General Motors has announced that it will begin offering a 60-day “Satisfaction Guarantee” to eligible buyers of new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles. The above ad, featuring GM chairman Ed Whitacre, gets the point across very succinctly.
The program, which is seen as a way to get consumers to consider GM products, will start on September 14 and run through November 30. It will allow customers to purchase and – in the event they are not completely satisfied – return a vehicle to their dealer between 31 and 60 days of purchase and receive a refund. There are a few conditions:
- The vehicle must be a new 2009 or 2010 Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet or GMC
- It must be returned between 31 and 60 days from purchase
- It must have no more than 4,000 miles
- The buyer can’t be behind in payments
- If the purchase loan included an additional amount to pay off the loan on a trade-in above what the trade-in was worth, that portion won’t be refunded
These terms are meant to be very simple for consumers: “We’re not going to have a screen full of warnings like in those drug ads where you see the happy geriatric couple and a guy is telling you, ‘Taking this medication while eating grapefruit can result in loss of eyesight’,” said Bob Lutz. I think a better example from pop culture would be Apple’s “Legal Copy” ad.
We here at GM Authority believe that most vehicles in the GM product stable are – quite frankly – better than those of the competition. The key word there is “most,” meaning that we think the following vehicles are outclassed by their competition:

GM's weakest products
We know these vehicles will soon be replaced with the following products, which will strengthen GM’s product portfolio in those respective segments:

GM's weakest products - redesigned
However, one has to wonder about the timing of the program: will the fact that the aforementioned vehicles are out of date compared to the competition influence their return rate for the worse? If it does, then it will cost GM (and US taxpayers) a pretty penny.
We will be taking a closer look at the models spied in the ad shortly.
Comment
We’ve supposedly been waiting on GM now for 3 weeks. Brand new 6.2 loaded Silverado 1500. Paint chips everywhere ! Doors, back doors, middle of doors. 2700 miles. Completely disappointed . Never given another vehicle to drive ? Dealer Mankato Motors detail guy Jason blames all on GM. Says they won’t cover it because we may have driven on gravel? Just received this for my wedding anniversary . My husband spent nearly $60 thousand and it has chipped paint. Not covered . Dealer offered to pay 1/2. 2700 miles is all a paint job is good for? Can’t explain my disappointment. I’ve been looking for the disclaimer where you can’t drive the truck on gravel ? Has yet to be found. My driveway is about 1/2 block of gravel. This is the cause ? Would like to see this written where you can buy a truck 6.2 liter 4×4 but can’t drive on gravel . As far as Mankato Motors Jason detail guy – he should be promoted maybe In the asphalt industry for exclusive driving vehicles by GM. Did I mention 2700 miles?