I have an Aunt who works for GM financing. I am not very close to her, so I don't want to approach her with this until I have a better understanding. I am looking at getting an 05 or 06 GTO. Now, my question, is how does it work? Is it essentially a rebate check that is applied after you reach a deal with the dealer? Or is it basically a direct ship? Or what? With the GTO, they are slow selling vehicles, so I feel I could get the vehicle for well below MSRP, and on teh 05 theres a nice rebate now, so I feel I could get the car itself down to like $28-29k, and then apply the family plan after. But, I don't know how it works.

So anyone have some experience?

Usually the family discount is a discount on the MSRP. It is applied when negotiating the deal, at the dealers discretion.

It is different than 'employee' pricing, which usually is the dealer cost for the car.
When a dealer sells a car to an employee, they get a reduction from GM on their cost for the vehicle. This is how they can sell it at their "cost", but still make a bit of money.

As you know, there is always a discount at GM, so you can likely do better than the family discount just by being a smart negotiator.

IMO forget about even mentioning the MSRP to the dealer. IMO your best bet is to find a dealer that has a GTO in stock, find out the dealers cost on it (its usually available on-line) and start at $300 or so below that cost.
Be prepared to buy at dealer cost but don't go more than about $300 above it.
Be prepared to walk out and go to another dealer.

Dealers HATE people walking out. They rely on being able to hassle you and soften you up by talking about what a wonderful car it is and how great the feaures are, how they are already losing money on it, etc. When they do this, they are trying to wear you down. Screw that.

The shorter the negitiation, the better it is for you. Offer your price, make it yes or no, and be prepared to walk. When the salesman says 'I have to talk to my manager' thats bs. He is not talking to the manager on your behalf. It's just a pressure tactic to soften you up.

He'll return with a counter offer. Unless its truly what you want, leave the dealership.

If you do so, call the salesman on the phone after a couple of days and ask if they have reconsidered.

You can shop at different dealers and phone later to get one dealer to beat the other's best offer. If they beat it, call the first dealer back and try to get this other offer beaten, too.

Dealers HATE this, because you have become their worst enemy; an informed and savvy buyer.

I had a pair of aunts in 2004 that bought Aztecs that were "nicely equiped" having a MSRP of probably $28,000 (AWD) with a invoice price of likely around $24,500 or so, which they were able to get for I think $21,800. It actually sounded like they were gotten for significantly less than invoice.

I had a pair of aunts in 2004 that bought Aztecs that were "nicely equiped" having a MSRP of probably $28,000 (AWD) with a invoice price of likely around $24,500 or so, which they were able to get for I think $21,800. It actually sounded like they were gotten for significantly less than invoice.
Hmmm........a drop like that may indicate the cars were demos or former rentals, or leasing company repo's with low miles.

It wouldn't hurt to ask your aunt for help.
The worst she can say is "no", I guess. She might be able to get you an employee discount (better than a family discount) if she is so inclined.

LOL They probably were brand new cars judging by the way Pontiac discontinued the model due to it's slow sales and lukewarm reviews by the public. I've seen it on a few top 5 lists of the ugliest vehicles ever made.http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=9395 and the following is a quote from an article by David Kiley inBusiness Week Online," In truth, the Aztek has been a great value for buyers. It's been so unpopular from a design standpoint that GM and dealers have had to discount the heck out of it. I even know an auto industry journalist or two who couldn't resist the bargain for a vehicle with all-wheel-drive and space for a family with lots of luggage.

So, it's fitting that Pontiac dealers are almost out of Azteks---the last few collecting dust as GM employee pricing program for consumers clear lots of excess and unsold cars--just as the Pontiac gets ready for its newest design gambit. " The full story can be found here-->http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2005/07/_in_the_summer.html

The GM family program is a lower price than you could get by playing the game with the sales peope. usualy the GM family price is about 10% over cost. if you rememberlast year the employee pricing plan, cars were about2K to 5K cheper than sticker price. The trucks were about 5K to 12K cheaper because the profit margin is larger on the trucks.


am not sureif the GT is included in this program at this time you would have t contact the program people for this info.
I will agre with Magicrat about the games played by the salesman. Just don't fall for the talk, if their lips are moving they are usually lying.

if you ned more info here is a web site fo the family program.
https://www.gmfamilyfirst.com/ip-gmemployee/