than 10% fuel economy.
What those things need is a 100 MPG carburetor.
Only the Buick can be Trifecta Tuned.
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.
Aren’t these mostly leased vehicles? And would most who can pony up for actual purchase of a full-sized crossover even notice the discrepancy?
I think this is the American variant on the Asian public apology which is astonishingly conciliatory.
GM probably is targeting 100K max out of its first owners, so using your figure half is $2350, which even at $1500 is still $850 short.
Another tidbit is why a butched up transverse V6 wagon can only squeak out 15mpg where an actual V8 truck from the same mfg fares better…
It doesn’t matter how long a buyer intends to keep the car. If they bought it, GM’s lies will effect their resale value, because rational used car buyers will pay more for the vehicle with the lower running costs.
If the used car market is dominated by ‘rational used car buyers [who] will pay more for the vehicle for the lower running costs’ then why do used Corollas sell for less than used Range Rovers? Surely the corolla has lower running costs.
I’m pretty sure Range Rovers suffer far greater depreciation rates than Corollas. I’ll wait for someone else to provide the exact numbers.
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.
+1.
Out front, good messaging with clear answers. Honestly, I find the acknowledgement of a problem followed by a sensible and actionable solution by the brass at the RenCen to be completely unRenCen like.
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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.
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.
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.