Incentives?

[denalio34ceo]

It's rare that you see the flooring costs on the sticker but that's something you don't have to pay either because the dealer gets that back from the manufacturer like the holdback. You shouldn't have to pay for their advertising costs either. That's simply the cost of doing business.

There's no real way of telling when a vehicle arrived at the dealer unless you establish a rapport with a salesperson who can call you when new vehicles arrive. You can estimate when a new vehicle arrived in their lot by determining when the vehicle was made. You can do that by looking in the door jamb. Depending on where you live, it would take anywhere from 2-4 weeks to get from the manufacturer to the dealer's lot.

Jerry has a point on the invoice being relative. Manufacturers change their invoice price anywhere from 2-3 times a year. In 2003, GMC went through three invoice changes. How can you tell? One place to check is kbb.com Their invoice prices are fairly up to date, however, they will not publish previous invoice prices. A real good source for invoice prices is fightingchance.com, however, it will cost you $34.95. They will be able to provide you with up to date invoice prices and if the vehicle you're interested in is priced based on a previous invoice price, they can give you that information also.

Good luck!

[ahurst]

Yea, I noticed that GM raised the base invoice on 5-14 by $350 on Tahoes and Yukons.

Originally Posted by denalio34ceo

It's rare that you see the flooring costs on the sticker but that's something you don't have to pay either because the dealer gets that back from the manufacturer like the holdback. You shouldn't have to pay for their advertising costs either. That's simply the cost of doing business.

There's no real way of telling when a vehicle arrived at the dealer unless you establish a rapport with a salesperson who can call you when new vehicles arrive. You can estimate when a new vehicle arrived in their lot by determining when the vehicle was made. You can do that by looking in the door jamb. Depending on where you live, it would take anywhere from 2-4 weeks to get from the manufacturer to the dealer's lot.

Jerry has a point on the invoice being relative. Manufacturers change their invoice price anywhere from 2-3 times a year. In 2003, GMC went through three invoice changes. How can you tell? One place to check is kbb.com Their invoice prices are fairly up to date, however, they will not publish previous invoice prices. A real good source for invoice prices is fightingchance.com, however, it will cost you $34.95. They will be able to provide you with up to date invoice prices and if the vehicle you're interested in is priced based on a previous invoice price, they can give you that information also.

Good luck!

[tonytone]

Originally Posted by Vroom2

I bought mine from a family friend who happens to be the GM at a local dealer. I mention this because he doesn't order standard wheelbase Yukons with second-row captain's chairs because he can't move them. This may work in your favor. $32k sounds a little low, but that's strictly subjective. Good luck!

Take care,
Jerry

Tell me about it; at the time I bought my '04, it was very difficult (but not impossible) for my local dealer to find a DXL in Northern California that, a) was black; b) had second row captain's chairs; c) had navigation; d) RSE; and e) moonroof. Finding the same package, but in carbon metallic, was impossible...hence my going with black.

Too bad GM didn't have these incentives back in December...0% woulda been really nice as far as my monthly payments are concerned...

[Vroom2]

I think the key thing is to simply ensure the dealer knows you're serious. They'll make a decision as to whether or not to agree to an offer. Obviously, they won't lose money on a deal, but they also know the value of moving a piece of inventory. It comes down to their opportunity cost.

Tony, I know what you mean about the incentives. That was really the only thing that got me in my Denali. More interesting was our Tahoe the year prior - they introduced 0% for the first time ONE WEEK after we bought. DOH!

Anyway, there's lots of information out there, and the old adage applies - if it feels like a good deal, it is a good deal.

Take care,
Jerry

[AgentOrange]

Hey guys,
I just closed my deal last week on a '04 Denali and got a total of $9750 off of the $53,500 sticker price. Then I sold my '98 Expedition Eddie Bauer (105,000 miles) the same day for $9200. Man I was smilin' the rest of the night. the next day I went straight to a buddys wheel/tire store and put on a set of 22's and it looks killer.

Here was my deal:
$4000 off of sticker
$3000 GMC Rebate
$1000 Truckfest Cash Back
(2) $500 Value Coupons (Sun, Sound & Entertainment)
$750 Military Rebate, no i'm not in the military but I made them throw it in. Not too bad I think.

Ask your dealer about all of these, after he has reached his bottom price, of course! What I did was call 4 dealers and ask them about ALL of the available rebates. Only 2 of the 4 told me about the extra (2) $500 coupons. One of which was just down the street and of course, they were the ones that got my business.

Later,
AO

[tonytone]

AO--that's a sweet deal, especially with all the discounts you were able to apply to your purchase! Is yours the regular Denali or the XL model?

[AgentOrange]

I have the regular Yukon Denali. If you are interested in the XL the rebate jumps to $4000. There is money out there, you just have to do your homework.

[ahurst]

Dealer offered $34,500 on

04 Yukon 2WD SLT
1SD package
DVD
2nd row captain's
Safe and Secure Package

MSRP is 44,630

Invoice 39,027

Do I take it?

[denalio34ceo]

Ok. Where did you get your invoice numbers? Try to get it from kbb.com or edmunds.com.

Does the $34,500 INCLUDE any rebates? Is 0% still out there? How much are you putting down? If you're being financed what is the rate?

[ahurst]

The only website I could find that seemed to be accurate on invoice was yahoo auto. The $34,500 is after all incentives. I may opt for 2.9% @ 72 mos. and add $3k to the price. But the 0% is still there @ 60 mos. You can take either the $4k incentive or $1k plus the 0% @ 60 or $1k plus 2.9% @ 72 mos. No money down.

Originally Posted by denalio34ceo

Ok. Where did you get your invoice numbers? Try to get it from kbb.com or edmunds.com.

Does the $34,500 INCLUDE any rebates? Is 0% still out there? How much are you putting down? If you're being financed what is the rate?

[denalio34ceo]

Here we go. This is based on your numbers.

Dealer's cost: $36,812.30 w/o incentives.
A dealer can live on a 3% mark-up which takes it to $37,916.98 plus $850 destination equals $38,766.98. This is already $5,863 of the MSRP which isn't bad. The dealer is offering you $38,500 w/o incentives. His offer is slightly less than 3%

What is your state's sales tax? What kind of financing can you get with $34,500?

The bottom line - What is the final cost of your loan:

$37,500 72 mo. @ 2.9% vs. $34,500 xx mo. @ xx%?
$37,500 60 mo. @ 0.0% vs. $34,500 xx mo. @ xx%?

See if they'll budge a little on the $38,500 before incentives. See if you can take them down between $37,364 and $37,548 before incentives. It's not unheard of that dealers will let a vehicle go for 1.5% to 2% above cost.

Good luck.

[tonytone]

Personally, I think makes very little financial sense to go with the 2.9%/72 month financing; sure the monthly payments will be lower than that of a 60-month term, but you'd be surprised at how much interest is accrued at 2.9% over 72 months vs. 0% for 60 months--on a $40K loan, you'd be looking at paying an additional $3629 (all of it interest of course, over the life of loan) by going with the 2.9%/72-month deal, just to lower your monthly payment by roughly $60/month. Sure, the $60/month savings looks pretty attractive if you're one of those people who has to manage his/her monthly outlay, but ask yourself if it's worth paying an extra $3629 (again, using the $40K loan as the example) just to extend the length of your loan by just one year? Why give the bank all that money when you can earn interest--probably very little at that amount but better than just giving it away, which is what you'd be doing by going with 2.9% vs. 0%--on that amount and keep it for yourself?

If it were say a 1.9%/60 vs 2.9%/72, then going with the longer term may not be as bad...but anyone who would rather choose 2.9%/72 over 0%/60 is making a poor financial decision, IMHO.

[Vroom2]

Regardless of the interest rate, 72 months is such a long time to be paying for an asset that depreciates so rapidly. You'll be upside down for close to five years, which is brutal.


I know this isn't always an easy decision. I went for the 0%/60 months and even at that I'll be surprised if I break even until 36-40 months into the loan. I was okay with this because - let's face it - I'm a sucker and I wanted the Denali. Seriously, I knew I'd keep it for at least that long and the use of free money is always pretty easy to justify.

Take this strictly at face value - if you're getting down to a a factor of a few hundred dollars to make or break a deal on a purchase of this magnitude, I'd seriously have to consider whether or not this was the right vehicle. Just an opinion - not trying to intrude. Good luck!

Take care,
Jerry

[tonytone]

Of course, one can lessen the possibility of being upside down on a loan by putting more money down...but on a 0% loan, that down payment could be better used to invest in something--even if short-term--that'll give you any sort of return. You can then use the extra money you'll get from your return to help pay down the remaining balance on your loan...

Just a thought...not trying to stir up trouble!