12 Months . . . . (kinda long, but interesting)

[car96]

Well, after 12 months of trying to get into an H3, I guess I just might as well give up.

I started looking in Jan '07 for and H3 Lux Pkg, but really only wanted a Base with leather seats, sunroof and 6 disc Monsoon changer(not all the chrome on the door handles or wheels or gas cap) which I guess moves you into a LUXURY package, and it's now Dec and I am a several thousand dollars over what I want to pay.

I have dealt primarily with one dealership because it's the closest. Houston is a big town with a lot of traffic, it's difficult to visit the other dealerships.

I think they are getting tired of me, but they do seem to try and help. They don't really offer me anything all that good. They won't come off the MSRP more than about $2000 on a H3 that MSRP's at $36,260.

This dealership advertises that they bring in Truckloads of DEMOS from other states and never has these DEMO's when I go in. They know I want to buy and I go by often enough that you would think I would be able to find a DEMO, but they always have ONLY ONE, RED, TACTICAL....I hate RED.

Here's an interesting story. I will try and be brief. March 30,2007 (last day of first quarter in 2007) a friend/cowoker bought a H3 Lux Pkg from said dealer.

He called me from the dealership and said "I know you have been down here and have about 3-4 offers in a folder, but they just made me a heck of a deal." He went in looking for the advertised BASE model that MSRP'ed and advertised for what I remember to be around $25-$27.

He drove it , didn't like it. He started asking about an H3 with LUX PKG.

They went ahead and sold (GAVE) him a H3 Lux Pkg with leather, 6 cd monsoon and the rebates, which were NOT offered on the LUX PKG. All the rebates of about $4500, gave him the -$950 because it had no sunroof (which was the advertised deal at the time). So he got a LUX H3 MSRP of about $36,000 for under 30 grand after TT+L. He must have had some other rebates that I have forgotten about since March, but I do know it was a $35-$36 dollar car and after TTL he was under $30K.

I go down there no less than 2 hours later and all they would do for me would come down $1500 on the same H3. The only difference was mine had a sunroof (WHICH THEY WERE THROWING IN FREE ANYWAY AT THAT TIME). They wouldn't extend the same benefits to a customer who had been in there 2-3 times trying to make deal. I was not asking for $10,000 of MSRP either.... I was not asking to "sale me the car at invoice"....I was trying to "Bargain" like every smart consumer should do when buying a new car.

I even told my salesman that the guy (used his name even) they just sold an H3 to was a friend and coworker and I know the deal he got because he called me two hours ago and told me. I want the same deal. That is what you "have to do today to get a deal done." He came back after visiting with his Manager and said $1500 Rebate is all I can do. I told him at that point that I know better offers are being made and I used my buddies deal as an example. He said sternly that it was not possible on my car deal, but he went to check with his manager again and I got up and left I was so pissed off.

So, I had to buy a Chrysler (NOT A GM) car in August 2007. I have tried to trade this in on a 2007 H3. On the same day(yesterday-Satruday), a Chrysler car dealership said they would give me $16500 on trade....and GM Hummer said $14000. Chrysler was going to come off a 2008 model $5250 and HUMMER ONLY $2000 (with 0% mind you) on a 2007.

I can get in an H3 at $574/72 months but I will not do such a deal...that is no deal in my mind. 72 months is not a good idea and I do not care who you are.

I want in an H3 at no more than $415/month. ....it can be done, but I just cant get the dealership to offer me more on my trade (it has a Kelly Blue Book trade value of $17900...you can see why at $14000 I can be mad. They should also be more willing to come off the MSRP on a 2007 more than TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.

ANY one out there want to help me out. Look, I realize I probably don't have as much of a salary as H3 owners do on here, but I make a pretty good salary to be a high school teacher / coach (11 years) and I can afford $575 a month....I just refuse to pay that.

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

How much is an airline ticked to Miami, one way ?

Tell me EXACTLY ( with order codes) what you want and I'll get you the out the door price...

pick you up at the airport, buy you lunch, drive you to the dealer and then you can drive it back to Texas...at a much better price then in Texas

[car96]

Rubber Ducky.....THANK YOU so much for reading and making the offer.

There are some obstacles......one, my current vehicle. I need to get rid of it. Selling outright has not been good, little interest so far with minimal advertising.. Trading would be better I am guessing? Driving to Miami is probably not an option because I would put so many more miles on my curent vehicle that trade value would go down.

Where does one find these "codes". I am guessing your are referring to different Option Packages...but I don't really know where to start to find the exact codes that are used in a dealership.

I basically want a 2007 (I am thinking a 2008) is out of my range/budget, but I don't really know because I have focused so much on the 2007, plus 0% is offered on the 2007.

I think I may have some of the codes.

BLACK with Black Ebony Leather (factory installed)
UE0 OnStar
1SC Luxury Package
M30 Automatic Transmission
CF5 Power Sunroof
UC6 AM/FM Stereo w 6/Disc CD Changer (guessing this means Monsoon?)
U2K XM Satellite Radio
KO5 Engine Block Heater

Do these CODES look right. I have used a "build your own" function off the website for Hummer or a Dealership (I can't remember).

I can't think of too many other options I would want. I guess some would come standard with the option packages?

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

I understand what you want......


one BIG BUT...

I can tell you now there are NO engine block heater equipped H-3's in the southern half of florida...when i bought my 2 H-3's I wanted that because I knew I'll be moving to NW GA...

if you want I'll get you pricing on everything your asking for exact the heater...?

but not till wednesday or thursday

[car96]

A price would be interesting, although I don't think I could take you up on the offer for reasons mentioned above.

Do you need an e-mail address?

[3Hummer]

keep in mind theres no way to get hte leather seats without the lux package thats what hte lux package is if you dont want the lux package no leather seats, now you should be able to find a good deal since hte "08's came out and it seems like you just got unlucky with all of that, i dont mean to be pessimestic but i seriously doubt youll be able to get one listed at 36 for under 30 thats just completly a large amount of money discount when they can sell it to someone else for at least 34, so the dealer is not going to take a hit for you on one of the cars unless they are extremly backed up, and as for your friend well he just got extremly lucky unless he has some kind of relationship or something and keep in mind a lot of people dont pay sales tax when they trade in a car, so if hummer offers you 2500 less you might not have to pay sales tax where as if you traded in your car elsewhere with hummer youll hjave to pay the sales tax so either way your pretty much getting the same amount of money from either dealership.

[wpage]

Stay with it. Try a diferent dealer and use a credit card offer for a end of month deal when they need to make a sales quota...
You will get your deal if you are diligent!

[jman_in_minnesota]

why the need for an engine block heater in Houston, TX?

[HummerHippy]

block heater can be purchased during the sale and installed when delivered. doesnt need to be ordered already installed. I did that with my dealer. They thought it was not possible to be done, but I got the actually did that exact thing. got all the details from this forum, including install instructions

[H3less]

Originally Posted by jman_in_minnesota

why the need for an engine block heater in Houston, TX?

I live in upstae NY and I didn't order it, don't need it, Maybe in Minnesota but in Texas?

[car96]

Thanks Ya'll.

First, what is a credit card offer?

Second, on the engine block heater... I was thinking it was there to reduce the amount of heat produced by the engine...I just didn't know exactly what it was, but that you probably want one at only $75 option? Really don't know.

So, should I just give up trying to get a Lux package? What can I add later to the car to make it more like a lux. Leather I think is the easiest to add later. Stereo....maybe easy, but the Monsoon sounds so good. Sunroof?

[3Hummer]

keep in mind if your getting an "07 the seats are NOT automatic meaning you must manually move them with levers etc. unles you get the lux package, if your getting "08 i bieleve the driver seat comes automatic

[H3less]

Originally Posted by car96

Thanks Ya'll.

First, what is a credit card offer?

Second, on the engine block heater... I was thinking it was there to reduce the amount of heat produced by the engine...I just didn't know exactly what it was, but that you probably want one at only $75 option? Really don't know.

So, should I just give up trying to get a Lux package? What can I add later to the car to make it more like a lux. Leather I think is the easiest to add later. Stereo....maybe easy, but the Monsoon sounds so good. Sunroof?

Engine block heater is for those sub-zero climates when your car sits out side and you can't turn it over. It keeps the engine block warm so all the fluids can get moving in the morning. I had one on a Dodge 2500 diesel because the fuel can gel up (not fun). Living in Tex. You really have no reason to need one, unless you are moving to Minneapolis were they has plugs on some of the parking meters so you can plug in when your at work! Save your money and put it toward some thing else!
Sun roof YES!
The Lux package doesn't give you much outside of the seats, but I love the seats and am glad I did it! Worth the extra $ ? depends on what you are going to do with it and how old you are ! Me, I am an old fart and think I deserve the seats cause I drove a Jeep everyday for the last ten years!
My personal opinion is if you can swing it just pick out the stuff you want and order it, you are going to spend a lot of time trying to find one that fits the bill exactly. Most of the '07 are going to have chrome, you can order it without any except the grille and then you can line-x that black if you want to!

[Agriv8r]

Originally Posted by car96

Rubber Ducky.....THANK YOU so much for reading and making the offer.

There are some obstacles......one, my current vehicle. I need to get rid of it. Selling outright has not been good, little interest so far with minimal advertising.. Trading would be better I am guessing? Driving to Miami is probably not an option because I would put so many more miles on my curent vehicle that trade value would go down.

Where does one find these "codes". I am guessing your are referring to different Option Packages...but I don't really know where to start to find the exact codes that are used in a dealership.

I basically want a 2007 (I am thinking a 2008) is out of my range/budget, but I don't really know because I have focused so much on the 2007, plus 0% is offered on the 2007.

I think I may have some of the codes.

BLACK with Black Ebony Leather (factory installed)
UE0 OnStar
1SC Luxury Package
M30 Automatic Transmission
CF5 Power Sunroof
UC6 AM/FM Stereo w 6/Disc CD Changer (guessing this means Monsoon?)
U2K XM Satellite Radio
KO5 Engine Block Heater

Do these CODES look right. I have used a "build your own" function off the website for Hummer or a Dealership (I can't remember).

I can't think of too many other options I would want. I guess some would come standard with the option packages?

A FEW THINGS STAND OUT HERE AND I GUESS NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO POINT THEM OUT....kelly is only a guide and as far as i know they do not buy cars....the difficulty you are having with selling your trade is the reason that the HUMMER dealer is not offering you the blue book suggested value.....if chrysler was offering you more , it means that they are ALLOWING you more.....a base model H3 is just that, a base model....a factory leather H3 w/6disc changer is the LUXURY PACKAGE...chrome is extra....satelite radio is an upgrade, sunroof is an upgrade, automatic transmission is an upgrade...so what you want is an upgrade LUXURy packaGE....waiting this late in the year and trying to find the exact 07 you are looking for may be your biggest challenge....the 0% and big rebates have been out for awhile, so the really good deals require being a little flexible in have-to-haves and would-like -to-haves....we all buy them from the same manufacturer and pay the same price....if your local dealers cannot get the price you want, i would doubt an out of state, way far away dealer could either.....

[Agriv8r]

did not mean for that to sound harsh or ugly, but it is fact.....

[Desert Dan]

Order one they way you want it..
Heck you have waited 12 months so far...

The lux and Adventure Package is the way to go! Heated seats are great
Don't forget the sunroof!

PS I have a blocker heater on mine and I'm in So. CA

[jman_in_minnesota]

Originally Posted by H3less

...unless you are moving to Minneapolis were they has plugs on some of the parking meters so you can plug in when your at work!

I'd like to know where those meters are located, especially for tonight as we'll be below zero with a freeze coming in

I've never had an engine block heater on any vehicle i've owned here, now maybe if I lived in Winnepeg, Manitoba CA...

Good luck on finding an exact 07 the way you want it, aren't the incentives designed to move vehicles on dealer lots? On my first H3, I took one from the lot that had more options than I wanted, but that was the sacrifice I had to make in order to get the 0% financing incentive

[H3less]

Originally Posted by jman_in_minnesota

I'd like to know where those meters are located, especially for tonight as we'll be below zero with a freeze coming in

I've never had an engine block heater on any vehicle i've owned here, now maybe if I lived in Winnepeg, Manitoba CA...

Good luck on finding an exact 07 the way you want it, aren't the incentives designed to move vehicles on dealer lots? On my first H3, I took one from the lot that had more options than I wanted, but that was the sacrifice I had to make in order to get the 0% financing incentive

I grew up north of Mlps. and remember seeing and or reading about the plug-in's put in some locations, maybe by now they are long gone, too much tax money to keep everybody plugged in!
I agree with Dan, just order it, I waited for a year but am very happy with it, and glad I got it the way I wanted, there was no way I would have found what I wanted, Lux, Adv, Manual, with no chrome. My dealer said it would have been close to impossible and in the end I probably wouldn't have been happy.

[wpage]

[quote=car96]Thanks Ya'll.

First, what is a credit card offer?

You tell the sales person that you will let him charge over the phone a credit card deal for say $2k. (Saving you the trip back to the stealership) and you agree to apply it when he is desparat. Usually the end of each month. When they are trying to make their sales objective.
This worked for me with mine like a charm...
W

[gmpartsdude]

You should get a GMID certificate and get one at supplier price. I just picked mine up yesterday. It was 37,800 or so and I paid 34761 which was the supplier price on the invoice. Then I got the 2050 in rebates on top of it, so I guess it was 32711?