How the GM money-back guarantee program works

Here are details of General Motors' new money-back guarantee program, which starts Monday.

* Cars must be a new 2009 or 2010 Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac or GMC purchased between Sept. 14 and Nov. 30.

* Vehicles can be returned between 31 and 60 days after purchase, and cannot have been driven more than 4,000 miles.

* To qualify, owners must be current on financing payments.

* Buyers who return cars will be repaid the purchase price, excluding dealer-installed accessories such as undercoating.

* If a buyer trades in a car worth less than the amount owed on it, that difference -- which dealers often cover -- will be deducted from the refund. This occurs, for example, when a buyer trades in a car worth $5,000, yet owes $7,000 on its loan.

G.M. Drops Buick S.U.V.

buick enclave info and pictures

buick enclave info and pictures


buick enclave info and pictures
General Motors has dropped plans for a new Buick sport utility vehicle because of a lack of consumer interest, only two weeks after the new model was announced, the company said Wednesday.

The automaker canceled plans for the vehicle, which also called for a plug-in hybrid version, after potential customers invited to G.M.’s testing ground last week said the model did not have the premium characteristics they expected from Buick.

Thomas G. Stephens, G.M.’s vice chairman, wrote Wednesday on a company blog that it did so after “listening to feedback from customers, employees, dealers, media and just about anyone else with an opinion.”

“In the past, this would have been a several-month process,” he said.

A turning point for Buick

Once a brand of great prestige, lately branded an "old folks'" car.

But things are changing, beginning with the all-new LaCrosse.

Buick is repositioning itself as a different kind of American luxury brand, going after cars like Lexus and they're starting with styling.

The lines of the new LaCrosse don't look like any previous Buick. In fact, they look a lot like Lexus.

Inside? Well, someone at Buick's been spending time in contemporary Japanese luxury cars...the design of the dashboard, the materials used and the little touches like cool blue gauge lighting all aim this Buick right at the target market of younger (in this case 40 to 55 year old) buyers.

How does it drive? Smoothly, like a Buick, but with a tauter feel, a bit more control. Again, pretty much like Lexus has been doing it the past few years.

Unlike Lexus, the LaCrosse offers three different engines, a 255 horsepower V6, a 280 horsepower V6, and, in an unusual move for this class of car, a four-cylinder engine later this year. It will make 182 horsepower and deliver an EPA estimated 20 city miles per gallon and 30 highway.

G.M. to Make a 60-Day Money-Back Offer

In an all-out effort to restore confidence in its products, General Motors will offer a 60-day, money-back guarantee on all its vehicles beginning on Monday, according to people involved in the company’s plans.

As part of its marketing campaign, G.M.’s new chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., will be featured as the company’s spokesman in a new television commercial designed to lure consumers back to the company’s showrooms.

The commercials, which feature the slogan “May the Best Car Win,” will make their debut on national television on Sunday. Mr. Whitacre, the former chairman of AT&T, will make a direct appeal to consumers to try G.M. vehicles — and return them after 60 days for a full refund if they aren’t satisfied.

“We’re putting our money where our mouth is,” Mr. Whitacre says in the commercial, according to people who have seen the campaign.

The “Satisfaction Guaranteed” program is thought to be the first time that a major automaker has offered a full refund on a vehicle after it has been sold. The program will cover all of G.M.’s core American brands — Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and GMC — and run through November.

The money-back program was conceived by G.M. executives and its board as a dramatic way to promote the quality of the company’s product line after its emergence from bankruptcy in July.

There is no mention in the ad campaign of the $50 billion in taxpayers’ dollars that provided G.M.’s financial bailout this year, or the fact that the federal government owns 60 percent of the company.

Instead, the campaign and money-back promotion is an attempt to focus attention on G.M.’s cars and trucks.

Mr. Whitacre, 67, has said that G.M. must halt its slide in market share in the United States. The company, which once held a 50 percent share of the market in the 1960s, has a 19 percent share so far this year.

The use of Mr. Whitacre as a spokesman is reminiscent of Lee Iacocca’s ads in the 1980s as chairman of Chrysler, when he coined the slogan “If You Can Find a Better Car — Buy It.”

2010 Buick Lacrosse get smart

BUICK TRANSFORMATION CONTINUES WITH THE 2010 LACROSSE LUXURY SEDAN

* Sculpted styling defines Buick’s modern global design
* Luxurious interior crafted of premium materials with cool blue ambient lighting
* Intelligent personal technologies enhance the driving experience
* Responsive performance via efficient. direct injection dual overhead cam engines paired with six-speed automatic transmissions

DETROIT – Redesigned from the ground up, the 2010 Buick LaCrosse luxury sedan makes its world debut at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Jan. 12. The LaCrosse offers all wheel drive, a suite of advanced intelligent personal technologies and safety features, and a choice of two fuel-saving V-6 engines.

“The new LaCrosse was created with great attention to detail, craftsmanship and advanced technology,” said Susan Docherty, Buick-Pontiac-GMC vice president. “It builds on the success of Enclave as the next step in Buick’s revitalization. And, as with Enclave, our goal is to attract a whole new buyer to our dealerships for LaCrosse.”

Sculpted design

Buick’s long heritage of leading designs, such as the Y-Job Concept, the Roadmaster and the Riviera, helped define American automobile design through the years, according to Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design. Today, Buick design is a product of a global team and resources. Creative collaboration between designers in the United States and China, in partnership with the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) as well as chassis and body engineers in Europe, resulted in the first General Motors vehicle to be created on three continents.

“The new LaCrosse is intended to represent modern elegance,” said Welburn. “Throughout the design, you experience a balance of contrasts. Both the interior and exterior have been designed with harmony in mind. The exterior balances taut, sculpted lines with sensuous accents and surfaces. Inside, smoked chrome accents, warm wood, first-class leather and materials combine with cool blue ambient lighting to create an inviting environment.”

The exterior design is faithful to the Buick Invicta show car introduced at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show.

“It is instantly recognizable as a Buick, with its signature ’sweep spear’ body-side styling, portholes inside the character line on the hood, and waterfall grille,” added Welburn.

Luxurious interior experience

Inside, the two-tone interior is defined by a flowing, uninterrupted design theme that wraps around the instrument and door panels. Attention to detail is evident throughout the interior, including the analog instrument cluster, chrome offset by dark wood accents, and the contrasting thread and French stitching on the instrument panel.

Buick’s signature QuietTuning – an engineering process to reduce, block and absorb interior noise – provides a distraction-free passenger environment.

An unexpected, inviting touch is the cool blue ambient lighting throughout the cabin from the center console, instrument panel and door panels.

Intelligent personal technologies

The contemporary atmosphere of the cabin includes the digital connectivity and personal technology offered in the new LaCrosse. That includes features such as in-dash navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, an auxiliary audio input and a USB port. For rear-seat passengers, a power rear-window sunshade and a DVD entertainment system, with two display screens integrated into the seatbacks, is available.

LaCrosse’s intelligent technologies also work to deliver a 360-degree field of vision behind the steering wheel, for a greater feeling of comfort, security and safety. It starts with the available head-up display in the windshield, allowing the driver to monitor speed while keeping his or her eyes on the road. At night, the available adaptive lighting package can direct the high-intensity discharge headlight beams up to 15 degrees for enhanced illumination of the road and its curves.

LaCrosse offers Side Blind Zone alert that notifies the driver if a vehicle in adjacent lanes is traveling in the driver’s blind spot. The LaCrosse is also available with a rear view camera, with the display integrated into the navigation system screen.

The technology available on LaCrosse enhances a suite of standard safety features that is designed to meet the criteria for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 20 Star Safety Rating. Highlights include front-, side- and roof-mounted head-curtain air bags, StabiliTrak stability- and traction-control system. The safety and security of OnStar is also included for the first year of ownership.

Responsive performance

LaCrosse’s stiff body structure serves as the foundation for precise suspension tuning, safety and a quiet ride. Buyers can choose from a family of efficient, direct-injection six-cylinder engines and a fuel-conserving six-speed automatic transmission with tap-up/tap-down control.

The direct injection engines in the LaCrosse create more power with less fuel and reduce vehicle emissions through greater combustion control – particularly cold-start emissions that are reduced by up to 25 percent.

The 2010 LaCrosse will be offered in three models – CX, CXL and CXS:

* CX – equipped with a new 3.0L direct injection V-6, premium cloth seats and 17-inch wheels. The 3.0L engine generates an estimated 255 horsepower (190 kW) and 211 lb.-ft. of torque (286 Nm) and is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
* CXL – also equipped with the new 3.0L direct injection V-6, adds leather-appointed heated seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, fog lamps, outside rearview mirror with LED turn indicators and puddle lamps, and 18-inch wheels. Intelligent AWD is available.
* CXS – equipped with a 3.6L direct injection V-6; real-time active-dampening suspension; perforated, leather-appointed, heated and cooled seats, and chrome-plated 18-inch wheels (19-inch optional). The 3.6L engine, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, generates an estimated 280 horsepower (209 kW) and 261 lb.-ft. of torque (354 Nm).

2010 Buick LaCrosse Review

The 2010 Buick LaCrosse offers up a new look for the Buick brand in some ways. Overall, reviews read by TheCarConnection.com appreciate the effort Buick has put in towards remaking the LaCrosse, but a few unfortunate styling elements remain.

The 2010 Buick LaCrosse is a “four-door sedan that comes in CX, CXL, and CXS trim levels,” according to Consumer Guide reviewers. The exterior sheetmetal is largely new for the 2010 version of the LaCrosse, and Cars.com calls it “an exercise in well-proportioned grace.” Jalopnik agrees that the Buick LaCrosse is “a beautiful car in person, borrowing proportion from the much-lauded 1993 Lexus GS.” Cars.com goes on to call the Buick LaCrosse “easily the best-looking Buick since the Clinton administration.” When it comes to specific details, Motor Trend says that “the body sculpting and chrome flourishes are much more expressive than the ES 350’s, especially the crisp bow-wake shoulder line and concave lower ‘light catcher.’” Autoblog continues the unanimous wave of approval, writing that “it’s hard to argue with the LaCrosse’s aesthetics,” as the new sedan manages to combine Buick styling elements that “don’t come across as retro or cliché.”

The only downside is that the 2010 Buick LaCrosse gets the ‘signature’ porthole look, with the faux vents moved to the top of the hood. The decorative vents appear cheesy from a distance, out of place up close and, in the words of Cars.com, “hurt an otherwise sharp design.”

If you open up any of the Buick LaCrosse’s large doors and sit inside you’ll be treated to a rethought interior that wins over reviewers with its refinement. Like the exterior, Jalopnik thinks that “the interior is handsome, too, with sweeping lines, modern styling and enough ambient lighting to shake a cane at.” Motor Trend is equally impressed, writing that “if the exterior entices, the interior could seal the deal.” Cars.com reviewers find that the many small details found throughout the LaCrosse’s cabin “go a long way toward convincing those with sticker shock that Buick’s midsize sedan’s price premium is deserved.” Whether or not the appealing design is enough to win over cash-strapped consumers who still view Buick as a senior citizen brand, however, remains to be seen.

Buick will introduce plug-in hybrid in 2011

General Motors will introduce its plug-in hybrid technology in a new Buick crossover vehicle in 2011. The yet-unnamed vehicle will launch in late 2010, offering a family of fuel-efficient, direct-injected gasoline engines, followed in 2011 by the plug-in hybrid model.

“Buick has always been at the forefront of new technology, so it is only fitting that the brand should debut our new plug-in hybrid technology in a beautiful new crossover,” said Tom Stephens, vice-chairman of product development. “This will firmly put Buick and GM front and centre in the advanced technology game.”

The new five-passenger crossover will build on the success of the Buick Enclave, and will be powered by a 2.4-litre direct-injection V6. The plug-in hybrid version is expected to be the first commercially-available plug-in hybrid SUV produced by a major automaker, and has the potential to deliver double the fuel economy of comparably-sized SUVs on short trips. It will use GM’s proven 2-Mode Hybrid system with advanced lithium-ion battery cells and charging technology developed for GM’s Voltec system, which will debut in the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle in late 2010.

The Buick plug-in hybrid has the potential to achieve double the fuel economy of comparably-sized SUVs on short trips. This significant boost is achieved by combining a modified version of GM’s proven 2-Mode Hybrid system with advanced lithium-ion battery cells and charging technology developed for GM’s Voltec system, which will debut in the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle in late 2010. It will use the same manganese-spinel based chemistry and polymer battery cells as the Volt, but its 8 kWh battery, containing half the energy of the Volt battery pack, will be packaged in a box under the cargo floor. The lithium-ion battery can be fully recharged in four to five hours by connecting the vehicle to any standard 110-volt household electrical outlet. In early testing, the plug-in hybrid is capable of electric-propulsion for more than 16 kilometres at low speeds. On the road, the 2-Mode plug-in hybrid system can use any combination of electric or gasoline power to move the vehicle, depending on the driving conditions. This differs from the Voltec technology, which will provide the Volt with up to 64 kilometres of emissions- and petroleum-free electric-only propulsion.