Why?

Two reasons.

First, General Motors has announced that it is officially terminating the Hummer brand, and that it has only 2200 of them left.

Second, General Motors has put extremely attractive incentives on all remaining Hummers to help them sell. The deals would have been thought unbelievable a couple of years ago.

For example, customers can get $6000 rebate on 2009 models of the Hummer H2 and H3. 

If you like the H3T truck, you can get a $5000 rebate on the 2009 model and $4000 on the 2010 model.

You can alternatively get 0% APR loan deals on all models for up to 72 months. Of course, you have to choose the rebate or the 0% loan, but not both.

So what is the downside of these incredible deals?

First, your choices will be slim. You have to choose from the styles, colors, and equipment that dealers currently have in stock. Therefore you’ll have to be a little flexible if you want one of the good deals.

Second, resale and trade values on Hummers won’t be good anytime in the near future. If you plan to take advantage of one of the great deals, you should also plan to drive the vehicle for many years, or possibly lose money on a future sale or trade. If you take a long-term view, Hummers could easily become valuable collectibles in 25 years or more.

General Motors

Deals are especially good on 2009 models, which GM apparently still has plenty of inventory. Don’t expect to see outstanding deals on 2010 models until most of the 2009 models are gone. In many cases, there is very little difference between 2009 and 2010 models. Therefore you can save a lot of money by going with last year’s leftovers. The catch is that you might not be able to get exactly the style, trim level, and color that you want. You are limited to the cars that dealers have in stock.

2010 Models

Let’s look at some of the best General Motors deals on 2010 models first.

 The best rebates of about $2000 are available on a wide range of makes and models, including the Buick Enclave and Lucerne; Chevrolet Avalanche, Cobalt, Impala, Malibu, Suburban, and Tahoe;  all GMC models except Savana and Terrain; and Pontiac Vibe ($3000).

Zero percent (0% APR) loans are available for the Buick Enclave and Lucerne, Chevrolet Avalanche, Cobalt, Impala, Malibu, Suburban, and Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Sierra, Acadia, Canyon, and Pontiac Vibe.

2009 Models

Now, let’s look at some even better General Motors deals on leftover 2009 models.

Buick LaCrosse and Lucerne – up to $4500 rebate

Chevrolet Avalanche, Impala, Suburban, Tahoe, Trailblazer, Silverado - up to $4000 rebate

Chevrolet Corvette – up to $4000 rebate

Chevrolet Cobalt, Traverse – up to $3500 rebate

GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Sierra – up to $4000 rebate

Hummer H3 – $6000 rebate, H3T – $5000 rebate

Pontiac (all models) – up to $3000 rebate

Saab 9-3, 9-5, 9-7X – up to $8000 rebate

Saturn Aura, Outlook, Sky, Vue – up to $4000 rebate

Dealer Cash

Furthermore, General Motors is offering some hefty factory-to-dealer cash on some models. These direct-to-dealer rebates typically are passed along to customers in the form of additional price discounts.

2010 Cadillac CTS, DTS, STS, and Escalade – up to $2500 dealer cash

2010 Hummer H3, H3T – up to $3000 dealer cash

2009 Cadillac XLR, XLR-V, Escalade – up to $7000 dealer cash

2009 Cadillac CTS-V, DTS, STS, STS-V – up to $6000 dealer cash

2009 Cadillac CTS, SRX – up to $5000 dealer cash

2009 Hummer H2, H2 SUT – $5000 dealer cash

You can get free price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

General Motors

The GM deals are in the form of direct customer cash rebates and low-interest loans, with a number of 0% APR loan deals as well. All the current January incentives end on 2/1/2010.

Here are some of the best General Motors deals at this time:

2010 Buick  Lucern $2000 rebate

2010 Chevrolet Avalanche, Suburban, Tahoe, Cobalt, Impala – $2000 rebate

2010 GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Sierra – $2000 rebate

2010 Pontiac Vibe – $4000 rebate

2009 Buick Lucerne – $4500 rebate 

2009 Buick Lacrosse – $4000 rebate

2009 Cadillac XLR, XLR-V – $10,000 rebate

2009 Cadillac Escalade – $6000 rebate

2009 Cadillac CTS-V, DTS, STS, STS-V - $5000 rebate

2009 Cadillac SRX – $4000 rebate

2009 Chevrolet Avalanche, Impala, Tahoe – $3500 rebate

2009 Chevrolet Cobalt – $3000 rebate

2009 GMC Yukon, Yukon XL – $4000 rebate

2009 GMC Envoy – $3500 rebate

2009 Hummer H3 – $6000 rebate

2009 Pontiac (most models) – $4000 rebate

2009 Saturn (most models) – $4000 rebate

Furthermore, low-interest loans are available on all the above 2010 models and 0% APR deals available on all the 2009 models above. Of course, you know that you can accept either the rebates or low interest loans, but not both. With these GM rebates being so large, it is usually better to accept the rebate instead of the loan deal, especially if you need down payment money (rebates count towards your down payment).

You can get free price quotes on any of the above GM vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are available at this time.

Some of the incentives for January 2010 are in the form of factory-to-dealer cash (marketing support) that dealers give back to buyers in the form of a big price discount. Actually, discounts are better than direct rebates because you pay sales tax on rebates, but not on discounts.

Other incentives are offered as direct customer rebates and as 0% APR loans.

Here are the current Hummer deals for January:

2009 Hummer H2 and H2 SUT – $5000 dealer cash

2009 Hummer H3 – $6000 direct customer cash rebate, or 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months

2010 Hummer H3 – $3000 dealer cash

2009 Hummer H3T – $3500 direct customer rebate, or 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months

2010 Hummer H3T – $1600 dealer cash

You can get free dealer price quotes on any Hummer vehicle from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

When a dealer or manufacturer has too many of certain vehicles and sales are slow, the manufacturer will encourage him to increase sales by providing a cash incentive. Right now, many car makers are offering big dealer cash on leftover 2009 models, as well as some 2010 models.

Dealers can use the factory cash in any way they want. Some spend it on advertising. Some hold special sales events or ”tent sales.” But in many cases some , if not all, of the money goes directly back to customers in the form of price discounts.

A car with a $2000 factory-to-dealer rebate will almost certainly sell for at least $2000 less than MSRP (sticker price), if not more. Frequently, manufacturers offer a combination of direct customer rebates and factory-to-dealer cash to make an overall sweet deal. Customers often negotiate additional discount from a dealer (it’s only right that a dealer should add a little of his own money) to make the deal even better.

Luxury car makers like to use hidden dealer cash because they don’t want to advertise customer rebates and be veiwed as a “discount brand.” That way customers can negotiate, or be given, a “special price” without it being so obvious that it’s a discount.

Here are some of the brands and models with the best factory-to-dealer cash deals. Keep in mind that these factory rebates can vary by region of the country and may be changed at any time.

2009 BMW 3-Series and M3 – $2500 dealer cash

2009 Chrysler Aspen, PT Cruiser – $4500

2009 Chrysler Sebring, Town & Country – $3500

2009 Dodge Sprinter – $5000

2009 Dodge Avenger, Durango, Nitro – $4500

2009 Dodge Dakota, Grand Caravan, Jpourney – $3500

2009 Jeep Commander, Grand Cherokee – $5000

2009 Jeep Compass, Patriot, Liberty, Wrangler – $3000

2009 Mercury Grand Marquis, Milan, Sable – $3500

2009 Hummer H2, H2 SUT – $5000

2009 Saab 9-3, 9-5, 9-7X – $8000

2009 Land Rover Ranger Rover – $9000

2009 Land Rover LR2, LR3, Ranger Rover Sport – $6000

2010 Infiniti EX35, M35, M45, QX56 – $6000

2009 Infiniti F35, FX50, M35, M45 – $6000

2009 Infiniti EX35, G37 – $4000

2009 Lexus LS-450, LS-660L, SC 430 – $10,000

2009 Lexus GS-350, GS-450h, GS-460, LX-570 – $3000

2009 Audi A3, A4, A6, S6, S4, S8, TT - $6000

2009 Audi A5, A8, Q5, Q7 – $5000

2009 Volkswagen CC, Eos, Routan – $6000

2009 Volkswagen New Beetle, Tiguan, Passat – $6000

2009 Volkswagen Jetta, Touareg 2,  GTI – $5000

2010 Volvo C70, S80, V70, XC70 – $4000

2009 Volvo C70, S60, S80, V70, XC70 – $5500

2009 Volvo C30, S40, V50, XC90 – $4000

You can get free price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

General Motors

However, keep in mind that current incentives can change at any time, even in the middle of the month. So keep a watch here on this web site for later improvements. Chrysler is expected to announce some agressive incentives this week and GM might possibly be waiting to see what it looks like before making any further moves.

The incentives apply to all vehicles in the General Motors stable — Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Hummer, GMC, and Cadillac — and expire on June 1, 2009. All are for 2009 model vehicles.

In general (no pun intended), GM’s incentives are in the form of modest cash-back rebates and semi-low APR loans.

The rebates come in the range of $750 (Saturn) to $1000 and $15000, to $2000 for some models such as the Cadillac DTS.  A couple of exceptions: $7000 cash back on the Chevrolet Suburban and $5000 cash back on the Hummer H3.

There are also some “hidden” rebates that apply if you want to lease. GMAC no longer leases, but most dealers have alternative lease companies (large national banks) through which they can lease. The bank lease deals are not that great, so GM is sweetening the deal with the hidden rebates, which reduces lease prices, which lowers monthly payments and makes for some decent, although not great,  lease deals.

The “low” APR loan deals are not so low — only 6.9%. It’s certainly better than the near 8% normal rate (depending on the customer’s credit score) but nothing to write home about. There are some 0% offers on some selected models in some parts of the country however.

You can get free price quotes on any General Motors vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

In addition to promotional loan rates, the Hummer H3 get a whopping $6000 factory-to-customer rebate ($3000 on H3T). (In some regions, it’s $5000 on both) If you want this model and are having a hard time coming up with a good down payment, that $5000 goes a long way to getting you going. The $5000 can act as a down payment just as if it came out of your own pocket.

Remember, these deals can vary depending on the region of the country in which you live. In some cases, the deals might be better that those we mention.

The deals on the larger Hummer H2 model are not as exciting but will certainly help if that’s the model you want. There is no direct factory-to-customer rebate, but there is $3500 factory-to-dealer cash that can be used as the dealer sees fit. If you ask, you might be able to get the dealer to part with most or all of that money in discounting your purchase price or lease price. Furthermore, he should be willing to kick in with some of his own money for a further discount. Hummers are not exactly jumping out of dealer showrooms and good deals are to be had, if you ask.

You can get free price quotes on the Hummer from Edmunds.com The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.