Loaner Car Question

A big story in the news right now is the huge recalls GM has issued. The car company is now handling one large issue which is the ignition switch failure. It is great to see the company doing something to help their clientele. The ethical issue seen through searching many sites in this story was the acclaimed hidden loaner car. The main issue some have pointed out is that when the owner contacts the dealership a loaner car isn't always offered (Picchi, 2014). The main topic isn't if the car was offered, but why does it seem to be so hard to find this information out. GM has responded back with the information that they have offered the cars all over the media (Picchi, 2014). The question is why these stories are surfacing against them if the car was so readily available.

            The one story  viewed was of a woman who received the recall, but couldn't give up her car to get fixed (Picchi, 2014). She claims to have driven the car until she said the steering became weird (Picchi, 2014). She has made the claim that because she had no other option she had to drive what is thought to be a defective car. The woman claims that the dealership didn't offer her a loaner car to drive while the car was in for repair (Picchi, 2014). She claims that the recall she received didn't have the program for a loaner car described within (Picchi, 2014). The question raised by this claim was GM wasn't including information about the loaner car in the recall notice. So if this is the fact then it would be ethically wrong to withhold information from the consumer. GM has made clear that they have advertised that the recall program does include that the loaner car is included in the program (Picchi, 2014). They have expressed that they have broadcasted over many forms of media to get the point across (Picchi, 2014).

Attorney Eric Gibbs also seems to think the loaner car program was hidden (Weisbaum, 2014). He thinks the program was hidden to minimize expense (Weisbaum, 2014). The question that comes to mind is why? The company has noticed the issue and wants to solve it so why would they make it hard to get a loaner car? People can’t lose their cars which are key elements for their jobs which show the purpose for the loaner cars. He claims that the dealerships seem to all have different responses when asked for the loaner car (Weisbaum, 2014). The issue here is why there are different answers to this question. Why would the dealerships if told to give loaner cars not offer them immediately if for an extended period of time of repairs? In another story it seems that the number of people in loaner cars is only a small portion. The author wrote that only about 1.7% of recall recipients have been given loaner cars (Krisher, 2014). This then brings up another issue of people needing to get a loaner car, but haven’t. If this is fact ethically it is wrong the clients deserve to have the issue handled with utmost care. The consumer can’t be guaranteed that their car will last and repairs are not a fast process. Another story tells of an attorney who owns a GM make car which they couldn't tell her when the parts to fix the car would be available (Krisher, 2014). The loaner car issue seems to stem off into many different issues in result. She in this case did get a loaner car from the dealership (Krisher, 2014). The question that seems bothersome is how many people can’t get a loaner and are driving potentially defective cars.

 The issue is the loaner car program seemed to be not apparent to the clients in the beginning. If the claims of the loaner car is being semi-hidden are fact then it is ethically wrong. The second issue that seems to pop up is that there aren't enough cars to give to recall population. Some have received the loaner cars from the dealerships, but some have to drive the recalled models. It seems to now not be the issue of the loaner car being vaguely described, but not enough for the demand. The issue is why the company can only give such a small percentage of their clients a loaner car. The expense would be an issue overall, but why is only a small percent receiving the loaner cars? There are many individuals that have to drive these cars without the fix to the ignition switch. So this then means that if they can’t receive a loaner car they have to drive the cars that aren't deemed safe. The ethical issue is the lack of loaner cars provided by GM now could put someone in danger. It is common knowledge that the company can’t provide a loaner car for everyone, but why only such a small population. So could this be to save money during this issue like Eric expressed. They seem to think of the company thinking of the bottom line over its consumers.

Sources

Krisher, Tom. (May 8, 2014). Owners of recalled GM cars face long repair waits. Retrieved from       http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/05/08/gm-recall-repairs    waits/8851779/

Picchi, Aimee. (August 28, 2014). GM (quietly) Offers a Loaner Car for Recalled Cars.               Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gm-quietly-offers-a-loaner-for-recalled-cars/

Weisbaum, Herb. (April 4, 2014). Why is GM’s Loaner Car Policy So Hard to Find? Retrieved     from http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/gm-recall/why-gms-free-loaner-car-policy-so    hard-find-n71951