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joining tread lightly to get Chrysler Affiliate discount

27K views 52 replies 26 participants last post by  marosenb 
#1 ·
Has anyone gone the route of joining Tread Lightly lately to get the -1% discount plus $75 fee? I don't want to shell out $100 and NOT get the discount. It is my understanding that you join at the $100 level and the following Friday, they send out the membership packet with a code that you enter into the Affiliate website(after 30 days of membership) that gets you a form you take to the dealer to get the discount. You have to make sure the dealer participates and that the model you want is covered(and most are)..mine would be a 2014 Summit. Is all this correct?
 
#2 ·
It is correct, but if you don't want to dish out the money just ask the dealer for that price first. 1% under isn't that big of a deal for them to match, they are still making good money on the sale. Worth a shot anyway and might save you 100 bucks. But the program is for a good cause, so it might be worth signing up anyway.;-)
 
#4 ·
Talk with a dealer to see what you can get without it. It's that easy the. To find out if you need it or not. Not that difficult.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Are you ordering or hoping to pick one off the lot? Sounds like a strange question, but when I was planning on ordering, I could easily negotiate 3-4% off invoice and with master skills like Sno, he could do better. However, when I tried to negotiate some of the Jeeps that had hit the lots, I could not get anyone to budge under invoice. Some were even acting like they were doing me a favor by going to invoice PLUS 1%. Even asked one if he would do 4% below if I ordered instead and he said they could probably pull it off, but definitely would do -3%. Knowing this, I bit the bullet and did the Tread Lightly. Signed up on a Thursday night, received everything Monday, and had the number to dealer by Tuesday. Very easy process that got me into one of the first Jeeps in town!
 
#6 ·
You know...this Tread Lightly Discount is not all that it is made out to be. You are much better off negotiating yourself.

On a 40,000 dollar car 1% is 400 dollars.
400 dollars - 100 dollar membership - 75 dollars fee = 225$ discount. Really ? Not quite worth it the effort. :slapfight: yeah you'd be getting a 325 $ discount on your Summit unlike the rest of us, cheap and poor who are not buying the top of the line.
 
#8 · (Edited)
tread lightly is 1% under invoice not 1% off total price of vehicle ;) . That's 4000-5000 savings over msrp.

I know. But I negotiated 4% under invoice, without membership fees and added fees. And my invoice was more than 40,000 - and it is still a Limited. MSRP was God knows...47-48,000 ? I would NEVER EVER pay anything but invoice or lower. When I wrote my reply above I did not even consider MSRP. On this site I did my homework, I learned the ropes, I talked to other people and came up with the Chicago Metro Group Buy (see that thread and the Hawk CDJ Dealer Sub-Forum).
 
#12 ·
It does not remove the destination fee. It requires a $75 fee to be paid to the dealer. The total amount will all be included in the paperwork the dealer has that shows MSRP, Invoice, Affiliate price, and Employee price. The dealer is not allowed to charge any additional doc fee, not even $1.
 
#15 ·
Please do note that some dealers do not participate in the affiliate program.

I did use the affiliate discount (my employer offers it as a benefit) and it did make the transaction a lot easier. That said, I suspect if I had taken the time to go to a particular high-volume dealer down the road apiece, I may have been able to negotiate a better price for the car and maybe even my trade. I strongly suspect that my dealer could have offered better on my trade than they did...my bad for wanting the car more than wanting to maximize the deal.
 
#16 ·
I supposed if we know the MY14 can's be had lower than 1% below invoice, using the affiliate discount (I too get it from work) makes buying a car pleasantly easy - no haggling or BS involved.
 
#17 ·
AbleRiot, true, and it certainly did make for a less complicated buying process. (outside of the trade thing) I'd probably do it again, although I'd also probably do a little more "research" with other dealers in a larger radius before zeroing in on a specific deal the next time around. It's a nice benefit, for sure!

I do think there is more benefit "in general" with the affiliate discount later in the model year cycle and for folks buying off the lot. For customers ordering from the factory, some dealers went a lot lower because they knew they'd have no inventory carry costs since the vehicle might only be in their hands for hours or a day or two at the most. The high-volume incentives to dealers also helped in that respect.
 
#25 ·
I honestly didn't pay too much attention when we were getting our truck if there was a fee, but I just check all our paper work and our dealer had no fees at all. The invoice number he gave me matched Milous's post exactly, an actual 1% was taken off invoice, and the only other charges were 7% sales tax and a $1.25 tire tax.

Sound: Not sure what part of KY you're in, but if you are close to Louisville, PM me and I can suggest a dealer that is laid back and very easy to work with that currently has stock of 2014s, takes the Tread Lightly, and had no other fees.
 
#26 ·
I signed up for the TL and have the code and am ready to go in and get the 1% below, the only problem with this is seeing how much they are going to give me for my trade in. I asked if they would be going along the lines of KBB but they said they use some other system. I'm thinking about stopping in at another dealer and seeing how much they will give me before I get to the dealer that has my car, just to see what kind of price difference there is, if any.

Going in with a 2011 Overland 45,000miles with all options, DVD w/o pano. 4x4 Hemi. Anyone have a ballpark figure what they think that would be worth?

Also they stated that I would have to pay the $499 Doc Fee.....
 
#30 ·
So I have a couple offers below the 1% affiliate pricing. Should I go back and tell them I have a control number and negotiate lower? I'm afraid to do this because a couple dealers I told i had an affiliate control number and then they wouldn't go below the 1% below invoice. I don't know if this is policy or I just happened to tell a couple dealers that didn't like to negotiate lower.
 
#31 ·
If you have the affiliate program number, see if the dealer will go to 2% below invoice, they will get that money back from Chrysler.
 
#32 ·
Just ordered our Summit.. Dealer gave me friends and family pricing which, in our case, was EXACTLY 1% under invoce plus $75 fee. The FFP price came up right on the screen when he punched in my Summit BEFORE I even mentioned trying to get that price..Then once I mentioned the Tread Lightly thing it just so exactly equalled that price so he wants me to try to go that route AND he will reimburse me the $100 for joining(since I've heard he gets 2% back).
 
#34 ·
I verified with the affiliate program that it applies to orders not just inventory on the lot and it also applies to the CRD GC as well. Don't want any surprises from dealer trying to make stuff up.
 
#35 ·
Hey guys, I'm new to this forums and recently bought a 2008Wk a few months ago. My question is how much is this invoice price for a x package v6 3.7l with nav? I'm just trying to figure out the number, to see if I can afford the upgrade or not.

You guys can pm if you don't want to post it here. I had bad luck a few week ago trying to pick up a 2011. I felt like they were trying to charge me the price of a new car.
 
#36 ·
Hey guys, I'm new to this forums and recently bought a 2008Wk a few months ago. My question is how much is this invoice price for a x package v6 3.7l with nav? I'm just trying to figure out the number, to see if I can afford the upgrade or not.

You guys can pm if you don't want to post it here. I had bad luck a few week ago trying to pick up a 2011. I felt like they were trying to charge me the price of a new car.
Go to wk2jeeps.com for the invoice information. It has all the prices
 
#39 ·
If I'm ordering a vehicle so I assume I should get it in writing on the sales contract that the deal is Chrysler Affiliate pricing? I know the invoice clearly shows the CA pricing but on a factory order an I correct that there is no invoice when you first make an order?

I just don't want the dealer to play any games later when GC comes so I want to have something on CA pricing in writing.
 
#40 ·
There will be an invoice once the vehicle is produced. You just need your control number to get that pricing...as long as your dealer is participating in the program.
 
#43 ·
I live in Northern Sonoma County, CA, about 90 minutes north of San Francisco. I did my test drives and read extensively both here and KBB, Edmunds, etc. After reading about it here, I joined Tread Lightly and then went shopping by email. I think I sent 5 or 6 emails, indicating I wanted a 2014 Jeep Overland V8, with options: Adv. Tech Grp (ADG), Mopar Chrome (AEE), and Off-Road ADV II (AWY). I received a quick response from Hoblit Motors (near Sacrament, 2 hrs away - excellent 4% below invoice) and a number of fluffy responses (without prices). My local dealer stepped up a day later and gave me an offer within a few dollars of Hoblit. Best part is that my dealer is 5 minutes from home! They are Mcconnell Chev CJDR in Healdsburg, CA.
I recommend either Hoblit or Mcconnell if you are shopping (even by email).
 
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