Production ramp up is showing great progress

[gowingsgo1974]

I put down my deposit at MI dealer in May and was told to expect it in November but now its been accepted into production, getting made mid August and to expect at the dealer by Mid Sept. I was pretty happy to hear that. Of course if it took till November MY Link and the different rims would almost be assured of being available from what I understand and I could have used my GM card rebate. Beggars cant be choosers in the end. So excited!

[MTN Ranger]

That's why I am trying to be patient and wait for the GM card rebate in November. That and I am waiting for the Topaz Blue. Volts are arriving in my neck of the woods in August.

[bonaire]

I see you're using the GM Card - I can't find detailed info online to detail how it works, other than the primary page on the application saying 5% of purchase value goes towards a GM Vehicle (I assume your note about Volt coming available for this in November) and a link to allowances per vehicle.

If that is true and you use the card say $10K a year, that is $500 towards a car. Does it expire or always roll-over for a few years? Do you have the Volt allowance value yet? I see cars like Cruze are limited to $1000 max allowance. Could Volt be $2000? more? Escalades are $2000, it seems like.

It looks like a good way for a business traveller to really compound their spending into a new car purchase. You don't want to pull out your allowance until you get to a "final price" after doing the dealer negotiations (don't show your cards...) For me, $20K of purchases on Amex translates to a $100 cash-back option (it used to be $200). So, the GM Card looks like a good way to safely accumulate the points. The goal would be to never pay interest on the GM Card by always paying the balance off on-time (otherwise, carrying a balance with interest fees negate your cash back on the car).

[@bobbleheadguru]

I just found out that the Volt I ordered in early June is expected to be made on the week of August 21st. I was expecting it would be at least October. My current lease is up in Late Sept.

[bonaire]

From the OP post above, it sounds like you almost have a 1-month range between construction and arrival at dealership. Might be late Sept delivery - making it perfect.

[MTN Ranger]

I see you're using the GM Card - I can't find detailed info online to detail how it works, other than the primary page on the application saying 5% of purchase value goes towards a GM Vehicle (I assume your note about Volt coming available for this in November) and a link to allowances per vehicle.

If that is true and you use the card say $10K a year, that is $500 towards a car. Does it expire or always roll-over for a few years? Do you have the Volt allowance value yet? I see cars like Cruze are limited to $1000 max allowance. Could Volt be $2000? more? Escalades are $2000, it seems like.

It looks like a good way for a business traveller to really compound their spending into a new car purchase. You don't want to pull out your allowance until you get to a "final price" after doing the dealer negotiations (don't show your cards...) For me, $20K of purchases on Amex translates to a $100 cash-back option (it used to be $200). So, the GM Card looks like a good way to safely accumulate the points. The goal would be to never pay interest on the GM Card by always paying the balance off on-time (otherwise, carrying a balance with interest fees negate your cash back on the car).

I put all my bills on the credit card and pay it off every month (even though it is 0% interest for 12 months.) I have already racked up $570 since getting the card in April. Since most of the vehicles on the list are around $1000, that is what I am shooting for. The models at $1500 or more seems to be slower moving ones that they want to get out the door (van and trucks, only Impala among cars).

[pjk447]

I've been using the GM card for many years...ever since it came out .. you get more than any other card by far.. 5% on all purchases .. you accumulate $500 a year for 7 years to get the max $3500 off on any GM vehicle (with a few exceptions here and there on certain vehicles) .. it used to be $1000 per year but after 5 years they scaled it back to $500 per year credit... On our Pontiac the dealer too off $4K from sticker then there was a $1500 GM incentive... then the GM card took another $6100 off.. we got over $10K off sticker price.. that was nice and that was one of the best vehicles we ever owned... we still know the people who bought it from us.. they now have 180,000 miles on it and still looks really good original exhaust and runs fine....it has 150cu ft of cargo space and gets a easy 26miles per gallon on the road.... not many vehicles can say that.

They take the last 7 years of credits... $500 per year up to $3500 .. that will make the Volt cost about $28K after all credits.. now include the gas savings and the Volt is one of the cheapest cars to own if you keep it about 8 years.

[bonaire]

pjk, looking at the web site, it seems some cars have a limit on their amount of rebate - could be a new thing now. I'll put up the link here. So, if I were to grow $2K of redemption value on the card and bought a car stating $1K of redemption, I guess I'd need to get another car for the other $1K? :-)

2012 Volt appears to be $1K in redemption: https://www.gmcard.com/GMCard/searchMakeModelYear.do#

If you got $6100 for your redemption - that's awesome at the time, but I don't see that being possible anymore.

[Vettes980]

I wonder what the percentage of cars getting MyLink are? That might explain why some other cars are getting pulled up, becuase the earlier allocations can't be filled yet. Did you guys order MyLink? GoWings and Bubbleheadguru?

[gowingsgo1974]

mylink and the new rims are still not available. From what I hear its Oct availability, but does that mean if you order in Sept and your car is made in October you can get them, or is it literally being able to order them in October? That I am not sure. Being my car is being made in August I gave up trying to get my sources to keep digging up the answer on that question.

Getting the car earlier than I expected (mid Sept), at least I can drive it for awhile in good weather here in Michigan. I was expecting to pick it up in a November blizzard before I heard the good news.