GM Auction Sales?

[Michael S.]

Not at Corvette question but I need help from some of the knowledgable GM folks on the site. Please? Please? Please???

I have a 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 Aerocoupe. 1018 of these cars were built to qualify the "swoopy/ugly" Grand Prix to be competititve with the Monte Carlo Aerooupe in Nascar. One was black (at the Talledega Musuem), one Maroon (owned by Richard Petty who was the main force in developing the car) and the rest were all silver and equipped exactly the same way. All these cars were converted by an outside contractor who I think was ASC (American Sunroof Corporation) who is now American Specialty Cars in Michigan.

I just received the PHS (Pontiac Historical Services) paperwork on this car which includes the original invoice for this car. The MSRP on this car was $17,777.00. The invoice amount and the amount the car was sold for was $9,338.49. The car was sold/invoiced to GM Auction Sales, One Pontiac Plaza, Pontiac Michigan 44053.

I know another gentleman who has one of these cars and his invoice has the original selling dealer as the sold to on the invoice. My questions?

Who is GM Auction Sales and what is their function?

Why was the invoice price SO LOW in relation to the list price?

Why was "this" car invoiced this way when one other car I know of was billed to the selling dealer?

Was this car sold/invoiced this was since it was sent to an outside contractor for conversion? If so, please reference the previous question of the other car being invoiced to the selling dealer.

Does this invoice indicate that this particular car went somewhere special for a special use?

Any help/guess/speculation is appreciated. I felt this forum would be as good as ANY Pontiac forum given the vast knowledge of the members of this forum on how GM really worked.

Thanks for your input!

[mike mccagh]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

the car was probably used by a GM exec and after he rolled up 10 to 20K miles, it was turned back in to be auctioned. mike

[Donald M.]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

Mike, GM auctions are held at various locations in the U.S. each week. A very large one is found in Connecticut at the Southern Auto Auction in Winsdor,CT. These auctions are for bonafide GM dealers ONLY and the dealer may purchase only the brand(s) that he/she actually retails (current model year car only). At these auctions, the factory sells executive cars, AKA "Brass Hats" or just company cars.These cars could also have been used as show cars or special promotion vehicles such as your Pontiac Aero. Usually a car has to have at least 3000 miles on it to be sold at auction .The prices on the invoice vary because these cars have mileage on them and are thus considered used cars. Each invoice has a "Sell to" and a "Ship To" dealer. If it is to owned by GM for company purposes, the "Sell To" is , for example, Pontiac Motor Div. The "ship to" dealer can be any dealer the intended driver of the vehicle desires to prep and deliver it to him/her. Also, the invoice has a 1st, 2nd and 3rd sell price, each lower than the one before it. . These prices take effect based on the mileage of the vehicle or the fact that it is a model year end unit. So, the cheapest sell price would be ,for example, a car that has a lot of miles and is a model year end car such as a 2005 model being auctioned after the 2006 cars have hit the street. I hope I haven't thoroughly confused you at this point.
Don

[Michael S.]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

Thanks Mike for your input. I had already speculated that is exactly what happened and "GM Auction Sales" is/was the disposal sale arm for GM.

Upon further review of the invoice I have found that the original MSRP of this car before the 2+2 conversion was $10,259.00. The "Y97" 2+2 Grand Prix option was $7,2127.00 retail with an invoice price of $5,844.14. With the fuel credit on the invoice this brought the finished MSRP to $17,777.00.

I speculate that if this car was indeed driven by a GM employee and then sold through the GM Auction part of the company that is represented by "GM Auction Sales", this invoice will give us a VERY good idea of the REAL GM costs associated with the car such as this. The price at which this car was sold to "GM Auction Sales" was 52% of the total MSRP including the conversion. I wonder if this would be representative of actual car cost for parts/labor/fixed costs etc? I have always speculated that GM, like most business's, must make at least 50% margin on their products to stay in business given their overall cost to do business. In the case of the disposal of this particular car given our assumption of it being and "exec" car, GM Auction Sales would still expect to make a sizeable profit selling the car to a dealer through a GM dealer auction.

I would still like to see if anyone could shed any additional light on just what "GM Auction Sales" really is? Does each GM brand have a GM Auction Sales division since the invoice lists an address as One Pontiac Plaza in Pontiac Michigan. Maybe each GM brand disposes of their cars in this fashion.

Earlier last year I purchased the 1984 Pontiac Fiero Convertible prototype car produced for GM by ASC (American Sunroof Corportation). It was sold in 1991 by an authorized GM scapper and purchased by a salvage yard. The car was complete with 269 miles and had a good title. I purchased the car from the salvage yard owner who kept the car and several other prototype cars instead of destroying the cars. The cars were NOT sold through "GM Auction Sales".

Mike
#11202

[Michael S.]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

Don,

I have noticed that there appears to be a "dealer code" for GM Auction Sales on the invoice. That code is "50-480" and appears just aove the purchaser name/address.

I am well aware of the "frandchise dealer only" auctions that GM has at auto auctions across the country as I attend these occasionaly with a friend who owns a dealership. Typically cars purchased at these auctions are may be the MSO, titled company cars, lease returns, lemons, GM finance repo's etc. As a 25 year franchise dealer he also had never seen on invoice with "GM Auction Sales" as the seller. This is what prompts my question.

Mike

[Patrick H.]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

Mike,

I can't help you on the GM Auction Sales. However I can recall that at the time I was in college and saw a dealer with three (3) low mile (approx 300 or so) Pontiac 2+2s. They had some sort of sticker on the window indicating they had been GM "factory cars" or the like. So, I wonder how many were disposed of in this manner.

Patrick

[mike mccagh]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

i'd guess the 100 or so c-6 ZO6's that have been in hands of GM execs since early fall of 2005 will end up being auctioned by GM after first of the year.Rumor has it they'll bring near or at MSRP.Only Chevy dealers will be allowed to buy them.I'm told even the GM exec's won't get shot at them.mike

[Art A.]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

Mike, I have to respectively disagree with you on this issue. As an employee or a retiree I would have the chance at buying ANY GM fleet/PEP vehicle, in their system. I could now and have used this system many times. The GM fleet/PEP vehicles only go to auction AFTER it has been offered and subsequently turned down by any employee (nation wide) who may have a request in for such a vehicle. In other words, if I had a request in for a Z06, I would get a crack at it before it went to auction. To my knowledge there is NO restriction on employees buying Z06's company vehicles.

Art

[mike mccagh]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

art: Karen Rafferty, the new corvette marketing chief, related the info regarding GM employees not being eligible for the used ZO6's. regards,and merry christmas. mike

[Mike McKown]

Not that anyone here wants one but

FoMoCo operates the same way.

[George C.]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

Art, Mike is right on the money with what he has been told about PEP 2006 Z06's. I've been trying to buy on for the last month. GM Dealer Auction only. MRSP is what I've been told also on price.....I'll wait and buy a new 2007 Z06 at the GMO price next year or whenever they decide to give the discount to the employee. I thought for $49K or $51K the PEP Z06 would have been a heck of a deal. I will not pay retail for a used (beat to the max) 06 Z06.

[Tony Merendino]

Re: Not that anyone here wants one but

Without looking at and inspecting the invoices that you refer to I can not be certain but I suspect that the invoice amount of $9338 is likely the invoice amount for the base vehicle that carried a MSRP of $10259. Upfits to GM vehicles completed by specialty vehicle manufacturers are not added to the GM invoice. Some of these manufacturers produce a secondary invoice that includes the original factory invoice and is used to present the invoice to the consumer. It is more likely that the cost of ts vehicle is the base invoice of $9338 plus the upfit cost of $5500. If there was that much profit in the vehicles that GM builds I assure you that they would not be in the dire straights that they are in today.

[Michael S.]

Re: Not that anyone here wants one but

Tony,

Thanks for your response.

The "invoice total" and "memo amount" are the same, $9,338.49, the invoice amount + $414.00 for a total of $9,752.49 which is the invoice total. The $414.00 is on a line that looks like "DFC" on the standard Pontiac invoice. I do not know what this charge is. There is no "holdback" or and other add/deduction on the invoice.

Mike

[Art A.]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

Well Mike, I guess it just goes to show you that I don't know as much as I thought I did. Learned something new today.....that is a good day.

Happy Holidays to you and yours also.

[Chris H.]

Re: GM Auction Sales?

I cannot answer your question completely but One Pontiac Plaza, Pontiac Michigan 44053 is an old Plant in Pontiac that was converted to office spaces. Pontiac Motor Division was there for many years before moving their Marketing arm (Engineering and the rest had gone long ago) to the Ren Cen. Other parts of GM also used the building as office space and I assume GM auction Sales was there. My wife never heard of them and she worded there for years.