“Should I buy a Saturn car?” asks Consumer Reports’ blog of itself in the wake of Penske’s takeover interruptus. “In a word,” comes the answer, “no.” Though other GM dealers will be able to honor warranties and service Saturns, CR worries that there are “practical limitations to parts inventory and technician training.” Normal servicing shouldn’t be a problem, but major repairs could take more time and money, particularly for low-volume Saturns like the Sky and Astra. And of course there’s the unavoidable fact that reliability studies indicate that many Saturn models will be in for repair on a fairly regular basis. Though they conclude that it’s difficult to predict exactly what the Saturn ownership experience will be like over the next decade, “there are simply better alternatives that are more reliable, have lower owner costs, and do not carry undue risks.” We would agree.

One of TTAC’s tipsters reports that GM has erroneously recalled 8k vehicles. D’oh!

Date: 10/08/2009  Ref. number: XXXXXX Subject: 09041A / 09077A – Noncompliance Recalls – Retraction Letter

GM SERVICE AND PARTS OPERATIONS
URGENT – DISTRIBUTE IMMEDIATELY
Date: October 9, 2009

Subject: 09041A / 09077A – Noncompliance Recalls

Shift Lever Indicator May Not Display Correct Gear

Retraction Letter Mailed to Certain Customers

Models:
2009 Buick Enclave
2009 Chevrolet Cobalt, HHR, Malibu, Traverse
2009 GMC Acadia
2009 Pontiac G5, G6
2009 Saturn AURA, OUTLOOK

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GM Service Operations

**Urgent Message**

DCS 412

DATE: September 21, 2009

TO: All US GM Dealers, Service Directors, Warranty Administrators and Parts Managers

SUBJECT: Changes to the General Motors 100,000 Mile/5 Year Powertrain Warranty for 2010 Model Year Vehicles

This message is to provide information regarding the a few changes to the GM Powertrain Warranty for 2010 model year vehicles.  Previous model year vehicles are NOT affected by these changes.

For model year 2010, General Motors is announcing a slight change in the components that are covered under the 100,000 mile/5 year limited warranty on all light duty cars and trucks.  The Warranty and Owner Assistance Information booklets have already been updated with these changes in all New 2010 model GM vehicles.

The following items have been eliminated from the Powertrain portion of the coverage for 2010, however, they will continue to be covered for the entire length of the Bumper to Bumper Limited Warranty for all GM vehicles.  Select components may also be covered by Federal or State Emission coverage.  Please refer to the Labor Time Guide and Policies and Procedures (P&P) manual for further details.

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Allpar reports that Chrysler is dropping its lifetime warranty offer in favor of a five year, 100k-mile powertrain warranty (in addition to the standard three year, 36k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty). Unlike the lifetime offer, the new warranty will be transferable. Will it be enough to rescue ChryCo’s plummeting resale values? It couldn’t hurt, although the lifetime offer also helped Chrysler sell a deal (and who buys a Chrysler for the car?). Another change is that SRT vehicles now qualify for the new warranty. All of which is a bit strange considering that under the lifetime deal, Chrysler actually reduced its warranty cost projections.

Jalopnik reports that, rather than crying “perception gap” to negative tweets about Buick’s quick-n-dirty Saturn Vue rebadge, GM has killed plans for the plugin crossover. GM spokesfolk say “the overwhelmingly negative response to this vehicle coming out of this event” caused GM to pull the plug. Which is funny because a good hard look at their bloated 2012 CUV lineup would have told them that killing the “Vuick” was a good idea, too. So now GM has a plug-in CUV developed with nowhere to put it. And the Twitterati have another reason to believe they are somehow relevant. In other words, all’s right with the world. Hit the jump for GM’s official word via spokesman Tom Stephens.

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While Automotive News [sub] trumpets the fact that “Cadillac Joins Lexus atop Study of Customer Satisfaction,” our experience with all manner of stat house slickery behooves us to dig a little deeper into the subject. [“league table” here.] While we eagerly await Mr. Karesh’s analytical evisceration, I’d like to share some relevant facts. First, although the “see there IS a perception gap” study is called the American Customer Satisfaction Index™, it hails from the University of Michigan. Second, it’s a racket. The academics behind the index charge companies a $35K “corporate subscription price.” If you don’t work in automotive, no problem! The ACSI covers 44 industries! Oh, and the US government. Third, methodology (as above) . . .

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TTAC commentator Mark writes:

Mr. Farago, I’m an avid fan of your web site / blog. General Motors is a frequent subject, often in a negative light (typically, a well deserved negative light). I have owned and currently own GM vehicles. Why? My father worked for GM for 35 years, was paid well paid and has a good pension. GM helped put bread on our table, a car in our driveway and helped pay for my education. With all the issues and bailouts that GM has recently had, I would find it difficult to purchase another GM vehicle. What would sway me to purchase another GM vehicle? The company would have to change it’s philosophy and be accountable for the products they produce. Promote this via a marketing program centered on a specific model with the following four points:

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GM’s North American VP for quality, Rick Spina, latches on to the latest JD Power IQS with a blog post at Fastlane titled “What Quality Gap?” and a webchat inviting every pissed-off GM owner to bitch about their quality problems.

For all the naysayers out there … get this … in the J.D. Power & Associates 2009 Initial Quality Study, Cadillac, our flagship brand, improved by 19 percent since last year’s study and comes in third, just behind Lexus and Porsche. That’s pretty darn good considering brands typically improve around 5 percent a year. And Chevy, our volume leader, eliminates the quality gap to join company with very competitive import brands like Honda and Toyota. Simply put, the quality gap is history.

Oh really?

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Taking a page from Detroit’s auto plant parking lots, BMW has been putting notices on employee vehicles built by competing firms, reports Bloomberg. “What’s wrong here? You like working with us. You appreciate your job and income. But you drive a vehicle from a competitor,” read the notices signed by Ian Robertson, the company’s sales chief; Harald Krueger, BMW’s head of personnel, and Manfred Schoch, its top union representative. Some 7,000 German employees of BMW received the friendly reminders. “We wanted to raise awareness that our employees are part of the product and could actually drive BMW,” said Bilgeri. “It’s a totally normal marketing program.” Except that this is the first time BMW has ever targeted employee owners of competing brands in twenty years of marketing to its employees. BMW employees need not worry that their choice of cars will leave them out of a job, clarifies Hans Haumer, head of BMW’s Munich worker’s council. This is more of a guilt trip.

Anecdotally, it seems like almost everyone has had one of the “your vehicle warranty is about to expire” robo-calls sometime in the last year or so. Hopefully a civil suit by the FTC will cut back on some of the annoyance. Fox News reports that the scheme, allegedly perpetrated by Christopher Cowart, James and Maureen Dunne, and Kamian Kohlfeld, netted $10 million in fraudulent income. The scheme reportedly violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by misrepresenting or omitting material facts in their sales pitches, and that they violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule by “flatly ignoring” rules that prerecorded calls disclose the identity of the seller “promptly, and in a clear and conspicuous manner.” Read the whole sordid story at Fox to hear how these charming characters are trying to pass blame off on each other. And remember, there’s a special place in hell for people like this.

Ousted Tesla founder Martin Eberhart pens a paean to the blogosphere over at Tendo Communications‘ blog, arguing (among other things) that “blogging promotes transparency and builds credibility.”

“For blogging to ring true, it needs to be more than an exercise kept up for the sake of appearance. At Tesla, we began with my blog, which provided direct access to the company’s co-founder and CEO. From there, we expanded into a multi-channel approach until we had separate blogs for marketing/sales, engineering, and notable thought leaders/customers. So whether people had questions about the design of a component, the marketing of the Roadster, or what motivated folks to submit deposits, they could expect a straight answer right from the horse’s mouth.”

Unless your CEO happens to be a horse’s ass. Because if your CEO (Elon Musk) runs around spouting nonsense (via CNET) like “a Prius is not a true hybrid, really,” and “I’d like to take up some of [Detroit’s] manufacturing plants. When the mess gets sorted out I’d like to have a conversation with whoever’s in charge,” blogs and bloggers tend to not be so helpful in the “building credibility” department.

This spot (which cribs the Allman Brothers tune that gearheads will recognize as the Top Gear theme) is part of what AdAge describes as the repair chain’s effort to attract customers from closing dealerships. After all, the service department is often where the real money is made at dealerships, and the race to snag shuttered dealerships’ business is on. Automotive News [sub] reports that CarsDirect is even offering free 60-day online listings for any dealership that is going out of business. “We hope this offer helps dealers sell more cars as they work to stay in business and remain fixtures in their communities during the transition,” says CarsDirect VP Ken Potter. Not to mention a little free publicity that comes with the charitable territory. Meanwhile, how are GM and Chrysler shoring up their PR after the nasty dealer shutdown debacle? According to a WaPo analysis, Chrysler is emphasizing product competitivity (huh?) and GM is emphasizing restructuring (why?). So much for putting the best foot forward.

According to a recent Rasmussen poll, 26 percent of those surveyed support the GM bailout. Yes, but 53 percent describe the bailout as a “bad idea,” and of that majority of respondents, 30 percent of those support a boycott. The idea of boycotting a government-owned GM was most popular among men and middle-income respondents. Also, 51 percent responded that they are “more likely” to purchase a Ford because the automaker has not received government funding. If popular sentiment is so set against GM and the bailout now, imagine what it will be like after a few years of government ownership. Especially if this anti-bailout attitude is affecting sales along the way. Fills one with hope, doesn’t it?

GM’s Fritz Henderson is trying on a paler shade of transparency over at ye olde Fastlane blog. With results that defy this blogger’s adjective collection. When asked whether the “new GM” should continue to employ the thousand authors of GM’s failure, Henderson replied with self-serving equivocation. “If I was starting a new company, which we are in fact, I would start with a blend of people that have been involved in winning businesses and outstanding people that learn from their failures. At least for me personally, I have been involved in both.” Well, isn’t that convenient? OK, Henderson, “what do you think is the most important change that needs to be made in GM’s corporate culture?” Modesty prevents even us from posting Henderson’s reply before the jump.

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Shark number one is Ford, which is making a concerted effort to steal sales from its cross-town rival. Automotive News [sub] reports that Ford is rolling out a regional incentive program aimed at existing Chrysler owners. Ford is offering Chrysler owners an additional $500-$1,000 on the purchase of a new Ford to owners of Chrysler vehicles older than the 2006 model year who have had service work done at Ford dealerships in the past three years. However, Ford is keeping the program as targeted and low-profile as possible. “We’ve been very cautious and certainly not predatory with regard to this,” say Ford spokesfolks. Which is smart. Domestic buyers seem to prefer other domestics, and Ford can only benefit from the uncertainty surrounding the other Detroit firms. Still, Ford should probably consider sending Chrysler owners an update on ChryCo’s attempt to welsh on its legal liability. Meanwhile, Automotive News [sub] reports that Ford is increasing production, as it angles for Chrysler’s declining market share. Toyota is, too, says AN [sub]. Let the feeding frenzy begin!