GM Creates Certified Pre-Owned Promotion Website

Posted on 13. Oct, 2008 by Ryan in 2000-2009

Autoblog has recently announced that GM has recently created a website used to promote certified used cars, but unfortunately has resorted to illustrating for customers, the negatives to buying vehicles from private parties.

Having bought all of my Saabs from private parties over the years, I know there will be typical things that will go wrong and need to be replaced, but here’s the thing, we usually end up realizing this and especially today more than ever, end up buying our replacement parts from GM anyways, so what’s the problem?

I do understand that there have been a lot of people out there, in particular two customers that have bought Saabs from private parties and have believed that the problems with the vehicles are the manufacturers fault and I think that’s quite a big problem. There are also true manufacturing defects from the early direct ignition casettes to the oil sludge problems in the early Saab 9-5s, but these have been taken care of. The idea buying the year you want in a Saab through CPO, is that you can get these things looked at prior to ownership and issued a clean bill of health, otherwise the dealerships shouldn’t be offering the Saab to begin with.

What must distinguish here is that there are noted manufacturing defects by design, then there are actual issues due to vehicle having years of neglect. Either way, though CPO, none of these problems should be falling in the hands of an unsuspecting buyer. Buying through a private party however, you aren’t afforded with a premium 112-point check, so there is a financial trade-off where you either pay up front for the checks and repairs, or at random down the road.

With GM pushing their certified used cars with this new website called “Used Car Ambush“, I find this idea quite problematic, especially when Certified vehicles are not gone through with a fine tooth come and the customer ends up in a situation where they are not getting what they paid for and quite possibly in an unsafe situation down the road.

Today, dealerships are barely scraping by and many are not, and furthermore, to add insult to injury many Saab dealerships have literally quoted me that they have never really been in a financial situation to fully “CPO A Saab“, because it’s just too expensive for the time, labor and parts to complete the Saab CPO 112-point checklist to break even on the deal.

If GM is going to promote something, why not beef up the programs while also extending financial support to the dealerships to cover the full 112-point check, otherwise don’t promote something that is currently broken.

I for one have not been turned away buying vehicles from private parties over the years because I have developed an understanding through experience, as to what to expect..more or less. To be scaring people into not buying from private parties is obsurd and doesn’t this hurt GM’s public perception as being a company that would apply fud tactics to the general public?

Furthermore, if people are buying from private parties and having their vehicles brought into Saab dealerships for service or even Saab independents, what’s the problem as long as the customer in the end, gets good results and replacement parts are still available and purchased through GM at modest domestic-rate prices?

What are your thoughts?

Here’s the GM’s Press release.

GM’s New Interactive Site Goes “Undercover” to Educate Consumers

Ambush Video Reveals Risks of Purchasing Used Vehicles Without Manufacturer Certification

DETROIT – What would happen if you turned more than 20 undercover film and surveillance professionals with eight cameras loose to show the potential drawbacks of buying a used vehicle that is not manufacturer certified? That’s what GM’s Certified Used Vehicles team did and the results were not at all surprising.

GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling manufacturer-certified pre-owned brand*, today launched www.usedcarambush.com, an interactive web site developed to educate and entertain consumers by depicting the risks associated with purchasing a vehicle from a private seller. In contrast, the site also informs consumers in an engaging manner about the guarantees and peace of mind assurances that shoppers receive when purchasing a manufacturer certified used vehicle.

“There’s great confusion among consumers about what constitutes a certified used vehicle,” said Mark Mathews, director, GM Used-Vehicle Activities. “Manufacturer certified vehicles offer new-vehicle-like benefits and financing options where others do not; private sellers being the most risky option.”

The GM Certified Used Vehicle’s manufacturer-certified program offers such assurances as:

* 5-Year/100,000-Mile Powertrain Limited Warranty
* 3-Month/3,000-Mile New Vehicle Warranty Extension
* 24/7 Roadside Assistance & Courtesy Transportation
* CARFAX Vehicle History Report
* 3-Day/150-Mile “No Questions Asked” Customer Satisfaction Guarantee
* GMAC New Car-like Financing
* Extensive 117-point inspection by factory-trained technicians

These assurances are not offered through dealer-certified programs, independent used-vehicle dealers or private parties as illustrated in the video vignettes.

The GM Certified Used Vehicles Ambush site displays surveillance style footage of the ambushes as they happen. Actual used vehicle sellers are intercepted by an MTV-Punk’d-styled actor who asks the questions that private party used-vehicle sellers often don’t want to hear and interjects humor with off-the-wall requests. During one “Ambush,” the actor brings out a big red house phone and asks if he can install it in the seller’s home to call for roadside assistance any time, day or night.

All Ambush participants were fully informed of the intended use of the footage and were compensated for their time.

GM Certified Used Vehicle’s agency, Mullen, worked closely with the GM team to conceptualize, develop and produce the video vignettes and web site. Mullen manages the account from its offices in Detroit and Wenham, MA.

“Using the hidden cameras, we were able to film our buyer attempting, in fairly bizarre fashion, to get things like financing and courtesy transportation from a private seller,” said Mullen group creative director and copywriter Jim Hagar.

“We even bought one of the cars and then tried to return it a few days later with a three-day, 150-mile guarantee, claiming the seller’s girlfriend was not impressed by the vehicle,” said Hagar. “The goal was to do something really different and breakthrough for the category, and I’d say this is pretty different.”

More than 400 hours of video footage was shot over a four-day period during March, 2008 in the Las Vegas area, with almost 20 people being “Ambushed.” The Used Car Ambush site will launch with six vignettes that are arranged in an interactive way to replicate the perspective from inside a surveillance van, providing the user with the ability to control the camera motion and move between scenes. Additional vignettes will be released throughout the remainder of the year.

“The site is designed to be fun and entertaining,” said Larry Pryg, national advertising and marketing manager, GM Certified Used Vehicles. “More importantly, it will engage consumers and make them well-informed shoppers. ”

Tags: courtesy transportation, GM, interactive web site, manufacturing defects, Mile Powertrain Limited, Mullen, oil sludge problems, private seller, Saabs, video vignettes