Tread Lightly “catch”

[John VonJeep]

Apparently Stellantis is cracking down a bit on Tread Lightly discounts. Under the new rule, if you custom order a Jeep, you must have been a TL member 30 days prior to ordering in order to get the discount. This wasn’t a problem for me, but the dealer said a lot of people have been getting dinged under it.

AFAIK, the old rule was “30 days prior to delivery,” which meant most people just bought a TL membership at the time of ordering.

So if you’re thinking about ordering a Wrangler, buy your TL membership early and often.

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[Ratbert]

Any idea where that's documented? The Tread Lightly site is still somewhat vague on that detail: https://treadlightly.org/support/join-tread-lightly/

 

[John VonJeep]

Any idea where that's documented? The Tread Lightly site is still somewhat vague on that detail: https://treadlightly.org/support/join-tread-lightly/

I have not seen documentation, but this is straight from Mark Dodge and they’re pretty savvy about such things, given their volume.

 

[GATORB8]

I don't remember this form, it may be new (from the FCA Affiliates site FAQ):
Q. How will I know I received the Affiliate Rewards Preferred Price?
A. At the time of your purchase or lease of the vehicle, the dealership will provide an Affiliate Rewards Pricing & Acknowledgement Form, which itemizes the vehicle price and any additional eligible incentives for your vehicle. The bottom of the form contains a space for your Control Number and signature. The dealership will give you a copy of the form once it is completed.

 

[AnthonyRI]

I have not seen documentation, but this is straight from Mark Dodge and they’re pretty savvy about such things, given their volume.

It's not that your tread lightly discount cannot be used, it is about what you ultimately select as a "qualifying date" for your rebates.

For MOST rebates, you can use what was available at time of order OR what is available at time of delivery, whichever suits you best. If you are going to STACK an affiliate discount with either of those, the affiliate relationship has to have been both established 30 days before the qualifying date of the rebates AND still be valid at time of transaction.

Jimmy orders a Jeep on 8/18, and does not have tread lightly. Today their is a $2K rebate.
Jimmy signs up for tread lightly tomorrow.
Jimmy's Jeep comes in October 18th, and the rebate has reduced to $1K.
Jimmy can use his qualifying date of 8/18 and use just his $2K rebate, OR his 10/18 qualifying date and use affiliate AND the $1K rebate for October.

Try it again with throwing in some TDM coupons and it gets even more fun.

In MOST years, the normal pattern is that rebates increase from time of order to time of delivery, or stay the same, so for a long time it didn't matter, you were always on the rise. This year, it's been up and down.

We have been audited, we have had chargebacks (long time ago!)
If other places, or other times, it seemed to work differently I'd take those as a win and keep movin'

Then again, if you're far enough down the rabbit hole to have found all this info, just sign up for the dang thing right away regardless.

 

[GATORB8]

It's not that your tread lightly discount cannot be used, it is about what you ultimately select as a "qualifying date" for your rebates.

For MOST rebates, you can use what was available at time of order OR what is available at time of delivery, whichever suits you best. If you are going to STACK an affiliate discount with either of those, the affiliate relationship has to have been both established 30 days before the qualifying date of the rebates AND still be valid at time of transaction.

Jimmy orders a Jeep on 8/18, and does not have tread lightly. Today their is a $2K rebate.
Jimmy signs up for tread lightly tomorrow.
Jimmy's Jeep comes in October 18th, and the rebate has reduced to $1K.
Jimmy can use his qualifying date of 8/18 and use just his $2K rebate, OR his 10/18 qualifying date and use affiliate AND the $1K rebate for October.

Try it again with throwing in some TDM coupons and it gets even more fun.

In MOST years, the normal pattern is that rebates increase from time of order to time of delivery, or stay the same, so for a long time it didn't matter, you were always on the rise. This year, it's been up and down.

We have been audited, we have had chargebacks (long time ago!)
If other places, or other times, it seemed to work differently I'd take those as a win and keep movin'

Then again, if you're far enough down the rabbit hole to have found all this info, just sign up for the dang thing right away regardless.

Ahh, that makes complete sense. I've heard the programs have been all over the place recently.

 

[AnthonyRI]

Ahh, that makes complete sense. I've heard the programs have been all over the place recently.

the way I look at it... I've wasted more money on worse things, definitely worth the $100 all things considered.

 

[John VonJeep]

Forum keyword tagging is working!

 

[autotragic]

I got tread lightly for a year ordered two Jeeps, didn't take delivery of either one and paid out $1,000 in non-refundable deposits in the process...

I r smrt...


The tread lightly membership wasn't even the worst part of all that.

 

[Ratbert]

It's not that your tread lightly discount cannot be used, it is about what you ultimately select as a "qualifying date" for your rebates.

For MOST rebates, you can use what was available at time of order OR what is available at time of delivery, whichever suits you best. If you are going to STACK an affiliate discount with either of those, the affiliate relationship has to have been both established 30 days before the qualifying date of the rebates AND still be valid at time of transaction.

Jimmy orders a Jeep on 8/18, and does not have tread lightly. Today their is a $2K rebate.
Jimmy signs up for tread lightly tomorrow.
Jimmy's Jeep comes in October 18th, and the rebate has reduced to $1K.
Jimmy can use his qualifying date of 8/18 and use just his $2K rebate, OR his 10/18 qualifying date and use affiliate AND the $1K rebate for October.

Try it again with throwing in some TDM coupons and it gets even more fun.

In MOST years, the normal pattern is that rebates increase from time of order to time of delivery, or stay the same, so for a long time it didn't matter, you were always on the rise. This year, it's been up and down.

We have been audited, we have had chargebacks (long time ago!)
If other places, or other times, it seemed to work differently I'd take those as a win and keep movin'

Then again, if you're far enough down the rabbit hole to have found all this info, just sign up for the dang thing right away regardless.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I've added a link to your post on the front page of my spreadsheet thread.

 

[Trails]

I am on the somewhat newer side for this forum, and might be ordering a new Jeep later this Fall after the 2025 models come out. What is the "Tread Lightly discount", and how do I go about signing up for that? Much Thanks!

 

[GATORB8]

I am on the somewhat newer side for this forum, and might be ordering a new Jeep later this Fall after the 2025 models come out. What is the "Tread Lightly discount", and how do I go about signing up for that? Much Thanks!

If you do not have access to FCA Affiliate through work, you can access it by becoming a Tread Lightly Member/Donor.

Basically 1% under invoice.

 

[Trails]

If you do not have access to FCA Affiliate through work, you can access it by becoming a Tread Lightly Member/Donor.

Basically 1% under invoice.

Thanks!

 

[Trails]

Is the Tread Lightly / FCA affiliate discount 1% below invoice, or an _additional_ 1% below invoice? (Assuming the dealer was already 1% or more below invoice)? Thanks.

 

[GATORB8]

Is the Tread Lightly / FCA affiliate discount 1% below invoice, or an _additional_ 1% below invoice? (Assuming the dealer was already 1% or more below invoice)? Thanks.

Anthony is probably better to answer this, but my understanding is that the dealer sells at invoice and there is basically a 1% (minus $75) discount/rebate from the affiliate program.

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