Did anyone actually use it to purchase a new car?

I was just curious because I know GM and Ford are getting pretty desperate to sell vehicles now since they are both facing very serious financial problems.

I just heard it was because of too much inventory.

I would love all dealers to go to a no haggle price. It would make buying a car much less of a chore.

And to answer Biggins, I looked at a new one a few weeks ago at Hoffman's, but opted for a year old used of the same model......saved about 8K that way.

We have a Ford assembly plant here in Louisville. They have been advertising on the radio about a big inventory reduction sale to be held at the plant this weekend. They're claiming to offer the best possible price for your trade-in. They must have an awful lot of inventory if they're offering this sale the weekend after the employee discount sale ended!

It's a gimmick.

Trust me.

No doubt the dealers still make out. But me personally, I'd pay a little more to have a lower than sticker, no-haggle price instead of battling it out for hours with a car sales staff for a fair deal.

I personally have always wanted the Walmart type approach.
The car costs "X" buy it or not...
I always want to ask when I have to buy a vehicle--how much does it cost without all the 'packages' and why can't I just have the vehicle===how long do I have to listen to your drivel before I can actually get to the price...
makes it a chore..
The Employee discounts are just the newest wrinkle--think "rebates" of the 80's...

There may be some long term good to this deal. With the spike in sales, consumers will start expecting lower prices, much like they now expect the ultra-low finanacing that was used to jumpstart sales after 9/11 and is still commonplace today.

How is that?

Try to ask for the "real" employee discount. Usually dealer cost and for some below (GM employee discounts are massive!). It'll never happen. Yes, GM thinks we are stupid. That's why they believe, if they offer it, advertise the he!! out of it, we will buy it.

Oh, and drive through a GM plant parking lot, and you'll be surprised
by the number of non-GM cars. If the discount is such a good
deal, how come GM employees don't buy their own cars???

SMan, what did you get? I thought I remember you mentioning looking at a CTS, maybe not?

I'm not dumb enough to believe that this is the "REAL" employee discount of GM, but you must admit that the prices are considerably lower than the norm, especially on the SUVs and trucks.

Some of the main reasons in my opinion why new car sales for GM has taken a beating is because they don't really have cars that excel over other brands in specific categories. For example, Toyota, Nissan, and now Honda have taken A LOT of truck sales from the Big Three. Also, I believe cars/trucks are more reliable in recent years making people not willing to buy a new car quite as often. I also remember in Europe, GM was losing a lot of business and introduced Chevrolet/Daewoo this year as a new brand, but all Euro Chevys were just rebadged Daewoos because Daewoo was more marketable than Chevy.

As much as I do not care for 90% of GM's lineup of vehicles, I still see it necessary to remain as a powerful American car company.

Exactly! The only GM line that looks like it's even trying anymore is Cadillac.

I bought an '03 Cadillac CTS with everything. I really wish I could have afforded the CTS-V version (a 400+ HP, 6-speed sedan *drool*), but it's over $50K .

I LOVE all of the new Cadillac's that are coming out, especially the CTS-V which has been tearing up my beloved BMWs and Hondas in the Grand Am Cup racing series. It also is one of the 10% of GM's products that I actually like.

I'm hoping to get a new car in December/January when I finish college, but I might pay off my college loans instead and buy an older used car. I really like those new Infiniti G35 sedans and I'm still praying BMW brings the 1-series to the US because I'm not at all a fan of the new 3-series BMWs.

Big-
I just checked out the link in your siggy, you've got a sweet ride!!
:::wiping the drool off my keyboard:::

O/T - Biggins, Where have you gone for autocrossing this summer, and how do you find out about where and when they're held? With the little searching I have been able to do, I can't find many events and there's no centralized place to find a list, but I suspect you know where to look...

P.S. - Any good auto-X stories? How have you done?

Thanks fiesty, but I hope nothing major goes wrong with it because it costs soooooo much to fix.

Sadly, I haven't had the chance ALL summer because I've been working 40+ hrs per week and just started a chemistry class. I did 4 events in the Spring though while at college. The learning curve to actually be competitive is huge, but I think I finished 2nd/5 cars, 2nd/11 cars, and ~15th/25 cars in my class in the 3 competitive events I've done (the BMW guys are tough). No great stories except that I can't keep the car from getting sideways because I have 2 different types of cheap Goodyear tires on the front and rear. I have a set of wheels on which I need to mount tires, but the tires I want are so pricey and time/money is tight this summer, so I'll get to that eventually.

I did an autocross school in Sykesville at the MD state trooper training facility and all the other events were in Richmond. They have them all the time at the Keys stadium on Sundays, but I don't like the group that runs there (Capitol Driving Club?). I'm hoping to do one at the Cumberland Airport on July 30-31, but SCCA, Autocrossers Inc. does them at FedEx Field all the time, there was just one at Pharo's Truck Stop in Shippensburg, and there are several more all over the place...

There is usually at least one event from each sanctioning body each weekend. Unfortunately, there is rarely any events in Hagerstown that I know of. Some websites with lists of events are:
http://www.nccbmwcca.org/index.php?autocross
http://solo.wdcr-scca.org/
http://www.gws-mbca.org/index.html
http://www.autocrossersinc.org/
http://www.scca-susq.com/
http://www.myautoevents.com/pls/mae/frmMain.Show

Cool! Good info. Thanks!

Apparently not to be outdone, Chrysler and Ford will now be offering their "employee discount" now as well. So I guess if you'd like a new American car, you MAY be able to get a good deal?