So if we based everything on the bad, then Acura would be a poor buy.....
Acura even stepped up and offered a 100k warranty on their tranny and everyone praised them for it. Why is it bad if GM does it?

I consider "personal experience" is somthing that you have personally own and driven. Hearing others isnt exactly the same to me. I have no experience with any american cars so i have no right to say if they are reliable or not yet. Hell people told me my Audi wouldnt be reliable before i bought it... but i proven that to be false as well. Its a hit or miss with these type of cars.

I can easily say the same thing that Lexus is very unreliable from my mom's experience, but I know that not to be true. Every manufacturer has its share of problems. The Japanese companies seem to be more proactive in recalling and TSB'ing problems, which is good. Ford and GM wait until consumer outcries or the NHTSB makes them recall cars. I feel this is more of a financial problem than quality problem. Taking care of customers can easily make them forget some of the problems with a make or model. Ever wonder why Lexus is powerhouse in customer satisfaction? I wonder if that has any bearing on the quality rating of the car

I thought Consumer Reports was a reputable resource, especially when SteVTEC mentioned earlier that it was?

Furthermore, what does my belief of domestic reliability have to do with this thread anyway?

Let's try to get this back on track with a simple question to you: Do you think these longer warranties will have no added cost to GM? If the answer is no, do you believe the added sales spurred by the increased warranties will offset the cost?

DETROIT - General Motors is telling auto dealers that it will unveil an incentive program today that will put customer cash on 2005 and 2006 models and offer more salesperson incentives under the Mark of Excellence program.

GM has not released details, but a memo to dealers this morning says GM plans to offer $750 bonus cash on all 2005 and 2006 models through Feb. 14. It also will offer a $200 salesperson bonus and a $50 sales manager bonus on all 2005 and 2006 models sold through January.

GM's regional dealer councils have recommended this sort of program to GM because sales are typically slow this time of year, says John Rogin, owner of Rogin Buick in Livonia, Mich. A program like this allows dealers to support sales staff during slow times, he adds.

"Cash on the hood to the sales staff moves the car," Rogin says. "I'm thrilled that they put the salesperson and the sales manager in the loop. It needs to be done more often and continually."

Rogin has only one 2005 model left and about four 2006s, but he said dealers in the Southeast have hundreds of 2006 models in inventory.

Kevin Krolicki and Jui Chakravorty

The Associated Press

Nov 07, 2007

DETROIT – General Motors Corp. posted a company record US$39-billion loss in the third quarter, as a charge involving unused tax credits brought an abrupt end to a string of three profitable quarters for the nation's largest automaker.

The loss reported today was one of the biggest quarterly corporate deficits ever. It sent GM's shares down nearly five per cent in early afternoon trading. Standard & Poor's downgraded GM shares from hold to sell.

GM (NYSE: GM) attributed most of the third-quarter loss to a $38.6-billion noncash charge for establishing a valuation allowance against accumulated deferred tax credits in the U.S., Canada and Germany. Accounting rules require that companies that expect to keep losing money cannot keep carrying deferred tax credits indefinitely and must write down their value.

GM also reported a loss of $757 million from its 49 per cent stake in GMAC Financial Services, due largely to losses at ResCap, GMAC's mortgage arm.

It was the second-worst quarterly net loss in U.S. corporate history under generally accepted accounting principles, said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst for Standard & Poor's. The loss was exceeded only by AOL Time Warner's $44.9 billion, or $10.04 per share loss, in the fourth quarter of 2002, he said.

GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner told WWJ-AM in Detroit that the accounting shift is not easy to explain but doesn't have a substantial impact on the business.

"I would stress no impact whatsoever on our cash position, no impact on our ability to use the tax offsets in the future, and from my perspective, really no change whatsoever in our outlook or optimism about the future of getting the business turned around," he said.

What might be considered more troubling for GM is continuing losses in its home market, North America, where it reported a net loss of $247 million without the charge for the latest quarter. That compares with a net loss of $667 million in the year-ago period.

The company reported an overall loss of $1.6 billion, or $2.80 per share, excluding special items. In addition to the accounting change, special items included a $3.5 billion after-tax gain on the $5.4 billion sale of Allison Transmission in August to Toronto-based Onex and the U.S.-based Carlyle Group.

The net loss contrasts with rival Toyota Motor Corp.'s announcement today of a net profit for the fiscal second quarter of 450.9 billion yen, or $4 billion. Toyota's profits were up 11 per cent over the year-ago period. Toyota and GM are vying for the title of world's largest automaker by sales this year.

GM's chief financial officer, Fritz Henderson, said the company is bullish about its new products and the money it will save from a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers, which was approved by workers last month and will be reflected in future quarters. An agreement to put GM's retiree health-care liability into a union-run trust won't affect GM's books until 2010, but the automaker will see some benefits from the contract starting next year, he said.

"We feel good about our long-term prospects," he said.

But Henderson wouldn't predict when GM will return to profitability. He said the company faced numerous headwinds it didn't predict at the beginning of 2007, including the strength of the Canadian dollar, rapid escalation in the price of steel and other metals and a weaker than expected U.S. market. He also said GMAC has been hit by volatility in the mortgage market. ResCap has tightened its underwriting criteria and has moved away from the business responsible for those losses, he said, but the outlook for the unit is uncertain.

"At this point I think you have to say that the outlook for the mortgage industry in general is challenging," he said.

The company reported record third-quarter automotive revenue of $43.1 billion and record global sales for the quarter of 2.39 million cars and trucks.

Standard & Poor's analyst Efraim Levy said the near-term outlook for GM has worsened significantly due to reduced sales in the United States and Europe and weakness in the U.S. housing market. S&P cut GM's 12-month target price by $7 to $32.

But David Kudla, CEO of Mainstay Capital Management, said in a note to investors that the huge charge overshadows steady improvement at GM, which has reduced its structural costs and produced some recent runaway hits such as the Cadillac CTS Buick Enclave. The company posted a profit of $122 million in its global operations on the strength of sales in Asia and Latin America.

"International and emerging markets expansion has been very positive for the company, as it establishes a dominant position in large growing markets such as China and India," Kudla said.

The charge, announced after the stock market closed on Tuesday, surprised Wall Street analysts who had expected a relatively small loss excluding special items. Seventeen analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to lose 25 cents per share without the charge. The company's overall net loss amounted to $68.85 per share, compared with a net loss of $147 million, or 26 cents per share, in the third quarter of last year.

Henderson said accounting rules required the company to take the noncash charge because its cumulative three-year quarterly earnings worsened despite some recent profitable quarters. GM lost $10.6 billion in 2005 and $2 billion last year. Henderson said GM's accounting team makes the three-year cumulative loss calculation every quarter and determined it would occur in the third quarter as profitable quarters in 2004 fell out of the three-year time period.

"Once you're in a three-year cumulative loss position, that evidence, as it's described in the accounting literature, is difficult to overcome," he said. "When you look at our near-term outlook, it's pretty challenging. Frankly our conclusion was we needed to do this. We didn't have a lot of discretion."

When the company becomes profitable, the tax benefits could still be used, Henderson said.

GM shares dropped $1.74, or 4.8 per cent, to $34.42, in morning trading today.

The Japanese auto maker has been flourishing as soaring gas prices boost the appeal of its gas-electric hybrid Prius and popular smaller models, such as the Camry and Corolla. Although sales were stagnant in its home market, Toyota sales were strong in North America, Europe, Asia and emerging overseas markets.

"First, it has succeeded in reducing costs at a time when material costs are rising. Second, its global sales are growing," said Tsuyoshi Mochimaru, auto analyst at Lehman Brothers in Tokyo.

Toyota's profit for the July-September rose to ¥450.9-billion ($4-billion), up 11 per cent from ¥405.7-billion in the same period the previous year. Quarterly sales also rose 11 per cent to ¥6.490-trillion ($57-billion) from ¥5.834-trillion.

As other auto makers rush to develop hybrids, Toyota has promised other experimental models such as plug-in hybrids and advanced batteries.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors announced plans Tuesday to shut four truck and SUV plants that employ thousands of workers. It also said high gas prices are here to stay - and, with them, consumers' growing preference for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

At a news conference in Wilmington, Del., GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced plans to roll out more fuel-efficient vehicles, including approval to start the production process on a vehicle that can run gas-free for trips up to 40 miles.

But the plant-closing plans are a stunning admission from the nation's largest automaker that its long dependence on large SUVs and pickups is no longer a viable strategy for a company struggling to end losses from its North American operations.

The plants to be closed include two U.S. facilities: The Moraine, Ohio plant that builds midsize SUVs, such as the Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy; and the Janesville, Wisc., assembly line that builds large SUVs such as the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon.

In addition, it plans to close a pickup plant in Oshawa, Canada, and a truck plant in Toluca, Mexico.

The Mexican plant that builds medium-duty trucks sold to businesses rather than consumers will close later this year. The other plants will close in 2009 and 2010, with sooner closings possible if sales do not improve. Each U.S. plant has about 2,500 employees.

iReport.com: Still driving a gas guzzler?
The company said it believes that high oil and gasoline prices will be the norm, and that prices are likely to go higher due to strong global demand for oil.

"These higher gasoline prices are changing consumer behavior and rapidly," said Wagoner. "We don't think this is a temporary spike or shift. We think it is permanent."

Goodbye Hummer Wagoner also said GM is looking at possibly selling its Hummer unit as part of a strategic review of the SUV brand based on military vehicles. The Hummer H3 mid-size SUV gets about 13 to 14 miles per gallon in city driving in the most recent EPA ratings. The H1 and H2 are larger vehicles on which EPA does not give mileage estimates.

The brand has become the symbol to many members of the public of a gas-guzzling large U.S. vehicle.

Hello Volt He also announced that GM has approved production of the Chevrolet Volt, a so-called plug-in hybrid vehicle that can run about 40 miles without any use of gasoline. The Volt will be built in GM's Hamtramck, Mich., plant and is due in showrooms by the end of 2010.

"We believe it's the biggest step yet in our industry's move away from its historic, nearly complete reliance upon petroleum to power vehicles," he said. "We believe the Volt is an important investment for the future of our company and our shareholders."

Ahead of the rollout of that new model, GM plans to increase production of some more fuel-efficient car models. It's adding a third shift at its Orion, Mich., plant to build more of the Chevy Malibu and Pontiac G6 models, as well as a third shift at a Lordstown, Ohio, plant that builds the compact Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 models.

It also plans a more fuel-efficient gasoline engine for its small car models that will get about 9 miles per gallon more than current GM engines in the segment.

The plans were announced ahead of GM's (GM, Fortune 500) annual meeting Tuesday in Wilmington. They followed similar plans unveiled last month by rival Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), although Ford did not give details of plant closing plans.

About 19,000 U.S. hourly employees had already agreed to take buyout and retirement bonuses to leave the company in recent months, but it had originally planned to replace most of those workers with lower-wage new hires who were not due the same expensive benefit package.