[2002 Caddy]

I thought of another idea (are we up to 22 or 23)

GM cars have a bit of an issue with resale value... which unfortunately the RenCen hasn't figured out impacts new car value.

So here is my idea and it comes from a personal pet peeve... Ever try to direct hook up an MP3 Player to a 2002 STS with the Bose Radio? It's pretty much impossible... Why does GM make it so?

What If GM offered "upgrades" to existing models...

What if I could take my Seville into a dealer and have them upgrade the radio so that it has an MP3 jack. Or upgrade the radio to a NAV system, or Upgrade to XM, or upgrade the suspension system to Magna ride...

What if they sold DIY "kits" over the parts counter?

You get the customer
1) Back into the dealer for something good not something broken
2) Feeling good about his/her car as it now has a new feature they want
3) You're making money selling parts
4) Older cars become more desirable, resale goes up... Which makes the newer tin worth more.

In years gone by GM used to do this "quietly". They had retrofit key-less entry systems for Allante's and they had Twilight sentinels kits for GN Regals and Cutlasses. And lets not forget the 350 HO third gen Camaro engine swap, or the "Hot Cam" and LT4 upgrade kits for 4th Gen Camaros. Sadly recently this has reversed to a point where the General now refuses to upgrade cars at any price... Onstar anyone

And hand in hand with this GM needs to do a better job of engaging the aftermarket. GM techs regularly turn over the source code and definition files to the PCM's of the Corvette and Trucks to third party tuners... GM should also do this for the High end luxury cars and the econoboxes too... Help the tuners build the ultimate CTS/STS/DTS etc. Or even better offer tuner packages though the dealers like Toyota does with TRD (which I like to pronounce TuRD).

Just a thought...