Yahoo Autos GM to “Limit” Warranties and Ban Buyers to Combat Z06 and Hummer EV Flipping
Earlier this week, GM took a step addressed rampant reselling of its recently-released, low production enthusiast cars by offering an effective $5000 reward to anyone that holds onto their C8-generation Corvette Z06 for an entire year. Now, a letter sent to dealerships has confirmed the second part of a two-step plan to combat resellers and flippers: Restricting the transferability of warranties within the first 12 months of ownership and barring the seller from placing reservations on certain high-demand models in the future.
In the letter obtained by Corvette Blogger, GM North America president Steve Carlisle goes on to mention that the new policy applies to all of the new Z06, both body style variations of the Hummer EV, and the recently-debuted Cadillac Escalade V. He goes on to clarify:
"When vehicles are quickly resold, particularly by unauthorized dealers or other resellers that do not adhere to GM’s standards, the customer experience suffers and GM’s brands are damaged. As a result, on certain high demand enthusiast products, we are limiting the transferability of certain warranties and barring the seller from placing future sold orders or reservations for certain high demand models (as identified by GM) if the vehicle is resold within the first 12 months of ownership. These changes are being implemented to ensure an exemplary customer experience, to ensure our brands remain strong, and to help prioritize ownership by brand enthusiasts and loyal customers. These changes will not impact product recalls in any way."
A representative from General Motors has confirmed the veracity of this message, adding that the company "hope[s] these actions will help prioritize ownership by our top brand enthusiasts and most loyal customers."
Combined with the rewards program for the Z06, GM has established one of the most aggressive steps ever taken to curtail the flipping of low-volume, high-demand cars. It shows a clear focus on curtailing the secondary market for the first year of the most exciting enthusiast cars on the market, one that could theoretically eventually bring added dealer markups down and restore some sense of normalcy to the ordering process for such cars.
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