GM Discount

MarkG · April 18, 2002

I have recently become married and my mother-in-law works for general motors. My wife has always got the GM discount but is not sure how it works, she just goes in and tells the dealer and they tell her how much it will cost. So my question is, how does it work? It is a certain % off the sticker price, or invoice price or under invoice price? Is there by chance a site that a person can go to to find out what I would pay for a vehicle with the GM discount, or do I just have to go to the dealer to find out?

Any help is apprecitated

Shaners · April 18, 2002

I get the GMS or the GM Supplier Discount through the company I work for. It works out to approx invoice for me.

The GM employee discount is better than that... I don't know what it is, but I'm sure it's a few percent below invoice...

gmcjoe · April 18, 2002

Here is info on the GM Supplier Discount:

http://www.gmsupplierdiscount.com/

GM Employees and families can go here:

http://www.gmfamilysavings.com/

Kania2k1 · April 19, 2002

I actually used it to buy mine also. I think it worked out to be below invoice. Got the discount from my father who works for Lockheed Martin. Not sure what the correlation is between the 2 companies, probably just the size! But hey, I'll take 5k off a new truck price anyday!

Greg · April 20, 2002

My dad is a GM retiree and I use his discount. Check out the website listed above for most info, but here are some details from my experience that may not be there:

- The paperwork has to be mailed from GM in Michigan to the employee at their registered address. If the employee / retiree, like my dad, has his legal address in one state, and spends part of the winter in another state, both of which are across the country from me, a number of weeks are introduced into the timeline.

- You'll get a number from the website or the employee to give to your dealer. Some dealers let you buy the car with just this number and the promise that you'll deliver the signed discount paperwork when it arrives. (They verify the number through GM.) One Chevy dealer did this when I bought my Avalanche last fall. Other dealers make you leave a deposit check that they return to you when you bring in the paperwork. Another Chevy dealer required this when my son and I bought a S-10 this winter and they returned my uncashed $800+ check when I brought in the paperwork.

- Then number and paperwork are for a specific model year vehicle. If it is fall and you think you're going to buy a 2002 but end up getting a 2003, you'll have to get another number and set of paperwork.

- Ordering a vehicle (GMO) used to be a lot cheaper than buying one off the dealer's lot (GMS). The price difference is now much less. Ordering works best when you want a non-standard vehicle (like 2wd with positraction in a specific color in Michigan.) You also have to be patient, waiting from 6 weeks to ??. My last two vehicles were bought GMS and the dealers located and traded for them. We got exactly what we wanted, including color, in both vehicles. No extra or missing options.

- Some dealers may levy a service charge for searching for and transporting a GMS vehicle they have to trade for. One dealer brought this up in the sales process. I said I wouldn't pay it and I never heard about it again.

- GM will sometimes restrict the availability to GMO or GMS specific models. Sometimes, there is only a small window to GMO a specific model due to production limits. In the past, there have been certain trucks that could only be ordered for a few weeks in the summer for the next model year. Also, I don't think you can GMO Saturns at all.

- Buying with a GM discount does not exclude you from getting the hard sell from the dealer for extended warranty, protection packs, etc. One dealer never tried to sell me this stuff after I told my salesperson once that I don't buy it. They brought the vehicle and paperwork to my house and everything was perfect. However, the other dealer made sure I got to spend plenty of time in the sales manager's little office and the paperwork didn't even get printed until I convinced them I didn't want the stuff.

- It used to be that if a salesperson found out you were buying with a GM discount, they immediately sent you to someone (probably not on commission) who handled all employee purchases. In the last few years, they don't seem to be doing this. Any new car salesperson seems willing to help.

- As part of purchasing under the discount, you must sign an agreement stating that if you have a warranty repair dispute that cannot be resolved through the dealership, your only recourse is the GM dispute resolution process. This includes binding arbitration and is in lieu of litigation.

- Most rebate and financing incentives can be used in addition to the GMS pricing. GMO is trickier because the incentive may expire / change before the vehicle arrives and the incentives effective on the delivery date are the ones you get.

BuckMaster · April 22, 2002

I just had my new truck delivered, I used the GMS option. Sticker was $35138. After rebates I paid $27276 with no dealer add-on charges (doc fee, etc.). Pretty good, huh?

Shaners · April 23, 2002

I just had my new truck delivered, I used the GMS option. Sticker was $35138. After rebates I paid $27276 with no dealer add-on charges (doc fee, etc.). Pretty good, huh?

You got a good deal when the dealer starts throwing in his fees to close the deal... I got the dealer to throw in his "dealer cash" on my truck when I used the GMS discount.