What qualifies as a "brand new" car?

[sbkline]

In the not too distant future, it will be time to try to find my wife a new car ("new" being new to us, and not necessarily brand new). I have $894 in rebate points on my GM card, which I have since quit using by the way, in favor of my Disney Visa Rewards card, and I got a mailing today saying that they are rounding that up to $2000 for most of January, to use on a brand new vehicle. We're not convinced that we want nor need a brand new car, and we may be perfectly fine with a used car. But I am wanting to clarify what qualifies as "brand new". Can a program car with 20,000 miles on it be "brand new" since it has never been sold to anyone? If that is the case, then we would have the benefit of an already discounted car, due to the depreciation of the mileage, plus $2,000 of rebate on top of that. If it has to be "brand new" in the sense of not having any miles on it (exluding some accumulated mileage from being test driven here and there), then it may not be to our advantage to buy a new car with rebate, since we could get a used car without rebate and still be paying less.

So I guess a short summary of my question would be, in regards to these rebates, is "brand new" determined by the amount of miles on the car, or whether it has ever been titled out to someone?

 

[unkadug]

In the not too distant future, it will be time to try to find my wife a new car ("new" being new to us, and not necessarily brand new). I have $894 in rebate points on my GM card, which I have since quit using by the way, in favor of my Disney Visa Rewards card, and I got a mailing today saying that they are rounding that up to $2000 for most of January, to use on a brand new vehicle. We're not convinced that we want nor need a brand new car, and we may be perfectly fine with a used car. But I am wanting to clarify what qualifies as "brand new". Can a program car with 20,000 miles on it be "brand new" since it has never been sold to anyone? If that is the case, then we would have the benefit of an already discounted car, due to the depreciation of the mileage, plus $2,000 of rebate on top of that. If it has to be "brand new" in the sense of not having any miles on it (exluding some accumulated mileage from being test driven here and there), then it may not be to our advantage to buy a new car with rebate, since we could get a used car without rebate and still be paying less.

So I guess a short summary of my question would be, in regards to these rebates, is "brand new" determined by the amount of miles on the car, or whether it has ever been titled out to someone?

In most cases, "brand new" consists of being the current calendar year (or later) model of car.

 

[Master Yoda]

Ultimately the dealer will be the one who decides what will be classified as new for the offer. The fine print on the offer should have a definition of a new car.
From my time working at a car dealer program cars more than likely will not meet their criteria for a promotion like this, a demo (typically less than 6k miles used solely by the dealership and not a lease) might. Promotions like the one you are looking at are not all that different that the free dining promotion. They will "give" you free dining but you will be paying full price for the room and tickets. GM will "give" you an extra $1106 in reward points but you might have to pay MSRP to get it. If that turns out to be the case you will more than likely be better off buying a one or two year old car.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

In the not too distant future, it will be time to try to find my wife a new car ("new" being new to us, and not necessarily brand new). I have $894 in rebate points on my GM card, which I have since quit using by the way, in favor of my Disney Visa Rewards card, and I got a mailing today saying that they are rounding that up to $2000 for most of January, to use on a brand new vehicle. We're not convinced that we want nor need a brand new car, and we may be perfectly fine with a used car. But I am wanting to clarify what qualifies as "brand new". Can a program car with 20,000 miles on it be "brand new" since it has never been sold to anyone? If that is the case, then we would have the benefit of an already discounted car, due to the depreciation of the mileage, plus $2,000 of rebate on top of that. If it has to be "brand new" in the sense of not having any miles on it (exluding some accumulated mileage from being test driven here and there), then it may not be to our advantage to buy a new car with rebate, since we could get a used car without rebate and still be paying less.

So I guess a short summary of my question would be, in regards to these rebates, is "brand new" determined by the amount of miles on the car, or whether it has ever been titled out to someone?

In most cases (barring any accidents or defects) a car's value is based on mileage and model year. In this case...if the dealer has a car that has not been sold to anybody but also has 20K miles on it...it will be considered a "used" vehicle because the value of the vehicle has dropped and therefore, the dealer will lower the price of the vehicle and usually not honor any incentive programs.

My wife's Enclave had 700 miles on it and was a Deutsche Bank (golf tournament) vehicle that was used to cart the golfers around. (Pick them up from the airport, shuttle them from hotels, etc.). With there being so many miles on it (compared to a new vehicle), they significantly dropped the price... (There were incentives at the time of this purchase but the dealer said they were only for "new" vehicles). It didn't matter anyways because the amount they dropped it was way more than the incentives on a "new" one.

So, if the vehicle has 20K miles on it...you shouldn't pay ANYTHING near the going rate of a brand new one. Check the bluebook value on one with 20K miles on it and then compare their other vehicles (brand new) with the incentives taken off. Remember, even if it's a 2010 vehicle...with 20K miles on it, that has over a year's worth of wear and tear put on it. It doesn't matter what model year is plastered on it, it is still a "used" vehicle.