I hate to beat the Tread Lightly program details to death, but I'm seeing, and hearing, differing details on it. I have FCA Affiliates with my company, which provides for 1% below invoice, as a starting point. I'm also a member of Sam's Club, Costco, USAA and AAA. The Tread Lightly program states that they are FCA Affiliates for 1% below invoice. Is the tread Lightly program exactly the same as my company program?
The reason I ask this is because I spoke with a dealer that was telling me that the Tread Lightly program will provide me the best available discount as it's better than my Affiliates. I asked if it is the same as those I mentioned above, and was told that it's best for me to join Tread Lightly, wait the 30 days and I'll get the best deal out there.
I don't understand that, unless the 1% Tread Lightly is stacked on top of all other discounts, before rebates. It seems like Koon's and Lakeland Dodge are stacking it on top. So I'm listing numbers based an example on a vehicle I'm looking at is below:
2021 Rebel Crew Cab 4x4:
MSRP - $59,135
Invoice - $55,504
1% less - $54,949
Employee Price for all at 5% below invoice - $52,729
Local rebates in SE ($2000) - $50,729
Additional rebates I'm eligible for - ??
So, based on these numbers, the employee pricing appears to give the greatest combined discount and rebates of about 14.5% from MSRP.
But, I've seen people talking about getting 7% below invoice ($51,619 in this example) before the rebate of $2000 for the Southeast, totaling $49,619.
Is the 7% made up of 5% employee price for all, 1% Tread Lightly and another 1% from something else? Are dealers stacking Tread Lightly? I'm trying to understand if there's value for me to join Tread Lightly to get an additional 1%, or is it the exact same as my company Affiliate at 1%.
I apologize for the long post, but I need to understand this, and it may help others.