Automaker Chrysler Broadens Money-Back Guarantee Incentives

Yesterday, the Chrysler Group announced that it will offer customers a 60-day, money-back guarantee on new cars and cover the first two months of payments for consumers as it attempts to increase sales in the face of slumping consumer confidence.

The incentive expands on Chrysler’s existing Minivan Pledge, a 60-day, money-back guarantee on the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country. Chrysler began the Minivan Pledge in February, but it expired on July 6. However, both minivans are included in the new incentive program, which applies to the majority of Chrysler vehicles.

Chrysler reported that customers will be permitted to return a new vehicle within 60 days if they are unhappy with it, and the automaker will pay as much as $500 per month during the first two months of payments.

Moreover, Chrysler will provide interest-free auto loans for up to 60 months on many 2010 Dodge, Chrysler, Ram, and Jeep vehicles if financed in July through GMAC Financial Services.

The only models excluded from the money-back offer are the Jeep Wrangler and the Dodge Viper.

“We build great vehicles for just about any lifestyle and with this pledge, consumers will have the confidence to know they made the right purchase or they can return the vehicle no questions asked,” Fred Diaz, the sales chief of Chrysler U.S. explained in a statement.

Only Eight Vehicles Returned

Chrysler spokesperson Ralph Kisiel reported that only eight buyers returned Chrysler minivans in the Minivan Pledge, which began February 11.

The new incentive program has comparable stipulations to those of the Minivan Pledge:

• Buyers who return their vehicles must pay 40 cents for each mile they drove, and they must drive the vehicle for a minimum of 30 days before they return it, according to a Chrysler spokesperson. The mileage charge is higher than the 30 cents/mile minivan buyers had to pay.
• At the time the car is sold, dealerships will provide buyers with a one-page document detailing the price they will be paid if they choose to return the vehicle. Dealers will not return consumers’ trade-in vehicles.
• Buyers who had negative equity on the vehicles they traded in will have the difference subtracted from the refund Chrysler offers. In other words, if a buyer owed $2,000 more on his trade-in car than the vehicle was worth, his refund would be $2,000 lower.
• If the vehicle has over $200 of damage, the refund offer is voided.

During the first six months of 2010, Chrysler’s sales in the United States rose almost 12 percent but fell short of the 16.7-percent increase in overall auto industry sales during the same period.