Till trade in do us apart: GM’s Complete Care Package

A nuptial ceremony is no doubt a serious affair, seriously stressful yet seriously beautiful…at times. One does not simply get married, unless you’re from a culture of arranged marriages. Generally a dating period precedes the famous “I do” and “Till death do us apart”. The actual marriage day is filled with happiness, nervousness and good advice. One thing that most people will tell you, is that this is the beginning of something beautiful, which it is. If you have many wise people at your wedding, they will also tell you that the wedding, as important as it is, is not the main thing. The focus should be what happens after the wedding, after the honeymoon is over. When you’re looking into your persons eyes and declaring your undying love, you don’t think about how they will leave the kitchen cabinets open all the time or how they will forget to put the toilet seat down. Worse yet, if you get married in haste you wouldn’t have had the time to see if this person is in fact a sociopath or you may think they simply like a drink or two but they’re actually an alcoholic.

That is why it’s always good not to rush into things such as marriage, you need to take your time and do your research to see if the person is really “the one”. There’s nothing like being stranded far away from home, in a broken down car, at night and you’re almost sure you can hear a wolf howling a few metres away from you. You try and dial the emergency services number supplied in your owners manual but all you hear is a loop of the soundtrack used in the Egoli TV series. Eventually you call a tow truck company and a pony-tailed man proceeds to come and assist you. After you’ve paid him your entire lives savings for the services rendered, you realise that the honeymoon is over and your car is only on 9 000km old.

Buying a car is much like a marriage, if you don’t do your research and buy in haste without reading the fine print, you may find yourself seeking a divorce. The only problem when that happens is that the dealership will tell you that you still owe R10 Million on the car and they’re only willing to pay you R55 000 for it. That is why the correct after sales system needs to be in place when you buy a car, whether it’s a maintenance, service or any plan. Whatever plan is in place, it needs to ensure that you’re sorted if something goes wrong after the purchase. General Motors rolled out a system that seeks to do this in all their plans. They call it the Complete Care Package, a package that seeks to provide the best after sales system for any GM client. This system is not very new, it has been available for some time in many of their cars, but they want to make sure that their clients understand that they’re covered in specific events. For instance, road side assistance and warranty. For example, if you have a flat tyre and your car is covered under the Complete Care Package, you can call the manufacturer for assistance. Or if a specific part breaks down, depending on the circumstance, the Complete Care Package will cover it.

You may think this is not all that new and you’re right, it isn’t. The reason why we’ve decided to write about this is because like many marriages, you hear that so and so promises to love and cherish and respect each other but after a few years they’re divorced. The same applies to some car companies, when you’re about to buy you get promised a wide array of things. Until no one answers the phone when you’re broken down and are about to get eaten by wolves whilst the Egoli soundtrack plays in the background. General Motors are going to actively campaign this program to their customers and potential customers in various ways. So they’re putting their heads on a block to say that they will keep true to their promises. This is good as it works as a pledge to the public. So since they’re so confident in their offering, this Complete Care Package sounds like it will be a good thing for GM customers, from now “till trade in do us apart” and even after that. A GM client buying a used car from their stable with the Complete Care Package still active will also enjoy the benefits from the program. Well, good on General Motors for inspiring their clients to say “I do” to their cars.