GM Slashes Complimentary Maintenance Visits For New Owners In 2019
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General Motors has tweaked its complimentary maintenance program for the Buick, GMC, and Cadillac brands. Car & Driver reported Tuesday that each of the brands will now offer just a single free maintenance visit to buyers in 2019.
The news comes after the publication noticed updated consumer website details on the program. However, Chevrolet has not updated its website with any new information, so it’s unclear if the brand will follow suit with the complimentary maintenance cuts. Representatives for Buick and GMC could not be reached.
A Cadillac spokesperson explained the move better aligns the brand with its rivals that offer identical complimentary maintenance for one year. That amounts to one visit to the dealership for an oil change, tire rotation, and multi-point vehicle inspection that must be redeemed within the first 12 months of ownership.
Yet, Cadillac rivals such as BMW and Jaguar offer three years and five years of complimentary service to new owners. Audi does only offer one year, however.
Five years ago, GM brands offered four complimentary maintenance visits.
No additional changes to each of the brands’ warranties should occur. In 2015, GM trimmed the powertrain warranties for its Chevrolet and GMC vehicles from 100,000 miles to 60,000 miles. Cadillac and Buick vehicles still hold onto their 6-year/70,000-mile powertrain warranties.
Bumper-to-bumper warranties remain 3 years/36,000 miles for Chevrolet and GMC, and 4 years/50,000 miles for Buick and Cadillac. GM also introduced optional add-on warranties for its brands last year that add another two years and thousands of extra miles.
Is the lack of free maintenance a deal breaker when buying a car? Let us know below.
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Barra rearranges the seats on the titanic to avoid the iceberg..
GM is really on a Roll with Customer related services. Unbelievable.
No standard Safety features like most other Makers, subpar interiors, and now this.
They are going to loose sales, when I got my 14 Malibu I got 5 years of free oil changes and free car washes from my Chevy dealer. So I told people and I went back and got the dealer two more car sales. Gm is not giving its customers what they want . They are still putting HID headlights or halogens instead of putting LEDs like the competition. Shit even Kia has LEDs I was going to buy an SUV from Gm but now I’m thinking about waiting to see if I can find a better option.
That’s really disappointing to hear to be honest
Will it affect someone’s purchase decision? Probably not. But, is it why we as consumers hate bean counters? Yes. It’s also a poor move, IMO, because it will keep people out of dealerships for maintenance in the long run and end up hurting their bottom line in the end.
Hard to say if it’s a deal-breaker, but it does seem like one less reason to buy.
Dyed-in-the-wool GM loyalty doesn’t seem as strong as it was even 5 years ago …
I love that “dye in the wool”. I would guess most people don’t have a clue what that means.
I am 50 and just found out from my father-in-law last week who is 78. Can’t remember why we were even talking about it. I think when he was younger he worked at a rail place and if you saw bugs in the bag of wool he had to throw dye in there to alert people.
Anyway just one more reason to look elsewhere.
GM has ZERO CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Pay attention GM your CUSTOMER is calling !!
Just another poor decision by GM.
That’s only half of the story; Every new vehicle customer that enrolls at no cost in GMs Loyalty programs
(Chevrolets, for example: https://www.mychevroletrewards.com/#!/ ) automatically gets points worth at least $100 that can be used not only towards oil changes etc, but also for accessories and other services like OnStar and 4gLTE data. For most buyers this is worth way more than the extra service visit. And customers continue to earn points for paid services at the dealer as well as many other ways.
Yes the upfront rewards are FREE so that would have to equal the service visits they took away ( and it does not).
And then moving forward it is a spend to receive points like a credit card (NOT FREE)
So the people who NEED to go to a dealer its probably a good thing, they are going there spending money anyway.
But for the AVERAGE CUSTOMER it is a COST CUTTING MOVE BY GM. (NOT FREE)
Also the record sign up rate for the rewards program is simply do to the FACT you have to sign up to get ANYTHING therefore if you do not sign up you get NOTHING. So its a forced sign up like Wells Fargo opening accounts. In my opinion.
2018s came with two services over two years. 2019s come with one. I don’t know where you get your LOFs/Rotates but my dealership doesn’t charge me $100 each.
Well I got THREE with my 2017 Denali. Two from GM and 1 from dealership.
And I don’t know what you drive but, NO you cannot get TWO oil changes and TWO tire rotations form my GM dealership on a Denali HD for $100.00.
You know how every GM dealership CUSTOMER gets mailed those X% off stuff. Or X done for this amount . But then ******* this offer does NOT apply to extra oil ( HD) or synthetic (Cadillac). I drive both HD and Cadillac.
Its $105,00 at my dealership for HD oil change and $14.99 for tire rotation so the FACT is I will not even get one.
That’s a nice, but why aren’t we informed of this program? Is it a secret? Besides getting rewards for spending money on things that have been complimentary is not the same. This is a take away and self serving loyalty programs are not a one for one substitute.
Another knock against the GM dealership experience. I can purchase a Cadillac but BMW and Jaguar are offering better maintenance deals. It’s not the end-all be-all but ya know what? When you’re buying a very expensive item such as a car, a little goes a long way. Everything counts towards your decision. A longer free maintenance package could be the difference for one buyer between a Cadillac and a BMW or a Chevrolet and a Kia.
Nobody wants to visit a dealership. Doesn’t matter how good of a experience it is. You want your service done asap and get the hell out quick. But I tell ya: It’s a great feeling after walking out of the service center without having to take out your wallet, paying $0 for the service. It’s a good mental perk and encourages you to buy or at least consider another car from the same brand/dealership.
No reason to stay loyal to a brand. The truck did not cost me nickles or dimes. GM is being short sided.
Most consumers dont even know about the two years of no charge oil changes for a total of four events within the first 2 years. Certainly wasn’t a deal breaker, but was a nice added incentive. (Speaking as a GM sales consultant past three decades)
This seems to be an ongoing trend the past several years. Less and less for more and more money. It’a amazing people actually put up with this crap and a huge reason I buy use and save a ton of money
You could make a case for Cadillac to stay with 3 maint visits.
First, if you’re paying for ‘the best’, you should get the best.
And second, if the onslaught of ‘a new model every six months’ turns out to be true, GM gets Cadillac owners back to the dealership for 36 months to see what’s new.
The present plan, as noted in prior posts, seems pretty short-sighted.
most buyers do not have time to go back to the dealer for oil changes and tire rotations and just use a quick change service close to home or work. I am retired so I can spend several hours at the dealership for this service but working families do not
GM’s Interior are sub Par. Do they not care that everyone seems to think this? Do they also not realize hussein obumma is not around to bail them out anymore? Wake Up ! GM or your shelf life will be forth comming very soon.
A little more consistency please
Headline: GM Slashes…
First sentence: General Motors has tweaked…
That was a nice perk originally offered however my assumption is that way less than 50% of the buyers actually used the free services. I nor my wife go back to dealership for oil changes. I pay local fast lube or tire center 40.00 once a year for the need fluid change and rotation. Remember that these new vehicle models tell you when oil needs serviced.
Sign up for rewards program and get more. The free oil change is to get you using dealer service department. Any more than that is a waste. It is an inducement. Discounts and reward offers more than make up for it.
Raymond, get over it dude. You are so 2009.
I got $200 worth of weathertech floor mats from the rewards program on my 2018 silverado
The new program is GM Rewards
20,000 points with a vehicle purchase gets you $100 in service or accessories
Just like CVS or Kroger
So use this for 2 oil changes and we are back to where we were and dealers are required to enroll you
My ‘mind says’ that it is automatically $100 to drive on to a dealer’s lot ! ! Anything that helps to erase this feeling, is good for dealer relations.