Test drove a 2021 Bolt Premier today at my local dealer. They applied the GM discount but did not discount msrp at all. They told me they are only allowing the Bolts the GM discount. All other vehicles on the lot they were not accepting GM discount on. Can they do this?
Does the dealer lose money on a vehicle with a GM discount?
Has anyone else heard this? Why would a dealer deny employee discount? It’s not like the discount comes out of the dealers pocket right?
It’s certainly not uncommon here in NJ. I’ve had many GMC dealers refuse my supplier discount when shopping for my Sierra Denali. Same with Dodge dealers refusing my affiliate code when shopping for my Challenger.
The dealer has the right to refuse the discount. It’s most often done because they feel the next guy will walk in off the street and buy the car at MSRP, which results in higher profit margin for the dealer versus the supplier discount price. Where-as dealers that are OK with the discount are generally more concerned with volume and not lazer focused on the most margin for each vehicle.
If you read the fine print of the GM supplier offer, they can accept the discount but refuse the reduced documentation fee, which is also common. I’ve never been successful getting both the GM discount + fixed doc fee. I have found that it can vary by geography, for example I’ve had much better success driving into PA and getting discounts honored.
I didn’t think selling the car for employee price would net the dealership less. Thought the manufacturer would cover it because it’s a manufacturer discount. Not a dealership discount.
Didn’t know about the discounted doc fee either. Seems certain it would be for employee but a maybe for a supplier discount.
I also saw something on the leasehackr calculator waiving the acquisition if MF is raised by .000075. Is that the way to go?
The dealers don’t get a full reimbursement of the entire discount. For example the supplier discount on a 2021 Bolt Premier is $1237 – but given feedback from others on this forum, it’s believed the incentive to the dealer is between $500 and $1000. The actual kickback varies by vehicle. @ethanrs is a great resource for these type of questions if you can get his time!
Employee is the same as a supplier program but with a larger kickback and larger discount. It essentially takes any car to a $0 profit deal (or slightly profitable for high MSRP models). I generally take it on most of my product except the super hot stuff (Z71s, Trailboss, etc) but I’m genuinely curious why they wouldn’t take it on a Bolt. My Bolts were ~$3,500 under supplier pricing so I just took the code and held a few hundred of the reimbursement and passed the rest along to the customer. Now, certain employee codes (there are several kinds) don’t allow the dealer to sell below that amount and they may already be below that number which would explain why they aren’t willing to take it. Had you worked numbers with the dealer yet? If so put those in your post and I can probably explain the reasoning behind their logic (or lack thereof)
Dealer is accepting GMF on Bolts. Only GMF. No additional discount off MSRP. They are not accepting GMF on anything else. Not even Trailblazers. The inventory is seriously lacking though. I think if I go to a bigger dealer I’ll have better luck?
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