There's no way I'm going to buy a Cadillac. If they offered it on all GM models with 0% financing and employee discounts, I might think about it.

well, i always wanted a car that runs great for 2-3 years then falls apart.

@bsalamon:

Qualify that with some facts.

I dont understand where the bailout seems unlikely comment came from... maybe this year, but GM has enough capital to make it to Jan at which point the Obama administration will infuse the capital.

Even if they do go bankrupt, its likely they wont fold before then.

I'm just worried that I'll lose the warranty on my Solstice if they go under!

@bsalamon: 2-3 years? At least the car will outlast the stock.

@lawnmowerdeth:

You won't.

Hmm... seems pretty bad when companies are just throwing out shares of stock.

Makes it seem like the shares are so WORTHLESS that they have to give them away becuase no one is buying.

@robb9: I've been reading your comments. And you have pose some good arguments in other articles. But at the end of the day, GM is just another company. Sure they employee a lot of people, but so do other companies.

I don't see why we cant let them fail? Everyone knows unions are horrible for companies. They make demands that are outrageous, and strike if they dont get what they want. Why should I bail GM out, so they can keep paying the union people way too much to be the statitically least productive people in America.

Along with GMs other mistakes? Let them fire Chapter 11. They'll come back. People will be laid off, and my prayers are with them, but thats the way the world works. Since when does America bail out public companies? Just because we started down this road, doesn't mean we cant pull off the highway.

Have you seen how the bail outs have worked for the banks? Oh wait, you couldn't have, because it hasn't. And I know its been relatively a short amount of time, but they acted as if the money was need urgently, and we would see an improvement.

We were also promised by the bank bailout, to get a return on our invenstment. I trust that is possible. But with GM? If they keep their lousy unions and their lousy R&D, we will never get a return.

Ditch the unions, be self sufficient, be innovative, and they'll fix their own problems. Don't come to me.

@robb9:

How do you figure?
If GM goes bankrupt, then their suppliers go bankrupt.

Even if they offer warranty reimbursement through some insurance scheme, loss of the supplier base means no new parts.

I think concern is justified.

@B: @B: @robb9: sorry, I was thinking about ford for some odd reason. my dream car is a cadillac...maybe i should read a little more carefully next time. sorry

Oh, and I work in a blue collar company, that doesn't have a union. We have the most skilled and most productive people, and that allows us to make enough money to pay them above and beyond what our competitors can pay their employees. It works.

@bsalamon: 2-3 years? Try 1-2. My bf always purchased either Ford, Chevy or GM, however he always had problems and the last straw was his Monte Carlo. After that one started giving him transmission trouble at 35ooo miles he traded it in on a new Hyundai and has never looked back.

@starrion: Next we bail out the warranty providers and the commercial insurance industry.

They buy tons of TP, so after that we will bail out Charmin. Charmin employees make TP from paper, and now the paper industry is on the fritz, so we'll bail out Big Paper.

Hm...giving away stock and then using the words "jump start" in a marketing campaign in regards to cars you want people to buy?

2 more strikes, GM. 2 more.

"we're so proud of selling the best America has to offer" - and when it comes to autos that's not saying much.

That ad campaign is sad. I almost think GM would get more mileage out of it if it was tongue-in-cheek.

"'Hey, we'll even throw in some *valuable* GM stock on a purchase of a new car!' "

GM didn't cause all of its problems, but I always thought it and and the rest of the industry somewhat played Americans for fools.

@starrion: Even if their suppliers go bankrupt, I would bet that parts are still available. For one thing, the intellectual property around the manufacturing of those parts are an asset, and in bankruptcy someone would likely buy that asset, and start making those parts in absence of the now bankrupt supplier. It doesn't really matter if the supplier goes bankrupt, as long as there is a market (buyer) for the parts and profit to be made, someone else (who is more efficient or better funded) will make them.

@bsalamon: My Saturn has been motoring along for the last 12 years virtually problem free. I'll buy another one when this one wears out.

@rpm773: I meant:

"'Hey, we'll even throw in some *valuable* GM stock on a purchase of a new car!' (wink wink, nod nod)"

@Bladefist: The best argument I've heard for keeping the automakers from going under is in the next 5-10 years there's going to be a huge demand for autos in China/India/other developing nations, and if there are no domestic auto makers, we're going to miss out on that market.

I won't comment on the quality of GM's shitty cars here,but as for the stock...

If you are thinking about buying GM stock right now because it is "cheap",you are not really making an investment. It's more like buying a lottery ticket ,with about the same odds. See , years of mismanagement and failing to stay in touch with customers needs and wants have wrecked this company beyond repair.GM has refused to design and build a safe , efficient,affordable small car that would make first time customers life long customers (think Honda Civic). GM management thinks that if they build a shitty,but adequate entry level vehicle,you'll want to trade up into what they want to sell and they'll make lots more money. This hasn't worked out so well.
GM also thinks that they can have a fleet of corporate planes,an executive dining room,large bonuses for executives and then ask the unions and the taxpayers to sacrifice many billions of dollars to save the company.

So,if you think that buying GM stock is a good investment because the price is low,you probably bought a Chevy cobalt because it was cheaper than a Corolla...

@mtarget: I think the moral of the story is that the better you take care of a car, the longer it will last, regardless of brand. My friend has a 95' Ford that's still plenty drivable, whereas my parents have had problems with new Toyotas.

Disclaimer: I own a Honda and am in no rush to switch to an American owned car company. :)

I'll just wait it out until the inevitable: "Buy 100 shares of GM Stock, we'll throw in a free car"

@everfade:

I'm working on 78,000 miles on my '02 Monte SS that i bought used. No problems whatsoever.

Perhaps he's hooning it?

I've owned 4 cars in my lifetime. 2 of them were Hondas, the other two a Pontiac and a Nissan.

I loved my first Prelude, and I love the Civic I have now. I'll have it until the wheels fall off. Then I'll put some more on and keep driving it.

It's sad to see them go because it will put a lot of people out of work, but it happens.

@OletheaEurystheus: I hope not. delaying bankruptcy with a "loan" means we will never get paid back. It would be reckless to give them the money until after they declare bankruptcy. I would also hope they would require a complete change of management.

I'd love to show up in a GM showroom, take the test drive, dangle my credit report in their faces, then ask in an innocent voice, "Err, is there any way I can get 100 shares of Toyota stock instead? Pleeeease?"

@Snarkysnake: i was going to make a crack about just buying the stock myself and not getting stuck with a ton of debt and a cobalt...but yeah, what the guy above said.

So have they made the stock certificates into small squares and put them on a roll yet?

In a year they could be worth as much as the warranty on your car, but you'd still be able to wipe with them.

click, click, click...Hear that? It's the economic rollercoaster coming to the top of another huge drop.

Too bad there is no regulation on credit default swaps. It would be real interesting to know how much in CDS's have been taken out on GM. When/If they completely go out of business, the companies issuing the GM CDS's are going to be screwed. While I vehemently disagree with the government bailouts, this one is necessary to prevent a disaster that will make the October '08 fiasco seem like misplacing a $20 bill. If it ever does pass, let's hope they actually put some stipulations in on how the money has to be spent. I'm looking at you two, Paulson and Bernanke.

Has anyone blamed the union for this idiocy yet?

@Trai_Dep: "Err, is there any way I can get 100 shares of Toyota stock instead? Pleeeease?

"No, but we do have a 1990 Geo Prizm out in the yard which has a little Toyota in it. It's worth about the same as 100 shares of GM stock. Wait...make that 115 shares now."

@bsalamon: I'm at 93k miles on my 2000 Cavalier. I've never had a major problem with it, but I do take care of it. I take it in for scheduled oil changes and maintenance. Perhaps the problem in your case could be user error? :)

Getting stock as part of a vehicle purchase does not constitute "Free"

@humphrmi: Plus, the American automakers always own the tooling for parts for their cars. So even if the supplier and the automaker go bankrupt, those tooling assets will still be available. That beind said, replacement parts would probably double in cost and I would expect that any factory warranty would be void.

I just don't see the pt in bailing them out. The bailout will undoubtedly save jobs in the short-term, but will the big 3 use the bailout to create a business model that actually works?! Will they provide vehicles that American's actually want to drive? Personally, I believe we will we see a string of crappy products over the next few yrs till the big 3 need another helping hand. We cannot throw a $25 billion bandaid on detroit and think all will be well.

Does anyone remember the "Angry Dad" episode of the Simpsons where Bart posts his cartoons on some website, and when he went to their office, they had their stock on rolls of toilet paper?

hahahaha this should read "Buy a worthless car: Get some worthless stock!"

I have a 2005 avalanche that has 80k on it currently and no problems. The only thing I have had to put on it so far was tires. I had one factory recall (something about the backseat seatbelt thing) and that's the only major mechanical problems I have had with that truck. That truck has been rock solid so far. Short of the scratches I keep putting on it (damn me), it's been a really strong truck. The 4WD has came in handy in a few winters around here now.

Ironically I traded in a poor ford escape to get that truck and that was the best trade I made!

The ford Escape I had gave me more problems than what it was worth.

At the current trading price of 2.63 that's a whopping $263 dollar giveaway. Pathetic.

I hate the anti-union talk. The fact is UAW has constantly said they are willing to negotiate but it must be a 2 way street. The stupid GM CEO getting a 14 million raise is not a 2 way street. The whole point of a union is that if one person takes a cut, everyone takes a cut.

I for example think a Banking Union would have prevented the Mortgage Crisis. Fact is staff was overworked and told to do fraud/shady loans. If they complained they were fired. This was especially true at Countrywide and I witnessed someone I know get fired from Countrywide due to his refusal to do shady loans. A Union would have prevented this and allowed staff to strike in return for no mandatory overtime which led to tired workers unable to always catch mistakes which plaid further into Loan Officers and CEOs ideas of closing loans so fast you could never tell if they were a good idea. All for quick BONUSES (just like GM CEO is taking).

Was into my Toyota dealer today salesman was saying that Toyota is putting out as many cars as GM and how do you think the quality is going. Still high but starting to show recalls with in the first few months on new models and that never happened a few years ago. He calmed that to get a great car go to market were there is not a high volume of sales. May be that will be GM, if they would cut there product line by 2/3 and do it right they might make it.

@B: Surely you must be joking. Cars from domestic producers in India and China are produced for one to two thousand dollars and sell for two to three thousand dollars and up. How can you possibly imagine that American auto companies (with $6,000 overhead per car from employee comp and benefits alone) would be able to sell anything over there?

@mtarget: I wouldn't. The Saturn of 1996 is a completely different animal from the Saturn of 2008.

@mtarget: from one very happy Saturn to another- don't buy a new saturn. the new "saturn" is a shell of its former self- while some of the saturn marketing hype is still there (no haggle pricing etc.) the cars are definitely NOT the same. All of the new saturns all share a common platform - in the case of the s-series, which if you have a 12-year-old saturn you're almost definitely talking about- the Ion = Chevy cobalt = pontiac g5 = not as good as the s-series.

What saturn had set out to do with the s-series- compete with small, reliable, fuel efficient imports- they had absolutely accomplished. The only problem- the cars just weren't profitable.

They put themselves 5 years behind honda / toyota with the delta platform (ion / cobalt /g5). The car is less reliable, feels cheaper (don't know how they managed to do that) and gets worse mileage than the S-series. Hang on to your car as long as you can, it's a dying breed - a quality, fuel-efficient american car that can compete with small imports.

Let's see GM shares have been trading at about $2.60 today. $260 for 100 GM Shares. They may as well give a free ipod with the sale of every car.

@ilovemom: Yes its worth $263 today... but if the company turns around and trades at $10 a share like it was in August/September, than it would be worth $1000, and if it trades at its last year price of $30/share, it will be worth $3000.

The focus is not on what kind of cash you would make for selling immediatly, but on what you could make if the company ever manages to pull itself out of its hole.

So, not pathetic, but a rather cheap investment if you were planning on purchasing an automobile in the near future. They want to reward customers for having confidence in their company.

@Bladefist: Don't blame the UAW for management's epic fail. Me, I'm waiting for GM to go below $2 a share, which ought to be any day now. Sooner or later, they gotta start firing some suits, and then I'll be in the chips.