GM Wants to Double Goodwrench Dealers

General Motors Corp. wants to expand its Goodwrench parts and service brand virtually to all of its dealers. Currently only half of them participate now. But not all of them want to.

Potentially doubling the number of Goodwrench dealerships would offer GM's Service and Parts Operation (SPO) an opportunity to sell more parts. It's also intended to clear confusion as to where GM customers can go to have their cars worked on under the Goodwrench Service Plus program.

The Goodwrench program consists of specially trained technicians using GM certified parts. Previously, only dealers that met certain customer service standards could qualify as Goodwrench dealers.

“With 7,400 participating dealerships, the newly formed Goodwrench network will be the largest automotive service chain in the industry,” says Doug Herberger, SPO's general manager. “We are extremely confident in our dealers providing quality parts and service, and excited about the opportunity to communicate the benefits of doing business with GM Goodwrench dealers.”

However, not all dealerships want to join the program for various reasons. One of them:

“If a customer breaks down 50 miles from our dealership, the dealership that installed the part has to pay the labor to the dealership that has to replace the part if it fails,” says Ron Coop, service manager at Gus Paulos Chevrolet in W. Valley City, UT.