Scott Settlemire Speaks.... on GM....

[gemleeus]

just my two cents worth,
i was brought up in a "buy gm products family" had many members of my family work for gm, although not myself, i did try to get a job at the doraville plant but was never able to get on. i've bought mostly gm vehicles my whole life although sometimes a ford here and there which i have no regrets i had good luck with them. I never did buy a chrysler product due to the dealership in my area had a horrible customer service reputation and i was always afraid to chance it although i liked several models put out by chrysler. i've posted on this forum things i was told about that went on in the factory, from people working the assembly line, during the low years of union and management striff at gm, i will not go into that again as i'm sure most know what i'm talking about. during that time quality seemed to be job none, it was like (to me) gm was building to try and stay ahead of the competition but their technology at that time just couldn't keep pace. I personally didn't experience but one issue with a vehicle i had bought and it was a car, they just couldn't get it fixed so i just lived with it, all the other purchases i made were trucks which everyone one knows have always been "like a rock". gm is most assuredly the king of trucks. i've been the loyal "buy american" guy, i've always believed in that because this company employed so many of my family and friends.

now today, how ironic, i've been employed by a lexus dealership for several years now. my following statements by no means am i attempting to belittle the american car manufacturers, because i've never been employed by any of them and know nothing of the internal workings of the dealerships, just what i hear from others. at lexus we are constantly schooled on the importance of treating your customer like you would want to be treated if you were in their shoes. if you run into problems that need the attention of a manager and none are around (which company policy states there is to ALWAYS be a manager on the premises at all times during business hours) you make the best decision to satisfy the complaint and nothing will be said. lexus has a goodwill account set a side in order to satisfy customer issues where their car may be out of warranty. toyota and lexus v6 engines had a sludge problem for many years, they claimed it was due to customers not changing the oil at the recommended interval causing this, but have found was a poor crankcase ventilation problem and i've seen customers get new engines in 10 year old cars with over 100,000 miles on them. one more storie i would like to share, I read the car and driver, various other mags i have subs to, and check the reports on new cars coming out all the time, i have been a watchdog for years, i like to keep up with the goings on in the car business. i man came to the parts dept. a few months back and stated he had been at cadillac looking at the new convertible xlr, he told me they had three on the lot but couldn't test drive because none of the tops would function properly, so he was in our dealer looking at the sc430, don't know if he bought one but we both felt a bit sad, after he told me that neither commented about it and i just told him to have a good day.

I realize gm has come a long way in qaulity i read the reports like everone else. all car makers have the quirks in their cars , but good business since should prevail and any corporation should do the right thing by their product and come face to face with it instead of trying to dance around the problem, just fix it and go on, you will retain many more customers down the road in the long run. i bet a lot of folks know about the problems ford has had with the new superduty diesel, i go on the ford truck enthusiasts forum often and have read the stories of these problems in depth and find the same problems as stated above relating to fords dealership networks inability to correct these folks problems and in many cases i've read their ability to just turn their back on the customer that has just spent that kind of money on their product, i read now that many of these problems are going away with the new models but my point is the taste that has been left in many a loyal ford customers mouths that will surely affect their sales DOWN the road if a japanese maker comes out with a comparable heavy diesel pickup.

of the gm vehicles i've bought over the years they were trucks, gm trucks have always been king in my opinion, even in the low years they made good trucks. i was in the market for a new truck last year, i was going to get myself one of those new superdutys, man they look good, but done the research and decided against it, so i was going to go to the chevy store and one day checking my wifes car found oil in the coolant jug, so we had to get a small eco car for her. we bought a new cavalier, she didn't even consider a foreign car, it was her decision, she was raised like myself, proud to be an american and stand behind the american worker (although i did explain to her about nafta) and i agreed with her and we bought the little cav.

my point in this long post is this, Mr. Settlemire and other suit and ties, i bought your product standing on the long tradition of american pride, the best products in the world, made in america means something to me, as it does with most people in this forum. i know things go wrong with cars, but when they do stand tall and do the right thing. i'm still in the market for that truck, and its mighty hard to pass up the incentives to buy at this time, i may have to pull a belt loop and go on over to days chevy and get that truck. i'll have to sneak over there my wife will kill me.