I finally found two black GXPs for sale after a month long search. I wanted a black one, I love black cars. Both cars have less than 16K mileage. The problem is the one car with pewter interior the dealer won't budge below $23,500. He'* WAY too proud of this car. The other dealer is starting at $22,300 (and I haven't even started negotiating) but the interior is taupe - YUCK!!. I hate the taupe. My wife is no help. Give me some advice, is taupe that ugly or is it just me. Should I save about $1500 for the taupe or will I be happier long term with pewter. BTW my black '95 SSEi has grey interior and it still looks great after 11 years.

You said it'* ugly, so go with pewter or you'll probably always regret it. I myself wanted a beige leather with my recent purchase because any time I've seen dark leather that was a few years old it looked bad. But the Bonne I got has the pewter and I really like it now. My old DD has a beige and it shows all the scuffs and such pretty quick. Beige looks fine with darker blues and such, but black is one color I don't think would look that good with a taupe interior.

How did you negotiate with the guy? If he knows you are serious about the car and have intentions to buy it, I can almost guarantee he will come down in price. If not, and you don't mind taking a chance, just watch the car for a few weeks. I'm sure he'll negotiate once the car has been sitting several weeks. From what I've seen, he will be very lucky to sell that car for any more than $20K. But then maybe you happen to live in an area where they can get that kind of price.

IMHO, I love the black with taupe. That said both my Bonnies had the charcoal interior. I love the charcoal against the crimson in the GXP.

My bonne is black with tan... and wish i had waited to find one with black. IMO its money well spent, you cant get hotter than black on black

The charcaol interior GXP has been on the dealers lot since May 2006. They were asking $26,800 for it. They went down to $25 in the fall and then had a blow out year-end sale and tagged it for $23,900. Like I said, the guy is really proud of this car. The dealership is right next to the Wentzville GM plant so they get a ton of GM employee purchases at super discounts. This makes them a hot spot for almost-new preowned cars. The GM employee discount states the employee only has to keep the car for 6 months. They trade it in and get a new one for 70% of sticker. Most of the time they can get that amount in trade on the six month old car, so the new cars cost the GM employee virtually nothing as long as he keeps buying a car regularly.

It'* always best to get what ya want so you won't regret it later

I work for GM and we sure don't get 30% off of a new vehicle purchase! That would be insane! GM executives (plant managers and such) get a new vehicle (GM pays the lease) every 6 months but that depends on their position and they can't get whatever they want -(cadillac, corvette, etc). I'm white collar and don't get 30% off MSRP, that'* for sure.

I agree with 5.3. My wife worked for EDS and the 95 Bonny was 15% off the base price and 18% off options. The 98 Transport was 15% off the sticker. We had to agree to keep both cars 1 year. What was really nice is we had 4.5K in Mastercard GM Benefits for the 95 and 3.4 K for the 98. Brought the cost right down.

For the 2004 Bonny my wife no longer worked for EDS so we lost that. But I had a GM in the driveway certificate and 3.4K in cash from the GM card.

I bought my 2004 Tahoe from a dealer by my house. Sticker was $44,500 and I paid $33,800. By my calculations that was 76% of sticker for just an average schmo off the street at a dealer. My best friend'* brother works for GM and I bought a truck from him in 1997. He explained the discount as 30% off MSRP. I picked the options, color etc. He bought it, put 5K miles on it, held it for six months, and sold it to me.
I paid significantly less than I could of negotiated at the dealer, and he still made money on the deal. That was a while ago, maybe the GM employee discount is different now that they advertise it for everyone. Ha Ha. My friend'* brother is a GM big cheese BTW. Back and forth to Michigan and all that.

Have your information with you. check trade in and private party value for the car with mileage and features. Don't pay more than private party for the car. the closer you get to trade the better. Have your financing set ahead of time. Walk in, make sure the dealer knows your are serious and willing to sign the deal today, give the guy a price you want to pay, say 20 if he says no get a counter offer knowing you may pay 22 or something. (the above numbers just for demonstration) If you can't make a deal then keep hunting for another. I find if the dealer knows your serious and have the mind set not to jerk him around by saying "I am ready to sign at x price" they usually work with you. If you can't deal then the dealer is an !@#$% and you wouldn't be happy thinking you got ripped off. Also, stick with the color you like, unless you're rich you gonna be paying for the thing for awhile you should like what you drive.

Always remember something I learned the hard way. Worst case scenario you make the first payment on your vehicle and loose your job..... you have to be able to sell it... this is why you work off private party and trade in values. And also remember NO dealer gives you the Excellent rating for your trade so you should not give him the Excellent rating for what you buy used.

So now that I have ranted... and raved.... good luck.