Great info on upcoming incentives....LINK

[Bobbyg123]

As you may or may not know, I "soft" ordered my Vibe last week. By soft order I mean that I didn't have to put a deposit down because it's the current model year. The pros/cons of this is that I'll get whatever incentives/rebates that are available at the time the car shows up. After talking with a VERY COOL Ford salesman today, I'm thinking about waiting. Our family knows service manager of a local Ford dealarship and he put me in contact with one of their lead salesman. Instead of trying to cram a Ford Escape down my throat, which most salesman do, he instead told me to wait a month or two before buying. We went into his office and he showed me an internet article (link attached) that speaks about how Ford and GM have huge 2005 inventory/sales issues to deal with. This guy all but assured me that Ford would soon be moving towards 0% interest for 60 months or up to $4000 cash back on 2005's very soon. The article hinted that GM would be doing that as well as soon as the 2004's are off the lots. Since we're not in a hurry to take the Vibe, I'm considering balking at the deal when the car shows up unless these incentives are in place. For those of you who are in the market for an American car, I'd wait a few months if possible. I hope this link helps!! http://www.freep.com/money/aut...7.htm

[03VibeGT6Spd]

Dealerships don't know whats happening with rebates until a few days before there anounced, And thats only if there on top of the game.Don't count on the internet for that kind of info, In lots of case's it a writers Pipe dream.If a dealer has lots of old inventory it's posiable for the automaker to give them special incentives but thats very rare.If your looking at a ford focus there less HP then vibes, even the SVT is less HP then the GT.Also the Excape sucks on fuel mileage.

[jake75]

I thought the rebate was what was in effect when you took delivery of the car. I guess I don't know the difference between a "soft" order and a real order. The dealer just orders - doesn't have your name on it as far as I know - except in the heyday of the PT Cruiser. I have a MSRP price sticker that states something like "Made especially for Jerome Schindler". From a practical standpoint, all orders are "soft" orders as I do not know of any dealer who whould hold your feet to the fire unless you ordered a car so wierd that it was not salable - e.g. in the old days that might be a car without a/c. My late father-in-law bought a car off the lot with a deluxe interior but without a/c and the salesmen told me he never thought he would ever be able to sell that car. Another salesman told me there was "an (removed) for every seat". Bragged that he had one in a color so ugly even he thought he'd never sell it. Some lady went bonkers over it and he got a few hundred dollars premium for it telling her that it was a special color in high demand.

[Bobbyg123]

I'm not (nor did he) predict that these incentives would kick in right away. All he said is that sales have been sluggish the past 2 months and that "normally" triggers end of the summer incentive programs. In our case, my wife is driving around in a perfectly loaded 2001 Nissan Maxima. It's only got 49K miles on it, but we're looking to get rid of it in favor of a hatchback/small SUV as our other car is a 2004 Saab 9-3. Why have two sedans? I'm intent on getting the Vibe, but since we have an awesome car already, I think I'll hold out for a better financing deal and/or rebates. After all, the 2005's just hit the lot, and we all know that's the worse time to buy them if you plan on keeping them for 150K miles plus like we do.

[03VibeGT6Spd]

This should be the best time to buy a 2004 But Then again next month or the month after should be better on the leftovers.