GM BuyPower - your comments welcome

SylviaSylvia Member Posts: 1,636
edited March 2014 in Pontiac
Have you used GM BuyPower? What was your experience?
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Comments

  • agt_cooperagt_cooper Member Posts: 202
    Back in August/September, my wife and I finally got serious about buying a minivan. We decided we wanted a Pontiac Montana, so we went to the local Pontiac store, where we met Elvis. (I'm not kidding, that was his name!!)

    Since his store didn't have anything we wanted, we asked him to attempt to locate a van that met our needs. He was less than enthusiastic, I think, so I took matters into my own hands, and looked into GM-Buypower.

    I was quite impressed, mainly because of the search features that showed actual dealer inventory and actual stickers, so I could tell if the vehicles I was finding really had the equipment we wanted.

    We ended up buying a van at a dealer 4 hours away from our house!!! I found the van and the dealer through GM's site, contacted the dealer via that site, and worked out pricing over the phone.

    Truthfully, it was one of the best buying experiences ever!! (my 8th new vehicle)

    I give high marks to GM's internet efforts.
  • amos7amos7 Member Posts: 6
    I like the feature that allows you to em-ail dealers without disclosing your em-ail address.

    I just used it to buy my '01 Malibu.
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    I am a Gm Buypower manager and that neat little trick is most likely costing a customer $2000 in additional rebate unless he checks his message board. I have no idea why customers do not want to helped by a salesman. Simply check out edmunds and take every word as gospel.
  • tonychrystonychrys Member Posts: 1,310
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    I am not bitter but when customers use the autonomy of the interned to insult and be rude I get a kick out of it when it costs the customer!
  • estoesto Member Posts: 136
    The ability to search dealers' inventory online was fantastic. I wish all manufacturers had as
    comprehensive a service as BuyPower!

    I ended up buying a used '99 Astro AWD van in September, but it was via the BuyPower person.
    My communication with this person was very low-key and he was VERY helpful. The buying
    experience was very pleasant. I give the BuyPower service a big thumbs up!
  • rroyce10rroyce10 Member Posts: 9,332
    If your brother in laws..next door neighbor...is the site manager....either get him to at least pass high school....or go to "Best Buys"....and find some 21 yr old computer freak....and let him re-develope it....Gosh what a mess......click option s-roof- whole new page...click colors-whole new page..etc..(and you have to do this... before the site crashes )....I now you guys cant get your stuff together... If you want to see how it's done.... Check out Acura, Ford/Lincoln, Volvo, VW...or are you guys too bz ...trying to figure out what line to drop next....?
  • rroyce10rroyce10 Member Posts: 9,332
    That site is extremely slow.....and crashes consistanly....I dont' know about Mac's...But I'm On DSL....with the P 3 chip...733 processor..and all that kinda stuff ( most i don't understand ) the only thing...it just doesnt seem to work...or complete the program...I probably go on 150 different sites a week and never get a problem....and I alway's get the same lock in..Maybe it's just me...
  • kkollwitzkkollwitz Member Posts: 274
    I tried to search dealer stock for a Camaro Z28 in accordance with the site's selection process. What I got was a list of every Camaro in stock. Did I want to check each one to see if it was a Z28? No! Am I annoyed? Of course!
  • leadfoot4leadfoot4 Member Posts: 593
    I'm interested in purchasing a new Corvette. I know that they are not stocked in large numbers by any of the dealers, so it would be convenient if I could "view dealers' inventory online".
    I realize that my computer skills aren't the greatest, but every time I've tried to do that by clicking on the "view inventory" icon, all I get is a list of the local dealers. Is it just something I'm doing wrong, or is this "feature" completely useless. I remember there was a GM television commercial that showed some potential customer all "wowed out" because he was able to locate a car this way, but I sure can't.
    It sort of makes me question why I'd want to buy a car from a company that can't even get their web site working properly.
  • agt_cooperagt_cooper Member Posts: 202
    leadfoot4,

    you're almost there. Once you have the list of dealers, you'll notice a line that says "Select a dealer below to find your customized vehicle." What this means is, click the dealers name and a list of inventory at that dealer matching your criteria will display. If they don't have any matching cars, they'll display a message to that effect.

    Good luck!!
  • leadfoot4leadfoot4 Member Posts: 593
    Thanks, I sort of overlooked that step.
  • ls1v8ls1v8 Member Posts: 34
    Can dealers opt out of the network? I was playing around and looking for dealers I know to be in the GM dealer network. But There nanes did not appear in my search.
  • leadfoot4leadfoot4 Member Posts: 593
    I found the same situation to be true, also. It seems that the dealers must have to request to be on the site.
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    must also have a qualified GMBuypower manager in order to be online. It was a 2 day training session put on by JD Power and was informative.
  • vadpvadp Member Posts: 1,025
    I don't have sponsors. Is there a way to get around that requirement?
    Thanks.
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    Sorry you must be a GM employee or family to
    get the deal . Or if you worked for a GM supplier
    Or you work for a GM dealer. Ask some folks in
    your family maybe somebody does.... you might
    luck out somehow.....They are taking almost
    5000 off the price of my new truck. But they
    cost a lot anyway.....Geo
  • kkollwitzkkollwitz Member Posts: 274
    and I got a $500 GM owner loyalty discount in addition to the GMcard rebate. So if you already have a GM product, you may get a loyalty discount, too.
  • jwsmithjwsmith Member Posts: 46
    Located the exact color and options we wanted with the inventory search, got a prompt price quote as requested, were cleared for GMAC financing, and bought the vehicle 10/22/01. The BuyPower Manager was the business manager, who was friendly, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to deal with. The system can be a bit cumbersome and slow, but I like the inventory search and being able to see what is available. May even switch to GM when it comes time to replace my Ranger (00, replace every 5 years) based on the purchase experience.
  • mirthmirth Member Posts: 1,212
    My wife used BuyPower to purchase her Alero last year. What surprised me was how many dealers responded by email. She ended up with a great price and incentive financing. Of course, her email to the dealers was polite, not "you have one hour to respond or you'll lose out on the privelege of selling me a car." ;-)
  • mobilmacmobilmac Member Posts: 60
    on the buypower site for gmac financing, leaves a lot to be desired, the word: express app, would imply, save yourself the psychological hassle of mr. finance-man at the dealership, at least con-firm approval or apr & amount or something that could be financed, after i submitted the usual information, to determine my credit worthiness, i received a charming email stating: you have successfully completed step 1 of the app process. Now print the app certificate and present it to the dealer, etc. Now the clencher; printed at the bottom. Application certificate rules: this certificate does not constitute an offer of credit. Well duh! I can easily get financed at my bank, they don't offer o% financing, i know they did a credit inquiry, with experian, i checked, so why not constitute an offer, who needs unnessasary inquiries on there reports, if i need some adjustments in my thinking here bring it on.
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    I ran into this last week, I am the GMBuypower manager for my store and talked with a girl who went thru the exact thing you did. It turned out that she was not credit worthy and I bypassed everything by faxing in her credit app to GMAC. I will look into this and get back with you on the whole confirmation number.
  • chevytruck_fanchevytruck_fan Member Posts: 432
    anybody having problems with GM Buypower new set up? Its confusing which options you need to do first to open up other options, I liked the old set up much better, or maybe I'm not doing it right?
  • kkollwitzkkollwitz Member Posts: 274
    In some ways I like it a little better than the old version, in some ways not. I still wish it would show all model years at one time.
  • mirthmirth Member Posts: 1,212
    The site is brand new and based on a completely different platform. It may take them a while to knock all the kinks out and add needed features.
  • mobilmacmobilmac Member Posts: 60
    All screens need the fullsize option instead of that, partial upper left corner block, that can't be maximized, which you have to scroll left and right up & down just to read. It's a pain.
  • baseballmom94baseballmom94 Member Posts: 92
    I would like to use the GM Buypower site to locate a dealer to work with in Central Ohio. I would like to pay Edmunds True Market Value price for an '02 Yukon without a lot of hassle. Do the BuyPower dealers actually stick to the price they quote a customer by email or does the price change once you get to the dealership?
  • kkollwitzkkollwitz Member Posts: 274
    I'm shopping for a new Camaro using Buypower. I am just using it to locate cars I want, i.e., color, options, etc., then make my own offer by phone or email. One car I did make an offer on had an 'internet price', but later I found out they also had $200 'admin fees', etc., so I didn't buy.
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    I am the GMBuypower manager for a GMC store in New York state. The price I quote includes everything except for taxes and DMV fees for the vehicle in question. I don't think you will get jerked around with a GMBuypower quote but I speak from my experiences. The only problem I have ever had was with a customer that wanted to cash in a rebate and take advantage of GMAC supported finance rates when the program was choose one or the other but that has happened with non GMBuypower customers also. Edmunds TMV does not account for my ad fees that are charged by the manufacturer to the invoice for the car but that is a relatively easy obstacle to overcome with a levelheaded customer.
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    and without pulling an invoice it looks darn close to what I would want to do for a 2002 Yukon.
  • baseballmom94baseballmom94 Member Posts: 92
    Thank you for the information. One other question I would like to ask you is: when I search the local dealer inventory for 2002 Yukon SLTs (not XL's, just Yukons), the MSRPs range from $40,000 to $42,000. Now, obviously I can't see the stickers on the computer to know what options and extras these vehicles include, but don't these listed prices sound way out of line?
  • kkollwitzkkollwitz Member Posts: 274
    Should be available for any GMBuyPower car: click on the car you're interested in. Then on the following page, click on the small image of the window sticker, which will bring up a readable/ printable sticker with all the options & $, just like on the car on the lot.
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    prices don't seem out of line, kkollwitz is correct there should be a line under MSRP that says clisk here to view window sticker
  • jpelderjpelder Member Posts: 235
    I have used GM Buypower website extensively over the past year to learn about their cars. Initially, I was impressed with the site. However, as I progressed from the learning phase to the buying phase, I had problems.

    1. Several times when looking for an Impala, I tried the quote request function. Never received a call or quotation. Then, I called the local buypower manager...after several messages, I finally received a call back. THey were vaguely familiar with the web site, and were only interested in selling me a car from their lot. (I thought the web site would send them info. on the kind of car I wanted).
    I could have gotten this same result in a lot less time without the stupid website.
    2. After this wasted time and losing interest in the chevy buying process, I tried the quote request for an Oldsmobile. After a few days, I got a call from a dealer (40 miles away) who said " I don't know why I was given your name, since we don't sell oldsmobiles"

    Some other beefs I have with the website are:
    1. When a particular dealer does not have the model you are looking for, the website will inconsistently allow you to view your car choice at other dealers. Sometimes it gives you a list of cars, other times it doesn't.
    2. The website allows you to believe it will find the car with the options you want. However, after going through the option selection process, it does nothing more than tell you where the dealers are and what they have. It does not find "your car" for you. THis is a big disappointment and a waste of time.
    3. The website is much slower than the chrysler website, and is harder to read.

    I like what GM is trying to do, but they need to more to give the customer what they want...not give me a gimmick to sell whatever GM wants to get rid of. Tie this system in with the dealer locater and allow me to truly find what I want.
  • mirthmirth Member Posts: 1,212
    My wife bought her Alero through GMBuypower and got an excellent response from the local dealers. Maybe it has something to do with your geographical location. If I decide to get an Intrigue this year, I'll definitely at least try GMBuypower.
  • bmhorsfallbmhorsfall Member Posts: 4
    I live in Central iowa and have used GMBuyPower to "contact" several dealers in the area about purchasing a 2002 TrailBlazer. Despite being promised to hear from someone within 24 hours, it's been 3 weeks and I haven't heard from anyone.

    I figured there must have been something wrong, so I contacted the GMBuyPower Center and was promised to hear back from them within 24 hours, and I never heard from them. That was 2 weeks ago. So Maybe GM doesn't like people from Iowa??

    Besides that I like being able to browse the dealer inventory online. I wish it was faster, sometimes I think I could browse their inventory faster by driving out to the dealer. I don't think the speed would be that much of an issue if the search feature worked better. Near as I can tell, it finds any vehicle that is the same model that you are looking for regardless of trim and options desired.

    Overall it's a good idea with poor execution.I would have probably bought a trailblazer 2 weeks ago had someone contacted me.
  • kkollwitzkkollwitz Member Posts: 274
    I also wish I could restrict the search to specifically optioned vehicles; what I do to compensate is know the MSRP price range I'm looking for. I don't check any car not in that range. It saves a lot of time.
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    I am the GMBuypower manager for a Pontiac/GMC store. I get BURIED with faxes as soon as a request is sent to my computer. If a customer sends a request at 11pm at night when I am home in bed when I get to work in the morning there will be literally like 10 faxes waiting for me telling me I have a request waiting at the website. Your experience makes no sense to me but I do believe your story. Some dealers/employees have no idea how mad people get when a request goes ignored.
  • jpelderjpelder Member Posts: 235
    The reason these problems don't make sense to you is because you frequent this website, which means you aren't the run of the mill rep.

    Almost everytime I shopped for a car, I knew more about vehicles than the sales reps. Much of that knowledge came from edmunds. For this reason, I tended to look at encounters with sales reps as an amusing test.

    You clearly have more than a casual interest in your professsion. I wish most sales reps were so professional.
  • dardson1dardson1 Member Posts: 696
    I used the GM BuyPower site just looking for the Yukon I wanted. The great thing about it is....you can sit at home and find a dealer that has the car you want. After I settled on a few I decided to email a "best price" request (what the heck....might as well). What do you know.....I actually got real numbers from all of the dealers I emailed. No beating around the bush! I've not bought yet, but at least I have a good idea of their best price and the trade won't be all "smoke and mirrors". I've been known to spend 6 weeks trying to get to a dealer's bottom line. When they email you with a price $25 under invoice less the GM rebate, I'm satisfied. Now all I have to do is wiggle outta my trade payoff and I got a new Yukon! I think the GM BuyPower site is great even if it's just a way to locate the car with the options you want. Getting a real price without spending more than 30 minutes on the internet is icing on the cake.
  • golemitgolemit Member Posts: 3
    I emailed a dealership requesting their best price on a vehicle and informed them that I am ready to buy in the next week.

    I did receive an email response within 24 hours but the response was, the Trailblazer LT you are interested in has been sold and we don't have any LT models that are even close to the one you requested a quote on.

    I guess they never update their vehicle list because the site had four vehicles listed that were close to my request. Then I go home, open the paper, and there was my requested vehicle advertised with a dealership discount.
  • lsgs97lsgs97 Member Posts: 6
    What are you doing nowadays for Yukon's and Denalis -- In the northeast , it seems hard to get anything reasonable. I know they are popular... I see on an earlier post, invoice price for a Yukon, and than less the rebate? Where!
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    I am at $500 over on denali's, about $300 on a yukon. In january I try and keep the floorplan as light as possible. I am just north of Syracuse NY in Liverpool. The problem with these types of vehicles is the people that buy them have trades that they want all the money in the world. Stripping deals apart the average I gave is right about where I try and be.
  • lsgs97lsgs97 Member Posts: 6
    If only you were in NJ.. Thanks !
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    depending on where in jersy you are.
  • cyberfire12cyberfire12 Member Posts: 18
    Would that be the corner of 31 and 57 btw?

    If so, you guys had a "hot" time recently! :-)
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    Thats where Isellp is ! I live just up
    the road ! Aren't you from OUR neck of
    the woods? .................Geo
  • isellpotiacisellpotiac Member Posts: 122
    that is where I am! Can I borrow your handle for the next couple of weeks. After 5 weeks we put cars back on the showroom floor on friday. If I had a few extra hours to spare I would share some very funny stories related to our fire. Things are getting back to normal, now all I need is a customer.
  • cyberfire12cyberfire12 Member Posts: 18
    I'm in the neighborhood, albeit over the bridge.

    I didn't get to the fire tho, missed the truck!
  • sonjaabsonjaab Member Posts: 1,057
    I grew up in Bayberry. Live in Hannibal
    now. Own Hannibal Hotel ! Isell i remember
    when your dealer was a truck stop with
    the propane dealer and little bar across
    the street. One of the kids I grew up
    with is the body shop mgr. for one of your
    dealers in N. Syracuse !
    On topic....My womans 96 caddy is gonna need
    some expensive strut and brake work at 82k
    miles. So she wants a new car !
    Otherwise great car !
    Been looking at new Caddies...Buick lesabre
    She don't like the seats in the Bonneville !~
    Been using GM Buypower to cyber shop prices!
    Isell...can you sell us a new Buick from
    the taft rd. store ? Lesabre as big as new
    Deville about 17k cheaper than new caddy !
    (Gm employee discount family here). Trunk large
    I hate leather too !...Prob. wait till
    spring anyway ! Too bad in may 01 you
    didn't have a GM xcab 2500 ld 4x4 In stock .Remember speaking to me ?
    ...........George
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