Buick: 24-Hour Test Drives To Start This Week

General Motors' Buick brand is bringing back something we haven't heard of since the early 2000's: the 24-hour test drive. The promotion is to start at participating dealerships this Wednesday, July 22nd, letting potential customers take a Buick vehicle home for up to 24 hours. All they have to do is leave their own vehicle behind overnight. While GM offered similar promotions over ten years ago in hopes of increasing sales numbers, Buick says now it's more about building their brand image.

The promotion is set to launch nation-wide, complete with TV commercials promoting the test drive feature. A Buick representative told Automotive News that intention was to show people how confident the company is in their cars, and that a sales person doesn't need to ride along the whole time in order to highlight the great features.

When GM promoted its 24-hour test drives in the early 2000's, it sometimes promised to pay drivers $250 if they ended buying another company's car after the test. It's said that this tactic brought in an additional 190,000 sales in 2003, something Buick would surely love to happen again, despite the claims of building the brand.

But don't expect Buick to be offering $250 on their new "24 Hours of Happiness" promotion. The campaign is currently scheduled to run for the next three months, after which the company will evaluate the results to make a decision on whether it will be a long-term offer.

SOURCE Buick

VIA Automotive News