GM dealers turn therapists for anxious recall customers

"It's a little bit unnerving because GM is on the front page -- not of the business section, but the front page of the paper and the lead story on the news every day," he said. "People are concerned because they're GM owners and they see all this publicity regarding GM."

GM dealers are gearing up for an onslaught of owners returning to their stores next week to receive repairs on the 2.59 million cars the automaker has recalled for faulty ignition switches linked to 13 deaths. The dealers have already had to act as therapists to customers who've been flooding phone lines with worries about the flaw that allows the ignition key to fall out of the "on" position, disabling the engine and air bags.

McEleney has been down this road before. Sales swooned at his adjoining Toyota store back in 2009 and 2010 when the Japanese automaker recalled more than 10 million vehicles for defects linked to unintended acceleration. He's hoping it will be different this time because the Toyota recall involved cars on his showroom floor, while GM's recall is for older models such as the Chevy Cobalt that he no longer sells.Customer Confusion

Customers are "confused and concerned," said Nicole DeNooyer, general manager of Robert DeNooyer Chevrolet in Holland, Michigan. "They want to know, ‘Is my car part of the recall? And if it is, how bad is it?'"

DeNooyer has been telling customers not to drive their Cobalts, Chevy HHRs and Saturn Ions and has put about 30 owners of the small cars into free loaner vehicles. GM CEO Mary Barra told two congressional committees this week that the cars are still safe to drive as long as owners don't use a key ring, which could be heavy enough to pull the key out of position. GM ran more than 80 tests with unweighted keys that found the recalled cars operated safely, a lawyer for the company told a Texas judge yesterday.

Barra said she would be comfortable if her teenage son drove a recalled model.

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