Colorado Chevrolet Car Dealers

Wallyuwl: Wasn't Kia offering big rebates on the Sorrento recently? I thought I saw something ridiculous like $7,000! Maybe it was a tiered rebate where the $7k only applied to the fully loaded model? I haven't looked at the Tucson, but a co-worker recently bought the new Genesis and he loves it! He had two Avalons before that and liked them a lot, too - but the timing of the new Avalon was late for him so he went with the Genesis. When I was dating my wife back in '92 she was driving an '89 Sonata bought brand new for $10,000. Even back then, that car drove well enough, had plenty of room inside, but it DID lack refinement. I remember popping the hood one time to change the oil and having the hood release come right off the dash (it was anchored to plastic only, no metal, IIRC). I just don't think I can bring myself to pay full MSRP for ANY GM product! One thing I was thinking of doing was shopping the Traverse at the same time. They WERE offering $2000 rebates on the Traverse, plus the dealers are willing to add in their own discounts on top of that. If the Traverse were to get within, say, $2000 - $3000 of the Equinox, I would go with the Traverse (which is a much more roomier vehicle with the same "direct injection" engine technology). Granted, the gas would probably cost about 25% more, but you're getting a V6 versus the 4-cylinder. And if it turns out the 4-cylinder Equinox needs the more expensive gas or really doesn't live up to its MPG hype, then it might almost be a wash. Rocketent: $920 price increase? I hadn't noticed that. I think I DID notice a 2010 price increase of around $200 (maybe less) on the MSRP during the model year, but not $920. Maybe you're talking about the new 2011's that are now starting to show up on dealer lots?

It may come to that. A co-worker who had bought two brand new Avalons over 8 years just switched to Hyundai with the purchase of a Genesis ($34k). He's satisfied that Hyundai has built its product line up to the point where it is now nearly on par with the Japanese. Before these three cars, he bought a Lincoln Mk8 (brand new). Endless problems with that car and he swore he'd never buy an American-branded car ever again. When my '02 Impala's intake gaskets started leaking (about 18 months after another co-worker's GMC Sierra suffered the same problem), he just shook his head at both of us. Other than this major (and costly) defect, Mr. Sierra and myself have had a good experience with our vehicles, but we would've liked GM acknowledging the problem and maybe even helping us out with the cost of the repair. No such luck. They were to far gone, I guess. Do I really believe GM is holding back production? Well, I'd call it "slowing down production". Drive fast, get into a terrible wreck - and if you survive the wreck, you change the way you drive from that point forward (or, at least, you SHOULD). I think GM got into a terrible "wreck" mass-producing too many cars with defects, the government helped them to recover from it, and now they're taking it more slowly - paying more attention to detail (hopefully) to avoid another "wreck" (which would certainly be fatal for them). So I just think their philosophy this time around might be to be more careful - which is good. But it also means that if the product is popular, the prices remain high (good for them, not so good for us). And sure - GM would love to "fill every order immediately if they could" (and not lose a single customer), but that would mean stepping on the gas pedal again. They've been there before and we all know what happened. Maybe they're being smarter about it this time around.

FWIW, thought I'd post what a local Boston dealer offered me on a Traverse 2LT AWD lease. Sticker was $41k and inc a few items; leather, PCP pkg, red jewel paint... 39/12k with start-ups of about $1700 ran $575/mo. 48 mo ran $525/mo Spoke to them about the GMC and Buick siblings and they told me that Chevy has the best lease program amongst the 3; higher residuals, better MF. Seems like that 2LT model is equipped just right, despite not having stnd leather, my preference. But with Bose, back up cam, power tailgate... can't get those in the other two at this price point (don't think so). Hoping November yields better lease programs from both GM and Honda's Pilot; nothing since June/July. Need to get into something like 36-39mo/ 12k/ start-ups only for under $450/mo. Another Chevy dealer faxing me November lease payment for Traverse once they become available. When any of you get word of NEW program data, (ie. MF and residuals) kindly post. I'll do my best also. PS. Does anyone know how GMAC handles credit scores on their Chevy approvals ? Do they offer tiered rates as some leasing co's do, or if you "qualify", you qualify; same rate. I've seen that recently from a few manufacturers, usually on their lease specials.

Don't pay up for these cars... There may be a huge shooting gallery for most cars in the traditional may-july inventory reductions. A 90 day supply is considered bloated for most autos. Good luck --jjf --------------------------------- Industry's Big Hope for Small Cars Fades - WSJ.com Bookmark added by casudi on 03/23/2009 Public Description Click to Edit Last summer, when gas cost $4 a gallon, buyers snapped up small cars so fast that dealers couldn't keep them in stock. Now, with gas prices half that level, almost 500,000 fuel-thrifty models are piled up unsold around the country. The turnabout comes at a bad time for the struggling U.S. car industry, which has revamped factories and shifted product plans to produce more small cars in coming years. The moves are prompted by coming stricter federal fuel-economy standards and the Obama administration's car-bailout plan, which encourages auto makers to boost their vehicles' mileage. Practically every small car in the market is stacked up at dealerships. At the end of February, Honda Motor Co. had 22,191 Fits on dealer lots -- enough to last 125 days at the current sales rate, according to Autodata Corp. In July, it had a nine-day supply, while the industry generally considers a 55- to 60-day supply healthy. For other models the supply situation is even worse. Toyota Motor Corp. has enough Yaris subcompacts to last 175 days. Chrysler LLC has a 205-day supply of the Dodge Caliber. And Chevrolet dealers have 427 days' worth of Aveo subcompacts. At the current sales rate, General Motors Corp. could stop making the Aveo and it wouldn't run out until May 24, 2010. "I don't think Americans really like small cars," said Beau Boeckmann, whose family's Galpin Ford in southern California is the country's largest Ford dealer. "They drive them when they think they have to, when gas prices are high. But we're big people and we like big cars." The logjam of small cars is caused in part by the recession, which has sapped sales of all types of vehicles. But it also underscores how badly gasoline prices have whipsawed the industry GM Has 161 Day Supply Plus Massive Cash Burn --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GM struggles to reduce cash burn Jesse Snyder Automotive News | March 2, 2009 - 12:01 am EST Here's the scary thing about General Motors' fourth-quarter operating loss of $5.9 billion: There's little reason to expect much improvement in the first three months of 2009. Despite drastic cuts in production, employment, marketing and capital expenditures, GM still is hemorrhaging cash. How bad is it? In a conference call last week, CFO Ray Young said GM's cash burn this year would be less than last year, which it put at $19.2 billion — but admitted the cash burn in 2009 would be "front-loaded." Translation: The short-term bleeding will continue. It will be hard in this quarter for GM to reduce its cash-burn much below the $5.2 billion consumed in the last three months of 2008. And that won't be popular in Washington, where bureaucrats analyzing GM's bailout request seek assurance that they aren't throwing good money after bad. One of GM's biggest headaches is a stubbornly high inventory. Despite drastic cuts in production, GM had a 161-day vehicle supply on Feb. 1. A 60-day supply is considered ideal. In unit terms, GM had 792,600 vehicles in stock, down 69,800 from Jan. 1. That's a reasonable figure by historical standards. But sales have collapsed, so unsold cars and trucks still are piled up on dealership lots. GM's January sales totaled 122,728 units, down 48.9 percent from January 2008. GM sales analyst Mike DiGiovanni expects GM's February sales to be "about the same" as January, and he sees only modest improvements in the months ahead. At current selling rates, Chevrolet has more than a year's worth of unsold HHRs and Aveos.

Don't pay up for these cars... There may be a huge shooting gallery for most cars in the traditional may-july inventory reductions. A 90 day supply is considered bloated for most autos. Good luck --jjf --------------------------------- Industry's Big Hope for Small Cars Fades - WSJ.com Bookmark added by casudi on 03/23/2009 Public Description Click to Edit Last summer, when gas cost $4 a gallon, buyers snapped up small cars so fast that dealers couldn't keep them in stock. Now, with gas prices half that level, almost 500,000 fuel-thrifty models are piled up unsold around the country. The turnabout comes at a bad time for the struggling U.S. car industry, which has revamped factories and shifted product plans to produce more small cars in coming years. The moves are prompted by coming stricter federal fuel-economy standards and the Obama administration's car-bailout plan, which encourages auto makers to boost their vehicles' mileage. Practically every small car in the market is stacked up at dealerships. At the end of February, Honda Motor Co. had 22,191 Fits on dealer lots -- enough to last 125 days at the current sales rate, according to Autodata Corp. In July, it had a nine-day supply, while the industry generally considers a 55- to 60-day supply healthy. For other models the supply situation is even worse. Toyota Motor Corp. has enough Yaris subcompacts to last 175 days. Chrysler LLC has a 205-day supply of the Dodge Caliber. And Chevrolet dealers have 427 days' worth of Aveo subcompacts. At the current sales rate, General Motors Corp. could stop making the Aveo and it wouldn't run out until May 24, 2010. "I don't think Americans really like small cars," said Beau Boeckmann, whose family's Galpin Ford in southern California is the country's largest Ford dealer. "They drive them when they think they have to, when gas prices are high. But we're big people and we like big cars." The logjam of small cars is caused in part by the recession, which has sapped sales of all types of vehicles. But it also underscores how badly gasoline prices have whipsawed the industry GM Has 161 Day Supply Plus Massive Cash Burn --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GM struggles to reduce cash burn Jesse Snyder Automotive News | March 2, 2009 - 12:01 am EST Here's the scary thing about General Motors' fourth-quarter operating loss of $5.9 billion: There's little reason to expect much improvement in the first three months of 2009. Despite drastic cuts in production, employment, marketing and capital expenditures, GM still is hemorrhaging cash. How bad is it? In a conference call last week, CFO Ray Young said GM's cash burn this year would be less than last year, which it put at $19.2 billion — but admitted the cash burn in 2009 would be "front-loaded." Translation: The short-term bleeding will continue. It will be hard in this quarter for GM to reduce its cash-burn much below the $5.2 billion consumed in the last three months of 2008. And that won't be popular in Washington, where bureaucrats analyzing GM's bailout request seek assurance that they aren't throwing good money after bad. One of GM's biggest headaches is a stubbornly high inventory. Despite drastic cuts in production, GM had a 161-day vehicle supply on Feb. 1. A 60-day supply is considered ideal. In unit terms, GM had 792,600 vehicles in stock, down 69,800 from Jan. 1. That's a reasonable figure by historical standards. But sales have collapsed, so unsold cars and trucks still are piled up on dealership lots. GM's January sales totaled 122,728 units, down 48.9 percent from January 2008. GM sales analyst Mike DiGiovanni expects GM's February sales to be "about the same" as January, and he sees only modest improvements in the months ahead. At current selling rates, Chevrolet has more than a year's worth of unsold HHRs and Aveos.