Got our new Vibe, but bad news using GM Mastercard rebate

[adogonakat]

Finally got our new vibe today. Its really a great car, but the expereince had a slightly sour taste that I want to warn others about. It seemed like a perfect time to buy with the $1500 rebate and we use a GM Mastercard and had accumulated a nice amount there as well. When ready to pay for the car, I had the surprising news that the GM Mastercard rebate money is being limited based upon the type of vehicle being purchased. This sux! Never had heard this before, but sure enough its on the web site. Vibes only qualify for $1000 of GM Mastercard rebate money. I'm sure it was sent in the fine print at some point in the past, but according to the Pontiac dealer, this crap started June, 2002. We still felt it was a good deal and bought the Vibe, but were hoping to save a bit more. In any case, for any perspective buyers of ANY GM car that use a GM Mastercard, be forwarned! Check to see the limits for the vehicle you're saving for so you won't be surprised like we were.Dan

[Vibe Rater]

Are you in U.S.A.? or Canada?

[esjones]

A local dealer told me that the GM Card is being phased out altogether... probably by Summer '03.- ESJ

[ngilbert]

That's funny, according to the info I got (and confirmed on gmcanada.com) the allowable GM Visa earnings per vehicle didn't start until next year. That's the reason I bought the Vibe now, as opposed to later. I was able to use all of my GM Visa earnings, which happily was a nice chunk of change. I'm in Canada, maybe it's a USA different from Canada thing.

[Bdaz1]

I got this letter in late July on the Program change. See below.

[Stands Alone]

I checked out the redemption figures before I went to the dealer. I was surprised it was only $1000. But hey, a 1000 is still a 1000 saved. And that in turn saved me another $80+ in Tax. And it was no hassle to use at all. The finance guy told me that GM was going to halve the amounts at the first of the year. That's a bummer as I was planning on a Duramax diesel truck in a few years. If I'd been smart, I should have paid for the Vibe with the Discover card and then made some more money !

[Faultline]

hi, I bought my Vibe 9/01/02. I used 2200.oo worth of gm points toward the purchase. AS well as the then 1,000.oo rebate. the dealer informed me of the same thing you are talking about. I called the gmcard center to get it straitened out. They told me that the point redemption rules varied between the differrent types of gm cards. i would call them. make sure your dealer knew what he was talking about. It took my dealer a day to straiten it out. In order to drive my vibe home, I left him a signed 2200.oo check. Yikes!!! which he tore up the next day because I was right!! hope this helps. Fault line.

[DVader]

I was able to use the full $1300 of my GM MasterCard rebate money when I bought my Vibe about two and a half weeks ago. The dealer didn't say a thing about there being a limit. Maybe I got lucky and got past the restriction.

[MA-VIBE-FAN]

The origional GM Mastercard (USA) came in blue or gold. These cards were capped at $500 earnings per year for up to 7 years. With no other limits on redemption. Several years ago, a NEW GM Mastercard (USA) came out in platinum or copper. These cards have no yearly earnings cap and can build for the 7 years. BUT they have a limit per vehicle, which can change yearly. They are also no usable by GM Employees. The GM Employee earnings on the old cards become useless next July, when they become eligable for a new type card (at 1% earnings). I kept the old style card, because I saw my earnigns would be above the limits for any car I would possibly buy. If GM is planning a new card for employees, I doubt they would be discontinue the program. As usual nothing I have said applies to Canada, where the card is a Visa.

[kartrite]

In Canada the original GM Visa allows you to accumulate $500 worth of points each year to a maximum of $3500. Until the end of this year, the full amount of points that you have accumulated can be applied to any GM car. GM Visa did send out a notice several months ago stating that you could switch to the new system which does not limit the yearly accumulations but does limit the amount you can redeem per vehicle. As far as I know, unless you opted to switch, you are still on the old scheme until the end of 2002. That's why I ordered my car early on; I suspect if your car arrives in 2003, you'll be forced to the new system.

[SCTM]

Right, Kartrite...to continue on the same way, I wrote to Gm Card (M.Larry Waterhouse) responsible and asked if it was possible to use all my GM credit (aprx $2300) even if the Vibe comes over 2002 (ordered july 22nd expect delivery Jan 2003) after all, they cause the LONG TIME to deliver the product. After more than a month, I'm still waiting for the answer... may be if many of us rise our hands it could work in our favour. Anyway, hope that the Vibe comes before that target date. I will keep you informed of the answer.

[adogonakat]

We live in the U.S. Didn't even try to argue the point, its very clearly stated at gmcard.com. Click on "Earnings" and then "Redemption Allowances". Pick the car and it tells the limit. Sure enough, for a Vibe its $1000.00. I feel like ripping the ^$%@ credit card to bits. I'm sure going to use the Discover more in the future. I'm aware of the "new" system and we're still under the $500.00 per year carry over up to 7 years for what should be a max of $3500.00. In any case, it appears this doesn't matter as the redemption allowances appearantly work the same no matter which "system" you're under. Dan

[Chris]

When I ordered my Vibe, we had about $3500 gm earnings on the old card but, since we'd already maxed the $500 for the year out, we were LOOSING points as each month, the points from the first month that we had the card (waaay back!) were deducted. Of course, since we had not paid for the car yet, we couldn't use the points and we couldn't pay for the car before we had a vin number.... bla bla bla... y'all know the story.Anyways, after 5 months of loosing points, we were finally able to use the 3000+ points we still had on the card. My only suggestion is that, if you have one of the originals that allows you to use the full number of points on any car, try to work a payment on the car as soon as you have the vin number. You'll have a few months interest to pay (unless you're paying cash) but maybe you'll be able to use all your points.By the way... as soon as we purchased the vibe, we cancelled the GM card Ah well, don't be too upset with GM financing fubar's... the Vibe's a great vehicle and you'll love it

[MA-VIBE-FAN]

quote:We live in the U.S. Didn't even try to argue the point, its very clearly stated at gmcard.com. Click on "Earnings" and then "Redemption Allowances". Pick the car and it tells the limit. Sure enough, for a Vibe its $1000.00. I feel like ripping the ^$%@ credit card to bits. I'm sure going to use the Discover more in the future. I'm aware of the "new" system and we're still under the $500.00 per year carry over up to 7 years for what should be a max of $3500.00. In any case, it appears this doesn't matter as the redemption allowances appearantly work the same no matter which "system" you're under. DanIf you had the "Blue/Gold" cards you would be able to use the max $3,500 for a Vibe. Redemption allowance limits are only for the NEW "Platinum/Cooper" cards. If you go to the web site, in the lower left, click on "blue/gold" to read the old rules.

[adogonakat]

Thanks for all the valuable info everyone. I did what I should have done before even posting this thread. or indeed when the dealer first told be about the redemption allowance, which was to call GM Card customer support. Sure enough, under the "old" blue card, you can use all of your savings with no redemption allowance limit. The rep. was very nice, and in less than 10 minutes had sent an authorization number to my dealer who will send a check to me with the difference that I had paid out of pocket. If only I had done this in the first place it wouldn't even have been an issue. Hopefully others in the future will benefit from the experience. By the way, the new Vibe is wonderful. I was very happy with the pep of the base engine with the auto tranny. Even pulled up the steepest hill in the area without gearing down. Thanks again for all the feedback.Dan

[MA-VIBE-FAN]

adogonakat, excellent, so it turns out you had the Blue/Gold Card afterall, and got what you had coming. Great.

[rakster]

There are 2 types of GM cards. I got mine in 1994 and it is considereda "classic" card. A couple of years ago (2000?) the new GM card came out with the rebate restrictions based on models. Since my card was the original GM card I was still entitled to my full allowance and it my case it amounted to almost $3000.00 subtracted from the price before taxes (which in Pa. saved me another $180.00). The key was having the original card with all the original benefits grandfathered.Rick Kratz