Ordering, how does it work if incentives are offered later?

[leaky]

Does anyone expect we will see incentives offered on Sonic early in 2012?

I assume the way ordering works is that when the car arrives at the dealer you still need to sign-off on any financing/payment when taking delivery, as if the car was on the lot and you showed up that day to buy it?.. I mean as opposed to you signing paperwork when ordering and the dealer receiving payment when the vehicle arrives without your involvement?

The reason I ask is I'm wondering if it's reasonable to request any incentives offered later are to the customer (not dealer) ?

I'm ordering an LTZ w/ turbo soon, of course unfortunately there's a constraint on them at the moment. Tomorrow I may still head down to the dealer to wrap up the order and provide a deposit ($500), so that at least when the constraint is over the order will be placed without any further action on my part. Is that a bad idea?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[buldog72]

As a manager at a Chevy store, the incentives are based on when you take delivery of the car not when you order it. By the way, where are you located? I'd be happy to see if you are on the manifest for any private offers when you car comes in, as they expire at the end of the month. Just pm me your last name and zip code. GL with the new Sonic.

 

[Sonic]

You don't sign any paperwork when you order. I ordered over the phone from a dealership 2 hours away. I didn't set foot in the showroom until the day I went to pick up the car.

 

[Sonic Boomer]

Yes, all incentives are based on the date of delivery.
Be sure to check the price breaks you get as a member of any credit union (if you are a member). While some other plans had better pricing on the car, the CU deal limited the document fee to $75 (compared to the $500 and $700 that was quoted by local dealerships).
I said for that kind of money, I'd "gopher" my own documents (I have in the past), but they maintained they could no longer allow customers to do their own. I suspect they are feeding me a line on that one, but they discounted the price to partially compensate for my complaint, so I'll live with it.

 

[leaky]

Yes, all incentives are based on the date of delivery.
Be sure to check the price breaks you get as a member of any credit union (if you are a member). While some other plans had better pricing on the car, the CU deal limited the document fee to $75 (compared to the $500 and $700 that was quoted by local dealerships).
I said for that kind of money, I'd "gopher" my own documents (I have in the past), but they maintained they could no longer allow customers to do their own. I suspect they are feeding me a line on that one, but they discounted the price to partially compensate for my complaint, so I'll live with it.

Work won't leave me alone enough to concentrate on anything else today, so gotta put this off until tomorrow.

Good point on the fee's, wish I had checked into that when getting quotes.

Dealership I think I'm going with has a $99 policy on inspection sticker, 20 day plate, and all paperwork. Also stated any additional incentives that arise will be to the customer. They are about $150 over my lowest quote at $17,100, close enough for me though.

They also have a hatchback LTZ w/ turbo in stock that was offered up for a test drive, so will know exactly what the Sonic with that engine package feels like before ordering.

Jon

 

[Daedalus]

Good question. Do you haggle when you order or do you have the option of backing out once your car comes in if they can't meet you on price?

 

[Sonic]

Good question. Do you haggle when you order or do you have the option of backing out once your car comes in if they can't meet you on price?

See this thread for how it should be done when it comes to "haggling", which by the way doesn't really work since the Sonic is a new model. But the rest of the steps are here:

http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t731/

 

[oldertech]

Yes, all incentives are based on the date of delivery.
Be sure to check the price breaks you get as a member of any credit union (if you are a member). While some other plans had better pricing on the car, the CU deal limited the document fee to $75 (compared to the $500 and $700 that was quoted by local dealerships).
I said for that kind of money, I'd "gopher" my own documents (I have in the past), but they maintained they could no longer allow customers to do their own. I suspect they are feeding me a line on that one, but they discounted the price to partially compensate for my complaint, so I'll live with it.

I was told that the CU deal didn't apply to Sonic. Help!! I'm financing through a CU when my car comes in. Both My CU and GM told me no go.

 

[laborsmith]

Interesting about the CU discount as the Sonic can be priced from the I Love My Credit Union web page. Although I did not use it when completing the deal, I did use the idea of its availability and the salesperson never indicated trying to use it would be a problem.

Perhaps it is your particular credit union?

As far as I know all Chevy cars are included except the Camaro ZL1. When I checked CU pricing there were excluded vehicles, but the Sonic was definitely included.

Laborsmith

 

[RockTheShazbot]

When i actually went in to pick up my car my dealer told me that one of my incentives changed and the car priced would have gone up $500 but since i was adiment in signing the paperwork when i ordered, they still gave me the price i signed for.

 

[leaky]

Good question. Do you haggle when you order or do you have the option of backing out once your car comes in if they can't meet you on price?

FYI - I'm big into web forums. Bad forums tend to be bad due to excessive or complete lack of administration. This place is without a doubt excessively policed..

Back to the point (which is kinda what that pricing thread will tell you) - you can't really "haggle" like you would on a vehicle that's been sitting on the lot for a year but you can absolutely make the dealers compete for your business.

You do get a price on paper first, as part of an official document - "Retail Order For A Motor Vehicle".

Same with any vehicle - send online quote requests to 3-4 large dealers referencing anything you know as far as incentives or discounts you qualify for. Then pick the lowest quote, then take it to another dealer, and try and get them to beat it (if they won't then do the right thing and see the dealer with the lowest quote)..

Be sure to call and ask if there are ANY other fees that aren't included in the quote. This is important because some dealers may charge a "doc" or "admin" fee upwards of $400.

I think the best to expect on an LTZ w/ 1.4 Turbo is a little less than 1K off the MSRP if you have no other discounts. May be less off on cheaper models.

Myself, I live in NH near the state line of NH & MA. Most of the largest dealers end up in MA, and are a bit cheaper.. I ended up going with a NH dealer who was ~$150 over the MA dealer quotes after a $99 fee, but convenient to get to, struck me as trustworthy, and included inspection sticker, all paperwork, and a 20 day plate in that price. They also will give me any incentives that are available when the car arrives.

Oh and an added plus, they actually had an LTZ w/ 1.4T & 6-speed manual on the lot the test drive (a hatchback w/ sunroof, want a sedan but close enough to get a good feel).

Jon

 

[oldertech]

Interesting about the CU discount as the Sonic can be priced from the I Love My Credit Union web page. Although I did not use it when completing the deal, I did use the idea of its availability and the salesperson never indicated trying to use it would be a problem.

Perhaps it is your particular credit union?

As far as I know all Chevy cars are included except the Camaro ZL1. When I checked CU pricing there were excluded vehicles, but the Sonic was definitely included.

Laborsmith

This is the page we have been going by. Sonic remains blank.
https://www.mygmdiscount.com/ip-vpp/#tab_regional

 

[Sonic Boomer]

The dealership I ordered from offered up the CU discount when I was haggling with them. Unfortunately, when I told them I have GM earnings, they said I could not combine the CU discount with my GM earnings on my credit card (I confirmed this with GM Card Customer Service). They said they would go ahead and give me the preferred pricing, but they could not give me the discount on document fees. I really can't complain, I have over $3900 in GM Card earnings!

Based on a Google search, It seems that GM doesn't do much to advertise this. All links I found were from specific car dealerships or Credit Unions.

Here is a link from a credit union group.
LoveMyCreditUnion.org: GM's Credit Union Member Discount

Ha! I found this link following the CU one above. The Sonic IS eligible (note the list is for cars that are NOT eligible):
https://www.mygmdiscount.com/ip-vpp/do/vehicle-eligibility

Reading further into this, the document fee of $75 (as stated at my dealership) is not in the GM CU agreement. It says it is up to the dealership. YMMV, but it doesn't hurt to ask!

 

[oldertech]

Based on a Google search, It seems that GM doesn't do much to advertise this. All links I found were from specific car dealerships or Credit Unions.

Here is a link from a credit union group.
LoveMyCreditUnion.org: GM's Credit Union Member Discount

Ha! I found this link following the CU one above. The Sonic IS eligible (note the list is for cars that are NOT eligible):
https://www.mygmdiscount.com/ip-vpp/do/vehicle-eligibility

This is how I'm reading this. The first link is for cash incentives, and the second link you kindly sent is for the CU discount and indeed the Sonic is eligible? I think the first link's list is where my CU stopped. I signed up for the "Credit Union Member Discount from GM Authorization" and I should be able to take this into the dealer and get preferred pricing and I'm done??? That would be amazing!!!!!! The thing is I think the dealer told me it wasn't eligible, however that was prior to 11/8/2011. But the pricing section of this website allowed me to pull up a price that was $449 under MSRP.

So Sonic IS eligible with proper documentation like this to take into the dealer?

 

[laborsmith]

Should be eligible. Not all dealers are participating dealers, but if I recall right other than the Corvette, if the dealer accepts Preferred Pricing for any GM vehicle they have to accept it for all. Some dealers have always accepted it for the Vette and given how slow Vettes are selling I expect they all are these days.

Preferred Pricing = Supplier Discount

Laborsmith

 

[leaky]

Correct me if I'm wrong..

Regarding supplier discount (or preferred pricing if it's the same I guess), my understanding is it's $$ out of the dealers profit and not an incentive or rebate from GM. GM just kindly requests dealers offer the discount.

So, because it's not an actual rebate/incentive from GM, a dealer is still bound by their cost, whatever that ends up being and the odds are you can get as good or a better deal without using it.

On my last vehicle I had some good GM incentives, end up getting about $6500 off MSRP, and although I have a supplier discount the dealer didn't actually use it in his quote because it made no difference (and the supplier price was quite a bit more than I paid anyway)..

On this order it's the same way, I'm paying less than the supplier price.

Ford has something similar called the "X-plan", which is actually a little better, more $$ off and as you go uplevel in packages and options the discount seems to get better. In some cases it practically buys the next package up for you.

Jon

 

[laborsmith]

Leaky that is my understanding of how the system works, unlike Employee Pricing where the dealer receives a specific sum for the sale (say $400 for a small car, $500 for a large car and $750 for a Corvette).

Laborsmith

 

[wasteoffilm]

According to my salesman friend who got my code:

"We (dealer and employee) get paid better on GM Supplier/Employee deals than we do selling the car at full list or above. GM pays back the full amount of the discount +. This one will save you $421.44"

In my case, that made the sale price of the car $8.56 over invoice. They also had to transfer the car in, and I noticed the same invoice price written on some paperwork. The salesman and finance manager kept implying I was getting a "really great deal". I guess that's true if they lost money on the sale.

 

[laborsmith]

Apparently things have changed to a greater degree than I realized. Many years ago when I was eligible for employee discounting, which at that time was less than invoice by a good margin (except destination charge which is never discounted) I was told the dealer was charged exactly what I paid and their profit was the scaled payments depending on the model sold AND I have always been informed that the supplier discount which once included a small dealer payment ($50-100/vehicle) was separate from employee discounting in every way.

I may have all this time been misinformed, but as I recall my first employee pricing Chevy was the Beretta, as that was the first year we could do an employee priced deal in our name, before that it had to be in my father-in-law's name for a certain period - six or twelve months except Corvette twenty four months.

It seems the more I think I know, it turns out there is even more I need to know.

Enjoy th New Year.

Laborsmith

 

[leaky]

According to my salesman friend who got my code:

"We (dealer and employee) get paid better on GM Supplier/Employee deals than we do selling the car at full list or above. GM pays back the full amount of the discount +. This one will save you $421.44"

In my case, that made the sale price of the car $8.56 over invoice. They also had to transfer the car in, and I noticed the same invoice price written on some paperwork. The salesman and finance manager kept implying I was getting a "really great deal". I guess that's true if they lost money on the sale.

I'm paying about $400 under invoice. I'm not sure exactly what "invoice" means on the Sonic after kickbacks and such. The dealers in my area where at or below invoice on quotes.

Jon