GM Red Tag Sale: Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn Deals

In our continuing coverage of GM’s 2008 version of the Red Tag Sale, we’re bringing you the best deals we could find from four of its non-luxury brands. We delved into the company’s sale website to generate a number of examples of good deals after the jump. We searched Cars.com’s inventory to see if there were a majority of 2009 or 2008 models in stock to pick the selections we did. It seems that, for the most part, GM did a good job selling off its 2008 inventory during its last sale, in September. The Red Tag Sale goes through Jan. 5, 2009.

For Buick, there aren’t many 2008 Enclaves showing up in Cars.com’s national inventory, just new 2009s. However, both the Lacrosse and Lucerne have a healthy mix of 2008s with the new 2009s, with no significant changes to either model for the new year.

For Pontiac, the G5 and G6 are also mostly 2009s, and they see about $2,000 off. The underperforming G8 GT is seeing nearly $3,000 off in some markets, and that’s for the 2009. The 2009 Vibe is selling well, thus we found only $1,000 off in our area.

You won’t find many 2008 GMC Acadias, but there are plenty of '08 Yukons with massive cash-back deals offered.

As for Saturn, there are still plenty of 2008 Astras with a considerable $2,000 off their under-$20,000 MSRP. Strangely enough, the slow-selling Outlook doesn’t see much more cash back than the Astra, despite its much-higher MSRP. Keep reading for specific deals. GM's Red Tag Sale website where you can plug in your own zip code and see rates for your area.

Comments

GM dealers in my area have been selling their cars lower than these "red tag" prices for months. Now is a great time to find a good deal on a GM, but personally I wouldn't buy a GM right now even at these blowout prices. Their future is just too scary to bargain on.

What I mean by that is, if they do go bankrupt I'm sure resale values of their cars would tank and there would be a lot of other issues and headaches consumers would have to deal with. GM does have some nice quality products now, but I think I'd shop at Ford or Honda instead.

None of the red tag prices include dealer cash back offers or other regional/local incentives nor things like military and grad rebates. Still, CJ is right, most dealers are offering much more back right now.

Also note many are for 2009s and GM recently had a lot of incentives in Sept on 08s. I tried to spell out which 2008 deals were still widely available. Feel free to ask here if there are specific questions.

Dave T.,
Specific question...

How much $$$ minimum I can realisticly pay for
2008 Saturn Astra five-door XE
listed here for $14,382.35 under red tag

Tony,
First go plug in your zip code at the red tag sale site linked now above. For a low profit margin car like the Astra you're probably not going to get much more off. $2,000 off a $16,000 car is pretty good. However, you should definitely try to get a bigger discount if you can. Especially since the 09s are coming soon.

You mention the Outlook but it's not on your list. Was it supposed to be on there and accidently got left off?

No, I tried to list very impressive deals and the mention int he story kind of explained the deal itself, roughly $2,000 back and similar to the Acadia. If you're interested definitely go to the red tag sale site.

BTW, Dave T.

Astra for $14,382.35 has no A/C.

Tony,
Geeze, I didn't realize they were dong that with the Astra. What a bummer. $960 for A/C.

My wife and I am cross shopping cross-overs and mid-size suv's. While the GM prices are tempting the quality is not. If GM had used higher-quality materials in the VUE and Traverse we probably would have bought one by now. Instead tonight we are going to buy either the Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander. My money would be on the Highlander as the price is right and my wife really likes it.
Maybe some day GM will start building cars that people will want to buy.