Rebates, Incentives, APRs - Questions & Comments

96corolla · June 2005

....my bigger question is why even by a GM product???.... a buick nonthless, are you 70+?.......

no1b4me1 · June 2005

have the GM card, only 40 and Tiger Woods told me to get one.

kyfdx · June 2005

LOL... I know Tiger drives a Buick, because I saw him getting into one on a Buick commercial...

richinrainelle · June 2005

I AM LOOKING FOR A 2005 GMC YUKON DENALI XL? COULD YOU TELL ME WHICH INCENTIVES ARE AVAILABLE? THANKS!

jasonkuhl · June 2005

Here's the deal. If I price a new Chevy Colorado with an MSRP of 29K and an "employee" price of 23K, do I still get the 2K rebate offered, making the truck 21K?

no1b4me1 · June 2005

jason, if you're going by the GM web site it looks like they have listed the "employee price" which includes the rebate amount.

dardson1 · June 2005

this offer is aimed at those car buyers who don't like to negotiate or do homework. These are the people who go down on a Saturday afternoon and drive home in a new car by 6pm. It's probably not a bad deal for them if they have no trade. . . . but, this same group have no clue what their trade is worth. You can make a good, bad, or so-so deal on a new one, and lose your shirt on the trade. Unless I misunderstand the offer, it's not as good as the previous one for a smart car buyer and a big price increase for anyone looking to buy a Tahoe/Yukon where the rebate dropped $2k. Not a bad strategy. They may lose the savvy shoppers (don't make much $ there, anyway), but the lazy ones offer all sorts of money making opportunity. All that said, I love my Tahoe. Best value in the SUV market.

sh_maestro · June 2005

Thanks Car_man (in response to #2907). As you mentioned, I didn't qualify for the 1.9%, but managed 3.9%, which I suppose is good for someone without a credit history.

CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

You're welcome robr2.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

No problem, jeffyscott. I can't understand why the dealer that you're working with would not want to offer you the longer finance term either. This is a very strange situation. Volkswagen was providing dealer cash on Jetta models that were not finance or leased using VW Credit's special rates last month, but since the 2.9% for 2 years is still considered special, I don't think that the dealer cash could have been used in conjunction with it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

Hi 96corolla. I believe that Pennsylvania is in Toyota's Central Atlantic region. In that area right now, Toyota is providing $1,000 customer cash on the 2005 Sienna right now. I have not seen if there is any low finance rates as an alternative to this cash.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

I see what you are saying, no1b4me1. I forgot that you were financing your LaCrosse. I will append by earlier statement by saying that the June program is better for consumers who were going to pay cash for this car or finance it through an independent bank. You're right that the elimination of the bonus cash plus the 1% increase in this car's finance rate will probably make this particular model more expensive for you personally in June.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

Hi richinrainelle. In June, General Motors is allowing normal consumers to purchase vehicles through its employee purchase program. In addition to this, on the 2005 GMC Yukon XL this month there is 0% financing for up to 3 years, 1.9% for 4 years, 2.9% for 5 years, or 4.9% for 6 years or $3,000 customer cash.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

Yes, jasonkuhl, in addition to the employee purchase program price, any available customer cash incentives should be deducted from the price of the vehicle that you are interested in.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

You're welcome, sh_maestro. Congratulations on your new vehicle. 3.9% is a very solid interest rate. Thanks for stopping back to let us all know how everything turned out.

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mldj98 · June 2005

Car_man,

First, I would like to thank you for all of your knowledge to share with all of us on this forum!
My questions concerns the Honda Accord and any special type of incentives that are going on in the Tampa Florida region. I know Honda does not give any cash back but I think they give their dealers incentives to move units like the Accord.
You would think after being off on sales by 23% in May 05 compared to May 04 some incentives would be there for the taking!
I think the overall numbers for the Accord and Civic were disappointing to Honda last month so you would think something should be going on right?
Again, thanks for your wisdom!!
Rock On!

merckx · June 2005

On the Gm sites,the "employee" price is said to have all other incentives built into the discount price-I'm looking at a Cadillac STS-in May there was $1,000 HotButton,and an additional $1,000 0n the STS-now it appears the price is just the prediscounted price found on caddy.com.

Does this mean you can expect no further dealer discount?

zelda25 · June 2005

I'm looking at purchasing a 05 Chevy Malibu Maxx. Like the above poster said it seems the incentives are already worked into the employee discount price(at least from my understanding). So would the dealerships be averse in taking more off the price? I can hear them say, but"you are getting our Best price, you're getting OUR discount." It seems they are not losing anything, and their profit margin is still high. Not sure if I should wait until this promotional period is over and see if they go back to the higher rebates?? Is there really good deals to be made by using their new plan??

olysan · June 2005

I'm considering a new Yukon. I hope to own it for 7-10 years and I want to finace it over 6. My credit is excellent.
Should I take the $3000 rebate? If so what rate can I expect on a 72 month loan either from GMAC or a local bank etc?

My alternative is 4.9%/72 from GM in lieu of the rebates.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

jeffyscott · June 2005

Thanks for you comments...I did not know there was dealer cash alternative to the financing, edmunds did not show anything like that. Dealer also gave me price without first finding out if we would be financing through them...so I assumed there was not going to be a lower price if we did not take the discount financing. Anyway, the dealer's response to my question was:

"VW credit makes these rates available but does not require or mandate dealer participation. As a dealership we choose not to participate. All vehicles sold during this rate availability have gone out at the same rates through our dealership. 24 mo. 2.9%, 36-48 3.9% and 60-66 4.9%."

96corolla · June 2005

Car man,

Thanks for your info on the Toyota incentives. Actually, they are still offering 3.9 over 60 months so I have to run the numbers and see what comes out better. I know this is a crystall ball type question, but you definately have more experience and insight then I do so I'm going to see what you think.

What is your gut feel/thought on Toyota keeping the 1K for a while or lowering the 3.9 finance later in the summer? I'm being told by the local dealers that the 1K only goes to mid June, then it goes back to $750. I'd prefer to wait to buy until July or Aug, but I don't really want to leave money on the table either. Problem is, you don't know what they are going to do. If I felt like the 1K would stick, or come back, and/or they'll lower the financing I'd wait. What are your thoughts/guesses on what they'll do in the future. Don't worry, I won't hold you to it:) Thanks.

scottay1 · June 2005

Hi, sorry if this is in the wrong place......my dealer sent me an OTD quote thru email, when i was ready to buy he says it wasnt OTD, it was before fees, etc.. I have the email where it states OTD price. question is whether that quote can be enforced by me? isnt this bait and switch and therefore illegal? can anyone direct me to the answer to this question? thanks, scott

dawg_fan · June 2005

Olysan,

I worked the numbers every which way (rebates vs. lower rates) and i came to the conclusion that it works out rougly the same (depending on amount financed). I elected to go with the cash rebates and finance through independant credit union. I use Georgia Telco (based in Ga. obviously) and thier rates are as follows:
60mo. = 4.99%
72mo. = 5.50%
That's all I checked on anyway. My good friend went to buy a tahoe last weekend and asked me what rates i was getting at my bank, I told him and he went to the dealership. They sat down to discuss financing and offered him 6.25% with great credit, he said NO WAY that he could get 4.99% and the dealer told him that Bank Of America was matching any rate. And they did. That might be a local thing or regional but it's worth a shot.

dawg_fan · June 2005

Car_man,
Can you explain holdback, i'm not sure if i totally understand it. Also can i view the GMS employee pricing before i sit down at the table at the dealer with worksheet in front of me with him "telling" me what it is. I'd like to see it (or a rough idea)before i go to the dealership and try to see the actuall invoice.

jetcar · June 2005

guys,
the GMS price sucks big time, they just cut off the rebate and cash, the employee pricing is AFTER the rebate price!!!
I went to local pontiac dealer this morning, AWD Vibe MSRP 22500, employee price 19200, that's it, and there is only 1000 rebate which already included. I have to say no deal at all compares to previous rebates/incentives/cash.
what's more, you can't take both the rebate and the low APR, only one applies...

rroyce10 · June 2005

........ Food for thought ...

Depending on where you live .. most Yota dealers are only sitting on 25/35 days of inventory .. July/August.? .. you might be getting the purple one with the green interior ......

Terry.

steine13 · June 2005

GM is in a world of hurt, and what you see here is just the flailing. They're trying it every which way, so let this run its course... FWIW, there's no way I'd buy an AWD; keep right on walking and get a Forester X, preferably with a stick ;-), and never look back. Subaru has $2k in rebates or $1750 at least on the X, so you should be under $20k.
12 months or 4 years from now, when you want to ditch it for another car, you can send me a thank-you note. The Subies have stellar resale values, the Vibe, not.

If you HAVE to have a Vibe, get the GM credit card and pay it off every month. The General is paying a significant fraction of my car expenses; I like it that way.

A satisfied 04 Vibe owner (base),
I remain,
-Mathias

CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

You're very welcome, mldj98. As you are already aware, Honda never provides customer cash incentives on its vehicles. It does provide special financing rates, special lease rates, and dealer cash on them from time to time. As you mentioned, Accord sales have been pretty slow lately. To combat this, Honda is providing all three of the aforementioned incentive types on this car in June. The dealer cash tha is available on the '05 Accord this month is volume-based, meaning the higher the percentage of their assigned sales objective dealers achieve, the more dealer cash they get per unit. While the maximum allowance hat is available through this program is $900 when all aspects of it are taken into account, most dealers will probably receive in the area of $550 per Accord sold this month.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

Hello merckx. The "Hot Button" bonus cash that was available on the 2005 Cadillac STS in May is not available in June. General Motors is not providing any sort of cash incentives on this car at this time. This means that you will have to pay the employe purchase price of dealer invoice minus holdback plus $75 if you want to buy one this month.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

Zelda25, any available cash incentives should be deducted from the selling prices of vehicles purchased through the GM Employee Purchase Program. This means that in addition to getting the 2005 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx for invoice minus holdback, the $2,000 customer cash that is available on it this month would also be deducted from its price. You should be able to get a better deal on this particular model this month than you were able to last month. The additional discount that is available through the employee purchase program is likely greater than the $500 less in cash incentives that are available now. You should be better off even if you decide to finance because even though the $1,000 bonus cash is no longer there, GM's low finance rates are lower on this model than last month. I do not believe that dealerships are allowed to provide any additional discounts on vehicles purchased through this program. It is difficult to say whether the incentives that are available on this model in July will be more aggressive than the current program is. If I was in the market for a new GM product, I personally would purchase one now.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

Hi Mike. I order to figure out whether you should take advantage of the low finance rate or customer cash that General Motors is currently offering on the model that you are interested in, we need to know what sort of interest rate you qualify for if you were to finance it through an independent bank. Shop around, either with banks that do business on-line, like e-loan, or with local banks or credit unions to see what sort of interest rate ou would qualify for. Then you an compare the total cost of the loan through an independent bank, taking he $3,000 rebate into account, with the cost of financing your truck through GMAC at 4.9%. You can use the fiance calculator that is available on the following page to assist you: Basic Loan Calculator.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

You're very welcome, jeffyscott. The dealer that you spoke with was correct. Like most captive finance companies, Volkswagen allows VW Credit to mark up its special finance and lease rates to add additional back-end profits to deals. The marking up of rates is much more common with luxury brands, like Mercedes-Benz or BMW, than it is on more mainstream products like Volkswagens. If you wanted to, you could have shopped around and probably have found a dealer who would have let you finance your Jetta using the 2.9% rate for four years. In fact, if you threatened to take your business elsewhere, this dealer may have caved in and let you have it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

No problem 96corolla . I did some additional research on this vehicle's incentives for you. You are right, Toyota is offering 3.9% financing on the 2005 Sienna for up to 5 years in your area this month. A this point, the $1,000 customer cash that is available in the Central Atlantic region is only scheduled to run through June 13th. Supposedly after that date this van's customer cash will drop to $750 for the rest of the month. It is difficult to say whether it will increase for the month of July, but I can tell you that Toyota has been gradually increasing its incentives on this model for the past several months so I would not be surprised if it did increase again...at least back to the $1,000 level.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

I don't think that you can legally force this dealer to sell you the vehicle that you got a quote on at the stated price, including taxes, scottay1 . There really is not one standard definition of the term out the door. Some people take it to mean including taxes and registration and others look at it as including all fees but before taxes.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

Hi dawg_fan. Most manufacturers give a certain percentage of vehicles' prices back to dealers once hey are sold. This is called dealer holdback. General Motors gives its dealers 3% of vehicle's total MSRPs back. Vehicles that are sold through GM's Employee Purchase program go out the door at invoice minus dealer holdback,

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

Whether GM's current employee purchase program offer is better than the incentives that it was offering last month varies by model. Some models will cost more in June and some will cost less. Mathias is right though, this is just the latest gimmick that a struggling car company is pulling out of its hat. There will be some new type of offer in July if you don't like this one.

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dawg_fan · June 2005

I sat down with the GMC dealer again today. Last weekend i recieved Supplier price + rebate, now of course is GMS + rebate. That is fine, however, last weekend they were charging me a $75 doc fee, "it's all GM will allow us to charge on Supplier deals", which was totally exceptable. NOW they are charging the full doc fee ($399)and said that since everyone gets GMS they charge the full doc. fee which i don't agree with and then now they want $400 dollars for the rain-x treatment and teflon wax coating, which now is "non-negotiable" and wasn't even on the worksheet last weekend. That's $800 dollars worth of "fees" that i'm not gonna pay, i'm gonna walk, am I being unreasonable??

jamesam · June 2005

Can holders of the GM credit card use their redemption allowance during this time when all the vehicles are being sold at the "Employee Discount" price? (Normally the GM credit card rewards cant be used for purchases thru the employee or supplier programs.)

fish8 · June 2005

What IS negotiable is your business/money. You have every right to take your business somewhere else. I am sure this dealer(along with most dealers) need to make money somewhere and added fees is a good place to do that. Tell them the "added" fees won't cut it and walk. See if they change their tune or allow you to exit stage right!! Good luck!!!

rayainsw · June 2005

"Whether GM's current employee purchase program offer is better than the incentives that it was offering last month varies by model. Some models will cost more in June and some will cost less. "

It may also depend on where you you live.
In the Southeast, the rebate was reduced from $2,500 to $2,000 on GP.
But in most of the rest of the country, it appears to have been reduced from $3,500 to $2,000.
For me (near Atlanta) this is a better deal.
- Ray
Dealing as we speak (write) . . .

rayainsw · June 2005

I sat down with the GMC dealer again today. Last weekend i recieved Supplier price + rebate, now of course is GMS + rebate. That is fine, however, last weekend they were charging me a $75 doc fee, "it's all GM will allow us to charge on Supplier deals", which was totally exceptable. NOW they are charging the full doc fee ($399)and said that since everyone gets GMS they charge the full doc. Fee

Sadly, I still (in the 21st century) see this sort of thing.
I have been buying cars for a loooong time.
I am no expert, but I am not stupid  nor uninformed.

This past weekend, I was quoted a $389 Fee. When I questioned this, and quoted the GM verbiage. (See below.) I was told that GM had issued some sort of clarification of the $75 maximum Doc Fee.

When I objected, the sales person said: OK, we will honor the $75.

(sigh)

I will see tonight how things go at this dealer.

- Ray
Also seeing something like $400 worth of sealant / protectant / stuff (profit!) added to every car (at another dealer) immediately upon arrival at the lot  that they cannot / will not negotiate on. (double sigh.)

DEALERS WILL BE PERMITTED TO ASSESS UP TO $75.00 IN DOCUMENTARY FEES
ON EACH DELIVERY TO AN ELIGIBLE PURCHASER UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS
PROGRAM, UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY STATE OR LOCAL LAWS OR
REGULATIONS.  as posted elsewhere.

kyfdx · June 2005

I think there might be a difference between getting the GM employee price and actually buying under the GM employee purchase plan.

While they are selling at the employee price to everyone.. I haven't seen anywhere that it says they have to stick to the entire program.. Caveat emptor.

regards,
kyfdx

robr2 · June 2005

That's what I was going to say - the ad says employee price, not empolyee program.

CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

I don't think that you are being unreasonable at all, dawg_fan. I would have done the exact same thing if I was in your situation. The increased doc fee is bad enough, especially when GM tells dealers to only collect $75 on deals through its Employee Purchase Program, but the $400 bucks useless things like rain-x treatment and teflon wax coating would have been the last straw for me. There are tons of GM dealers out there. Shop around and see if you can find a more honest dealer to work with.

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CarMan@Edmunds · June 2005

That is a very good question, jamesam. If consumers normally cannot use GM card earnings on purchases through General Motors' Supplier and Employee Purchase programs, I suspect that you may not be able to use them. You will have to ask the dealer that you are shopping at to find out for certain. When you do find out, I would appreciate it if you would stop back and let us know. Thanks.

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aabr · June 2005

GM card rep told me GM cardholders could in fact use their card earnings on this promotion. In any event, I wouldn't count on getting a reliable answer on the subject from any dealer.

jtalley · June 2005

I am trying to buy an 05 silverado 2500HD Crew Cab 4x4, The dealer is quoting me GMS as if that is the final price. But didn't GM change the price not the dealer? If that is so doesn't the dealer still have room to negotiate? It makes sense to me that the dealer still has some "wiggle" room to make a deal. Am I wrong or should I find another GM dealer?

Thanks

ddelise · June 2005

Using the GMS program, the price is the price.

You should be able to ask and see the GMS pricing on the invoice. Then subtract any rebates, add $75 processing fee, add tax, tag, title, and now you have a new car.

Damon

dawg_fan · June 2005

GMS pricing minus money down plus taxes(title fee,doc fee) then subtract the rebate. That's the way I understand it to work, the rebate doesn't come off to the very end. Is that not right??

fredvh · June 2005

What difference does it make as to where the rebate comes off on the transaction? The rebate is a fixed amount on a particular model. I am not trying to be argumentative with you but I do not understand why you said that.

Rebates, Incentives, APRs - Questions & Comments

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