Tread Lightly discount

[theplankeye]

You don’t get kickbacks. Only incentives.

Sponsored

 

[JLWF Dealer Guy]

So any dealer or corporate incentives are automatically included in the calculated price with Tread Lightly program, and you don't have to worry about researching if the vehicle has any of those incentives? For example, if a vehicle has $1000 kickback from corporate and $500 dealer incentive, that $1500 amount will be automatically subtracted from the invoice price? (customerPrice = (invoicePrice - dealerIncentive - corporateIncentive) * .99) That how it works?

Also what about all the various fees and charges some dealerships add? I wonder how to weed through those and decide which are legit. For example, I don't buy a TV from Best Buy and find out at the checkout counter, that I will be charged an extra $20 "destination fee" for the TV. How are people dealing with that aspect of the purchase?

All rebates or "cash back" isn't really cash back. They are rebates from the manufacturer to incentivize a customer to purchase a certain vehicle. So FCA and the rest of them for that matter, put higher rebates on their volume vehicles, previous model year vehicles to sell off so they can ship out new ones, and vehicles they may have a bit less cost initially in. Destination fees are on the Window Sticker and are part of the MSRP of the vehicle. No getting around that one. Some states have "DOC fees" or documentation fees where dealers basically charge them on every deal. From what I understand, those are not something they can just take off because they uniformly charge them. Other than that, the only thing some, most dealerships do is dealer adds. They may put running boards on a truck, or lift a Wrangler, or maybe tint the windows or stuff like that. other than that, there really isn't much else.

 

[Cap'nMike]

For tread lightly, the rules say you need to have been a member for thirty days before you TAKE DELIVERY of your new vehicle. If you do a factory order, you have plenty of time for your membership to go into effect.

I purchased my 2012 Wrangler Rubicon with the Tread Lightly Affiliate rewards discount. If you use the program, you must buy at the 1% under invoice price -- you can't negotiate lower. I purchased another Chrysler vehicle outside of the program because the dealer was willing to sell it to me at a lower price (it was late March, his sales looked glum, it was a slow-moving vehicle that was in an unpopular color, etc.). At least here at the time that I purchased my Wrangler, you could not negotiate below-invoice prices for Wranglers outside of the program. You could on other vehicles, but not on Wranglers, they were in too high of demand. You probably could today, I notice that my local dealers have 2017 Wranglers piled up all over the place, but you couldn't back then.

Some things about the program:

1) It only applies to vehicles that are on the lot. If you have a dealer that you regularly work with and know their sales manager and etc., he may order a Jeep to your specs (if they aren't so oddball that he'd have trouble selling it otherwise) and allow you to buy it "off the lot" using the discount, otherwise you're restricted to what the dealer has ordered. Luckily my local dealers order Wranglers that are set up pretty much the way I like them so that's not an issue for me.

2) Yes, you must be a member for 30 days. However, 1) if you buy a vehicle, you don't have to remain a member, and 2) if you later want to buy a vehicle after your membership has expired, you can renew your membership then (even if it's three years later!) and the letter will say that you're a member "since August 8, 2011" or whenever you originally joined, i.e., technically the letter says you've already met your 30 days member requirement. I'd wait 30 days anyhow, but (shrug).

3) There's a limit to how many vehicles you can buy per year through the program of two per calendar year.

4) Not all dealers participate. Most do, though, because FCA kicks them back some extra money if the affiliate program is used to buy cars, which in the end is a net plus for them over getting negotiated down to invoice or below. Now that everybody and their uncle has an app on their phone telling them the invoice price of cars, they've lost a lot of the negotiating position they had back in the "good old days" (for them), and the affiliate program thus pencils out for them despite the 1% below invoice.

5) Not all cars are covered. But generally the cars that aren't covered are special versions or limited special editions like the Dodge Challenger Demon. The bog-standard cars that are sold in massive quantities -- like ordinary Jeep Wrangler Rubicons with standard options -- have always been in the program for as long as I've known about it. It is highly likely that the 2018 JL will be available under the program once it's on the dealer lots in quantity.

Note -- I am not a FCA dealer. I'm just someone who's used the program to buy a Jeep.

I just purchased a 2018 JKU using affiliate rewards.
Things have changed since 2012.

1% is the MAXIMUM you will pay. You can go lower. The Dealer gets 2% of invoice back from FCA under the program. I negotiated as low as I could, and then mentioned the discount. I could always get them to split it with me and get an additional 1% off the lowest price I negotiated.

I factory ordered my Wrangler, the discount definitely can be used on factory orders AND vehicles on the lot.

 

[iki4life]

So heres my story-

I called 5 dealers in my area.
1 didnt reply, 1 said they can't order any JL till february. 2 of them said they will offer invoice price, and the last one said they will welcome a 1% off dealer invoice upon walk-in.
So yesterday I went straight to the guy. Very cool and chill person. I had my info, he had his, both of us had this forum open, and they had agreed to do 1% off dealer invoice. The dealer was also nice enough to offer me my deposit back ($500) if I decided to change my mind or the payments didnt work out for me, because my configuration was something he would be able to move off the lot quite easily. Hopefully everything goes smooth here on out. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[joeyjoejoe285]

I tried to pre-order and it did not go well. The short story is they said they didn’t participate in Tread Lightly discount, this was after they said they did via email. Then they said they would give me $500 off the invoice outside the TL discount program. They also wanted a $5000 deposit (fully refundable). I will also add that the salesman had no knowledge of any of the options or anything related to the new JL. I think I’ll try and find another dealer. Does anyone know of a knowledgeable dealer in the NYC tri-state area? Any thoughts on the deal they were going to offer ($500 off invoice)?

I tried to pre-order again a different dealer and again had no luck. This time they were willing to honor the Tread Lightly Discount but they want a NON-REFUNDABLE $5000 deposit. I wish I could find a dealer that would operate the way I have been reading on here. I have read that guys are making deposits of $1,000 or $500.

 

[wanderer]

easy start naming names of the dealers that pull that junk. FCA will get wind and the rest of us will not spend money with that dealer. Its your money thye need to respect that and they need to honor their commitments to FCA and tred lightly . hit them in their pocket book spread the news far and wide and when their business drops off ....oh well. F-----M

 

[DanW]

easy start naming names of the dealers that pull that junk. FCA will get wind and the rest of us will not spend money with that dealer. Its your money thye need to respect that and they need to honor their commitments to FCA and tred lightly . hit them in their pocket book spread the news far and wide and when their business drops off ....oh well. F-----M

I agree. Share out the ones who don't play by the rules. Some dealers got on the bad end of FCA when they were gouging people on the Hellcat. There are many great dealerships out there, and they deserve mention. The turds deserve mention, too. That's one of the great powers of social media. We have to wield it responsibly, though. I wouldn't want to see a business hurt over a misunderstanding.

 

[joeyjoejoe285]

I agree. Share out the ones who don't play by the rules. Some dealers got on the bad end of FCA when they were gouging people on the Hellcat. There are many great dealerships out there, and they deserve mention. The turds deserve mention, too. That's one of the great powers of social media. We have to wield it responsibly, though. I wouldn't want to see a business hurt over a misunderstanding.

I finally found an awesome guy at Manhattan Jeep Chrysler Dodge. I called the dealership and was transferred to him, he was very helpful on the phone and easy to set up an appointment. Once I got to the dealership the guy showed that he did his home work. The other good thing was that he didn't pretend to know something, if he didn't know the answer he told me he didn't know and found out the answer.

The dealership honored the Tread Lightly Discount and accepted my fully refundable $1000 deposit.

The 2 unhelpful dealerships were Island Jeep on Staten Island (did not know anything about Tread lightly, even though they are listed as a participating dealership but were going to give me the discount outside of the program) and Bay Ridge Jeep (nonrefundable $5000 deposit)

If you are in the NYC area and need a dealer, go straight to Giorgio - info below:

GIORGIO ILTER DEMY
Sales and Leasing Expert
Manhattan Jeep Chrysler Dodge Ram
Tel: 212.765.6633 x 332
Fax:212.247.7547

 

[S207307]

I'm looking to join/become a member of Tread Lightly! at the $100 individual level. I see that it says I must be a member for 30 days and that it may take up to 2 weeks to receive my membership info via the mail. Given that pricing is not yet available for the JL and I won't be making a decision until I see pricing (and more likely, can use the "build & price" online option), should I wait until the beginning of 2018 to join...or is Tread Lightly! membership good for 365 days (and not just each calendar year). In other words, if I join Tread Lightly! in 2017, will I still be covered for the first month or so of 2018? I need to join so I can get the 30 days under my belt, but don't want to just end up a member for a month in 2017, then have to give another $100 contribution for 2018 membership.

https://www.treadlightly.org/join-tread-lightly/

 

[drdr]

100% worth it for me! I don't have to haggle - just get a stated price and buy it, easy peasy. Money saved is just a bonus.

Also, your math assumes you can get invoice price without it - not a guarantee for a new, high demand vehicle. Obviously, milage will vary on ability to haggle or local dealer competition.

Might be a naive question but what is the typical cost savings between MSRP and Invoice? Just trying to see how close the 1% off invoice may be to this supposed $45k base MSRP on the JLU Sahara. Thanks all !

BTW, will put in the plug for the $35 Access Fund membership which will also give you the ability to get a Control # for preferred pricing.

 

[ThirtyOne]

Difference between invoice and msrp varies by model and options. You can go to kbb.com and calculate on a JK for reference.

Rule of thumb is between $1,000 and $2,500.

 

[Cap'nMike]

I'm looking to join/become a member of Tread Lightly! at the $100 individual level. I see that it says I must be a member for 30 days and that it may take up to 2 weeks to receive my membership info via the mail. Given that pricing is not yet available for the JL and I won't be making a decision until I see pricing (and more likely, can use the "build & price" online option), should I wait until the beginning of 2018 to join...or is Tread Lightly! membership good for 365 days (and not just each calendar year). In other words, if I join Tread Lightly! in 2017, will I still be covered for the first month or so of 2018? I need to join so I can get the 30 days under my belt, but don't want to just end up a member for a month in 2017, then have to give another $100 contribution for 2018 membership.

https://www.treadlightly.org/join-tread-lightly/

The membership is good for 365 days

 

[King_]

How can you verify you're getting the accurate pricing for your purchase... What's to stop the dealer from showing you the "invoice" which is actually Doctored ... I know that's a conspiracy theory, but I have dealt with a few shady dealers in my time.

 

[ThirtyOne]

How can you verify you're getting the accurate pricing for your purchase... What's to stop the dealer from showing you the "invoice" which is actually Doctored ... I know that's a conspiracy theory, but I have dealt with a few shady dealers in my time.

The short answer is they can't do that.

But you can take the build sheet and match it to kbb.com. They show invoice prices and it should match. Be sure to wear your tinfoil hat.

 

[Schmeegz]

Does anyone know what Koon’s is offering below invoice on the JL’s?

Sponsored