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The 6.0-liter G8 is a wonderful car. But I was curious about the V6. Supposedly, the smaller engined variant will account for the majority of sales. And RF’s been bugging me for a review of the “entry level” G8 ever since the Aussie-built sedan first hit the showroom floor. Getting a G8 V6 via the GM press fleet is as about as realistic as dividing by zero. So I hit up NY-area dealerships. Two weeks, no joy. A regular check of Pontiac.com eventually revealed two G8 V6s at Cunningham Buick Pontiac GMC in Bayside, NY. Upon arrrival, I discovered they had no G8s or any kind, sort or description. “But give us your number, and we’ll call you this Friday when we get several more delivered– including a V6.” Great. On Saturday morning, a salesperson called. “The V6 G8 is here!” When I got there in the early afternoon… no G8 V6. “Oh, we must have sold it this morning.” Yes, in the course of a morning, a G8 V6 was arrived by a truck, found a buyer, got prepped and left. In four hours. All without the salesman’s knowledge. The G8, in eight-cylinder form at least, is a kick ass car and a great deal. But with dealerships plying the ole’ bait and switch, product excellence doesn’t matter. [NB: this is not the first report of this c’mon down oops no V6 we’ve heard. Has anyone even seen one?]

37 Responses to “
NY Pontiac Dealer Bait and Switch on G8 V6 ”

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• hokuto :
  
  
  May 3rd, 2008 at
  9:34 pm

  Slightly OT but does anyone know why the G8 is so much cheaper in the us than Australia? The aussie dollar has been consistently trading well over 90 us cents.

  The V6 starts at about 35k here while pontiac sells the v8 for under 30k?

• Robert Farago :
  
  
  May 3rd, 2008 at
  9:39 pm

  hokuto:

  Slightly OT but does anyone know why the G8 is so much cheaper in the us than Australia? The aussie dollar has been consistently trading well over 90 us cents.

  The V6 starts at about 35k here while pontiac sells the v8 for under 30k?

  Not OT at all. At least when it comes to the V6, maybe the reason Pontiac can sell it so cheaply in the States is because they don’t. Sell it, I mean.

  As for the G8 V8, well, there’s no way GM’s making a dime on this thing. The original plan unveiled by GM Car Czar Bob Lutz: “test the waters” with the Australian version, then build the G8 stateside.

  I assume the plan was mooted to soothe the UAW; Maximum Bob’s deal was set before the automotive press before the last union contract was negotiated and, after The Mother of All Bribes (a.k.a. health care VEBA), ratified.

  Keep in mind that the UAW stipulated how many Aussie-built GTOs GM could import. In that case, it turned-out that the UAW saved GM millions. In this case, I haven’t heard the Aussie G8 as a warm-up for the US G8 idea ONCE since the union contract was ratified.

  Anyway, Pontiac dealers, famous amongst enthusiasts for bilking pistonhads on the early Solstii, seem to be keeping to the bend over and smile retail philosophy.

• B-Rad :
  
  
  May 3rd, 2008 at
  9:50 pm

  I have yet to see any variant of the G8 on the streets. And I don’t drive by any Pontiac dealerships routinely so I can’t say I’ve seen any at those hell-holes either, but they may be there–collecting dust.

• Robert Farago :
  
  
  May 3rd, 2008 at
  10:09 pm

  B-Rad:

  And I don’t drive by any Pontiac dealerships routinely so I can’t say I’ve seen any at those hell-holes either, but they may be there–collecting dust.

  Point of information. They’re not “Pontiac dealers” any more. They’re BuickPontiacGMC (BPG) dealers, selling your choice of three Buicks, seven Pontiacs and seven GMCs. Plus performance and hybrid variants.

• i6 :
  
  
  May 3rd, 2008 at
  10:15 pm

  hokuto;

  I suspect the G8 is more expensive in Aus. for the same reason it’s also more expensive in Can. That is, profit margin. The US market has always been a vibrant one to compete in as consumers will mortgage their mothers to get the upgraded ICE, so it is potentially much more lucrative than other markets.

  That manufacturers are willing to sacrifice their profit margin to compete in the US is illustrated by the fact that the fallen greenback should have caused a steep increase in the price of import vehicles but it hasn’t. Instead, importers are allowing their bottom line to take a hit, as reported earlier on TTAC;

• Nicholas Weaver :
  
  
  May 3rd, 2008 at
  10:39 pm

  A LOT of dealers are sleazy like this.

  EG, when my sister was looking to buy her Fit, and wanted a testdrive, we called around for dealers that had a manual.

  One said they did, a good 20 miles away. We went there only to find that they only had automatics, with a sleazy salesman saying “See, paddle shifters, thats a manual” and me pointing to the sticker and going “NO BITCH!”

  Needless to say, we tesdrode at a different dealer, and she did NOT buy from the inital dealer either.

  So its I don’t think an uncommon tactic.

• rudiger :
  
  
  May 3rd, 2008 at
  10:40 pm

  I’ve seen a G8 V6. The thing that struck me most about it was how negligible the difference was in price between it and the V8 version, something around $2k, IIRC. Since the mpg penalty is minimal, as well, under normal circumstances, I would think it’d be quite difficult for Pontiac to unload the G8 V6 on anyone. But with the current high price of gas, even one mpg better than the V8 is reason enough for many people to forego the V8 and take the V6 instead.

• RayH :
  
  
  May 3rd, 2008 at
  10:56 pm

  Then someone bought it. Then they prepped it. Then the person took delivery. In four hours.

  It hypothetically could happen… A mechanic friend of mine said they could PDI? a Nissan or Kia in 20 minutes, and the mechanic who did it the quickest on average each month got a $300 cash tax-free spiff for doing so. I know he would win every other month because he’d take us drinking when the money came through.

  I have not seen a G8 of any kind in my GM town… I’ve starting to see more Malibus, but at least half been rentals. I drove by the Trailblazin’ factory parking lot 4 times this week… could count the number of employee cars there on one hand. Where are the AA axles for the hot sellin’ TB, SAAB 97, Envoy?

• Jonathon :
  
  
  May 4th, 2008 at
  12:26 am

  Robert Farago:
  They’re not “Pontiac dealers” any more. They’re BuickPontiacGMC (BPG) dealers, selling your choice of three Buicks, seven Pontiacs and seven GMCs.

  Well, not all of them. The dealership where my dad works is just BP. Apparently they’ve had negotiations to buy out a local GMC franchise (or get bought out by them), but it’s never come to fruition.

  Oh, and their site says that they have three V6 G8s on the lot right now. Not sure how accurate that is.

• dastanley :
  
  
  May 4th, 2008 at
  12:29 am

  I imagine that GM dealers are pretty desperate for a sale, ANY sale, these days and will stoop to anything to score. These guys have a lot full of metal to move and bills to pay. And while the dealers are stuck with their specific inventory, the consumer can buy a car/truck from just about anywhere in the world. So the dealer feels the need to play games and get the customer on the lot at all costs.

  It’s precisely these sleazy dealer tactics that cause so much long term damage in perception with the consumer/customer. But short term, it just might work, so…

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