Why do people still buy cars from this company?

[Unkle]

I know what the lawsuit is about! These people were in accidents where the airbag did not deploy because of a faulty ignition switch. I've seen people with 5 lbs of stuff on their key rings. How much weight do you think these should be designed to handle?

'' because of a faulty ignition switch ''

??????? These switches are being turned enough by heavy key rings being jostled , thus disabling the airbag , or turning the engine off in vulnerable situations . I don't understand what you are trying to point out here ? Are you saying I'm wrong ? To me it's not just the switch , it's the driver more so .

[Zed Head]

There are probably millions or billions of other cars that aren't affected by heavy key rings. That's how the problem would be defined, probably the same in a court of law. Cars are so common that there are a defined set of expectations. Apparently, these cars don't behave as expected. Now if they put a warning label on the dashboard and people ignore it then they could claim consumer fault. If they knew people with heavy key rings had problems and did nothing then it's the producer's fault.

[Walter Moore]

303 out of how many millions sold?

There weren't very many people killed in the "exploding" Ford Pintos either. In fact the one lawsuit that set the whole Pinto recall in motion involved a drunk driver traveling over 80 mph who rear-ended a car that was stopped at a red light. That doesn't change the fact that the car was intrinsically unsafe. It takes a pretty specific, and unusual, series of events for a faulty ignition switch to cause a fatal wreck.

As for the original question: A large percentage of G.M. sales are driven by employee and supplier discounts. Retirees and their immediate families can continue to use the employee discount for the rest of their life. When you factor that discount into the picture it can make a G.M. much cheaper than the alternatives. The way that system is structured there could be 5 to 10 people eligible for an employee discount per current/retired G.M. employee. That market alone keeps the wheels greased so to speak.

(Some years G.M. gives retirees discount deals specifically intended to be given to their friends, etc.)

[Mike W]

This is the best reason I can think of..................

Mike.

[Zed Head]

Executive level fraud has gone on for ages, so no comment on the following link. I just thought it fit the thread topic.

U.S. eyes bankruptcy link in GM ignition defect probe: report | Reuters

[Zed Head]

The web (of deception) gets better-defined:

A Florida engineer cracks ignition flaw GM kept hidden | Nation & World | The Seattle Times

[Kurbycar32]

Half of my Fathers family still works for GM, most of them are laid off half of the year or more. I get a ridiculous discount on GM cars but theres a Dodge/cummins and a Mazda 3 out front, Z in the garage. I wouldn't buy a GM ever. Build quality sucks top to bottom in comparison to most of their competitors. The Corvette might be the only exception, but for the money I would rather have a Porsche, even if it were slower. Im not saying they dont make a decent vehicle, but in every category theres a better option for the same price or better.

[John Coffey]

The "heavy key ring" thing is misdirection. If you read the NHTSA reports the ignition switches will shut off with only the original key in place. Happened 65 times as the cars were driven off the factory assembly line.

[Zed Head]

Thanks for that reference. The latest NHTSA recall report though, blames it on the the keys. Do you have something from earlier? The general situation has the look of everyone trying to cover their asses, including the government watch-dog. Pretty sad.

Recalls & Defects | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchResults?searchType=ID&targetCategory=R&searchCriteria.nhtsa_ids=14V047000

[John Coffey]

From the first recall notice:

" In these models, the weight on the key ring and/or road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position, turning off the engine."

GM engineers noticed the problem during normal road testing back in the early 2000s when only the key was in the ignition. Adding any weight to the key ring (including the stock alarm fob) exacerbates the problem.

[240260280z]

GM is evil... can't say anything but. They are trying to weasel out of being responsible AND sending more money off-shore to China (see links below).

UN-AMERICAN

I paid taxes in both USA and Canada when both Govts gave this evil company over $60Billion (49.5USA 10.8CAN)in loans and they did not pay it all back (USA owed 10.5B and CAN 8B).

DON'T BUY GM

GM seeks bankruptcy ruling on its product liability protection | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

GM to invest $12 billion in China and plans more plants | Reuters

[240260280z]

Finally a leader with guts: GM recall probe prompts executive departures - Jun. 5, 2014