IF GM BANKRUPTCY IS IMMINENT

[regfootball]

I don't think it would stop me.

If GM or Ford etc. goes bankrupt, its said that it would kill sales. But assuming financing was there, would you feel comfortable buying their car even knowing that they were going under?

Discuss the reasons.

[Lamar]

Thanks for the box option, Reg. I got to choose two answers.

If I were looking for a car now, I'd have no problem buying a G8, Camaro, or something like that (haven't decided) if GM went bankrupt. They'd still have something I wanted that no one else could offer.

[Satty]

I certainly wouldn't finance one through GMAC or FMC. The reason sales would drop is that people believe that a company going under wont offer support, their 5-year/60,000 mile warranty may not be good longer than 6 months. Also, they would tie bankruptcy to diminished R&D funding, which makes them see the car as being inferior to a non-bankrupt company.

[daves87rs]

I would still buy one car, just in case...

The other would be something safe...

I'm sorry, but I have a family that I take care of....

[CARBIZ]

I already voted for GXT.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Who cares I'd buy a GM car if I wanted one, warranty support or not.

[Robert Hall]

it wouldn't stop me... airlines go bankrupt all the time, and I still fly on them. Bankrupt does not mean out of business.

[saturnd00d]

moltar, you beat me to it. I was going to also say banckruptcy doesn't mean they are closing the doors.

[enzl]

With the deals being offered, the risk is almost priced in already.

There's no reason to think the warranty would disappear---I'm more concerned about my local dealerships than the warranty itself.

Edited November 8, 2008 by enzl

[A Horse With No Name]

Actually GM would be better off if a few of our local dealers did disappear.

Chris

[regfootball]

to me it would seem the general public would be most concerned with resale tanking, and warranty/service. I hope GM can avoid bankruptcy, because i fear that will have damaging implication for the brand(s) that last longer than what some people still knock GM for 30, 40 years after the fact now.

GM has many excellent products out now, and yet still, the stigma abounds from events of long ago. Going bankrupt would only multiply those stigmas expoenentially. Whatever market deficiencies GM has these days are minor in comparison.

GM is doing quite well relatively speaking in other areas around the globe, and yet in the US all we hear about is how badly GM is here. We do not ever have it said that GM is a major global player in one of the world's biggest industrial products......and if GM goes down, the US will lose that position in the world trade arena, giving it up to japan and europe.

Let's see, we subsidize wall street now. We've subsidized agriculture FOREVER. But we can't loan GM and Ford etc. money to secure a chance of maintaining the US as a player in the global arena of perhaps the biggest industry in the world?...even though other countries make a habit of doing it as common practice?

Edited November 8, 2008 by regfootball

[GXT]

I already voted for GXT.

I love you too.

But there was no option "No, I've owned GM products before."

Edited November 8, 2008 by GXT

[bobo]

The whiff of bankruptcy is enough to cause people to look elsewhere unless there are incredible deals. For myself, tanking resale value would be my biggest concern, but warranty is also an issue. It is not inconceivable to me that GM will not exist in five years, at least in its current form. Does anybody think that Chrysler's lifetime powertrain warranty will outlast the company?

[regfootball]

i look at every car purchase as a 3-4 year term. in that respect, considering any GM right now, you would be fine with it working a-ok for those 4 years but then no one else would probably buy it from you.

cars used to be lemons by comparison to their fairly faultless performance today (especially considering how complex and safe they are and how many electronics they have). the actual differences between the top and bottom rung are fairly small (i.e. their significance is way overblown by nazi organizations like CR) and really the impact of all this data and opinion has been WAY overblown. Buying a car is not like deciding if you're gonna go through with brain surgery or not!

It was so funny. When i was at a ford dealer a few weeks ago, there was a couple in there negotiating their deal on a new MKs. The car they were trying to trade....a Lexus ES. The couple was excited about getting into the MKs, because it seemed 'so luxurious' and the ES was 'not an earth shattering experience'. I was listening to the bartering, and the dealer simply was not willing to offer much for the ES on the trade. The couple had pretty much committed to getting the MKs, because they were actually saving a couple hundred a month by moving into the MKs from the ES Lexus, so they had already gave in and were toast......point was, they felt the MKs was actually a step up from the ES, and they were getting a greater value moving forward. they really wanted the deal done because they were going to take the car on a trip that weekend. Last I saw, the group was in the parking lot going over the camry, er, ES, with a fine tooth comb to try to arrive at the trade value.

But i guess where i was going with this.....GM needs to convince people that even if their business is not doing well, that the vehicles still represent a value advantage in many instances, in terms of people being able to fill their transportation needs and not having to succumb to extra expense of more expensive cars which while nice, don't go easy on the checkbook.

[enzl]

i look at every car purchase as a 3-4 year term. in that respect, considering any GM right now, you would be fine with it working a-ok for those 4 years but then no one else would probably buy it from you.

cars used to be lemons by comparison to their fairly faultless performance today (especially considering how complex and safe they are and how many electronics they have). the actual differences between the top and bottom rung are fairly small (i.e. their significance is way overblown by nazi organizations like CR) and really the impact of all this data and opinion has been WAY overblown. Buying a car is not like deciding if you're gonna go through with brain surgery or not!

It was so funny. When i was at a ford dealer a few weeks ago, there was a couple in there negotiating their deal on a new MKs. The car they were trying to trade....a Lexus ES. The couple was excited about getting into the MKs, because it seemed 'so luxurious' and the ES was 'not an earth shattering experience'. I was listening to the bartering, and the dealer simply was not willing to offer much for the ES on the trade. The couple had pretty much committed to getting the MKs, because they were actually saving a couple hundred a month by moving into the MKs from the ES Lexus, so they had already gave in and were toast......point was, they felt the MKs was actually a step up from the ES, and they were getting a greater value moving forward. they really wanted the deal done because they were going to take the car on a trip that weekend. Last I saw, the group was in the parking lot going over the camry, er, ES, with a fine tooth comb to try to arrive at the trade value.

But i guess where i was going with this.....GM needs to convince people that even if their business is not doing well, that the vehicles still represent a value advantage in many instances, in terms of people being able to fill their transportation needs and not having to succumb to extra expense of more expensive cars which while nice, don't go easy on the checkbook.

100% agree....GM simply needs more product success like the CTS & a marketing department that can sell it.

Our MKS' have been nailed to the floor. In many ways, I think of it as a smartly updated DTS, rather than a successor to either the Town Car or Continental. But I can see it as a step up from the ES.

[longtooth]

The stigma attached to modern bankruptcy's not as it once was, but I can't speak for the consumer-at-large.

Then again I have a bias. I think GM's keeping it at arms-length in order for the Hail Mary pass route to firm up a bit more.

[smk4565]

Tanking resale values is what would keep me from buying any GM car new. 2006 Cadillacs go for near $20k, why spend $45k on a new one? Or why buy a new Malibu when a 2 year old Cadillac is the same price. Bankruptcy reorganization wouldn't deter me really but resale and quality of product would. Problem GM has, is it is impossible to make best in class products with great reliability without money.

I think bankruptcy is coming, and Rick keeps saying it absolutely isn't an option and they won't consider it. I think in Rick's mind, 8 brands and doing the same old thing they did the past 10 years will eventually lead to a different result. They are stubborn and have zero think outside the box ability. The worst part about the whole thing is a year ago people predicted this would happen, GM denied it, now it is 100 days away, GM still denies it, and they have no plan.

I put in another thread, that Toyota buying them and killing off most of the brands but keeping about 60% of the company going is probably the best they could hope for. 60% is better than 0%, if I were Wagoner I'd be begging Toyota for help at this point.

Edited November 8, 2008 by smk4565

[buyacargetacheck]

The answer is NO. Bankruptcy would not stop me from buying IF it was a Chevy or Cadillac. Those are the only 2 GM brands that are absolutely safe and without additional risk. Ford and Jeep are also safe.

Edited November 8, 2008 by buyacargetacheck

[cletus8269]

Tanking resale values is what would keep me from buying any GM car new.

um thats just about any car that you buy essentially... soon as that front tire hits highway <bam> 20% off the top

I put in another thread, that Toyota buying them and killing off most of the brands but keeping about 60% of the company going is probably the best they could hope for. 60% is better than 0%, if I were Wagoner I'd be begging Toyota for help at this point.

if they did that, i would personally set that red car in my sig on fire and burn it to the frame as a sacrifice to the good days of gm. perhaps after gm sells to toyota the US could sell russia and north korea the plans to an f-22 raptor

Edited November 9, 2008 by cletus8269

[regfootball]

Tanking resale values is what would keep me from buying any GM car new. 2006 Cadillacs go for near $20k, why spend $45k on a new one? Or why buy a new Malibu when a 2 year old Cadillac is the same price. Bankruptcy reorganization wouldn't deter me really but resale and quality of product would. Problem GM has, is it is impossible to make best in class products with great reliability without money.

I think bankruptcy is coming, and Rick keeps saying it absolutely isn't an option and they won't consider it. I think in Rick's mind, 8 brands and doing the same old thing they did the past 10 years will eventually lead to a different result. They are stubborn and have zero think outside the box ability. The worst part about the whole thing is a year ago people predicted this would happen, GM denied it, now it is 100 days away, GM still denies it, and they have no plan.

I put in another thread, that Toyota buying them and killing off most of the brands but keeping about 60% of the company going is probably the best they could hope for. 60% is better than 0%, if I were Wagoner I'd be begging Toyota for help at this point.

yet morons will pay 30k for a camry that will only be worth 15k in 3 years. meanwhile, that used DTS for 20k, will still be worth 10k in 5 years.

[SAmadei]

Bankruptcy doesn't bother me. I don't care about resale... when I am done with a car, it goes to the scrap yard in pieces. I don't care much for the warranty... I will likely void it with modifications or abuse. I prefer to fix my own stuff anyway.

What is keeping me from buying a new car? GM's bean counters and product development committees. The current 2009 G8 colors don't thrill me... and the only 2008 color I like (Stealth Blue) was sold out before I found out that more than 18 came over here.

What kills me is that the cool colors are available in the same factory where the G8s are built. Like the green Atomic Metallic. Put me down for an Atomic Green G8 GXP immediately.

You can't even get the G8 GXP in the color they had at the auto shows (the Brazen Orange-like metallic).

The same crap is going on with the Camaro. You couldn't get the SS in all the colors... but public uproar changed GM's mind.

When I was looking at the STS-V, you can only get it in three colors... not the cool dark cherry I liked.

GM... add some option boxes... you build all the parts. If I want a Green Camaro with a Orange interior, let me have it. 6 speed, leather, performance package, but no sunroof.

I know what some of you are thinking... but I just can't stand the idea of repainting a brand new car. Ugh.

[smk4565]

yet morons will pay 30k for a camry that will only be worth 15k in 3 years. meanwhile, that used DTS for 20k, will still be worth 10k in 5 years.

2006 Camry base models with 4 cylinder and gray cloth sell for about $17,000 around here. Those are like $23,000 new, that is good resale. An 06 CTS 3.6 that was over $35,000 new goes for $20,000, that is not good resale. I know all cars lose value when they go off the lot, but BMW, Honda and Toyota hold value well compared to GM's offerings. Personally, I think the Camry sucks, but they sell in big numbers and hold their value.

[ToniCipriani]

I don't really care, as long as parts are available so I can keep the car on the road.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I buy whatever the hell I want, regardless.

I enjoy being the outcast, so more power to GM if it decides bankruptcy is the place to be.