Automakers Bolt From the Gates With Post-Harvey Discounts

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

There was quite a debate occurring in TTAC’s private Slack channel yesterday — a conversation sparked by knowledge of a new discount from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles extended to those who lost insured vehicles in Hurricane Harvey.

The timing of the offer — CarsDirect claims the deal was valid as of August 28th, even as images and video of the waterborne and helicopter rescues of Houston-area residents filled television screens and social media — raised an eyebrow. How soon is too soon? It would seem the main concerns of impacted residents over the past couple of days included finding food and shelter, reconnecting with loved ones, and perhaps picking up the pieces in both flood- and wind-damaged communities. Not shopping for a new vehicle online.

The nature of the offer sparked further debate. Affected residents in certain Texas and Louisiana counties can show a copy of their insurance claim form to receive $500 off the purchase or lease of a new FCA vehicle, certain models (like the Jeep Wrangler, Chrysler 200, SRT models, and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio) not included. Buyers can combine the offer with other applicable discounts.

$500 off that new Grand Cherokee? Whoo-wee, you might say. At what dollar amount does a post-disaster offer change from feeling like an opportunistic sales grab and more like a gesture of kind-hearted humanitarian assistance? Or is this just cynical thinking — should we regard any offer as a sign of generosity? It’s certainly not a new practice for any automaker. On and on it went.

Of course, any conclusion comes down to the individual. But this morning we heard FCA isn’t alone in offering deals to Harvey victims.

Also thanks to CarsDirect, we now know that General Motors and Hyundai have their own discounts. Like FCA’s, the offers are good until January 2nd, 2018.

General Motors will also wipe $500 from the price of a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, or Cadillac for those with vehicles damaged by Harvey — a sum applicable to all existing discounts but not special lease promotions. However, the list of vehicles to which the discount doesn’t apply includes not high-end models, but low-end ones. Entry-level models like the Chevy Cruze and Malibu L, along with the Colorado Base, aren’t eligible. It’s hard not to notice these models aren’t known for their generous profit margins.

At Hyundai dealers, Harvey victims will see $750 erased from window stickers. The automaker’s Disaster Relief Coupon can be combined with any existing offer or promotion and, unlike FCA and GM, isn’t available solely to those living in certain counties. Just show that letter from your insurance company listing the make and model of the wrecked vehicle, as well as an estimate of damages.

The Korean automaker was actually the first out of the gate with its offer. Hyundai’s discount was made available on August 26th, the day after Harvey’s late-Friday landfall. GM’s discount started up on August 29th. Any offer — regardless of cash value — needs to start sometime and, as these offers span several months, the timing probably isn’t much of a thorny issue. Again, it comes down to the individual.

Other automakers have pledged money towards disaster relief efforts, including Mazda and Ford. Toyota, with its North American operations headquartered in Plano, Texas, has offered $3 million in assistance.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Aug 30, 2017

    I seriously doubt that many will be lining up for $500 dollar discounts on new vehicles. I just read that only 20% of home owners actually had home insurance coverage.

    • Ect Ect on Aug 31, 2017

      The major issue is that homeowner policies explicilty do not cover damage from flooding. You have to buy flood insurance, which is sold by a US government entity. And people only buy that if they're located in a designated flod zone and the mortgage company requires them to. So, you're right. A WaPo artice today reports that "only 17 percent of homeowners in the eight counties most directly affected by Harvey have flood insurance policies, according to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency data". Big ouch. And yeah, having to pay out of your own pocket for flood losses is likely to take almost everyone affected out of the new car market altogether.

  • Jalop1991 Jalop1991 on Aug 30, 2017

    Disaster Relief Coupon? (makes me think, "LOOK--10 cents off a box of Cheerios!") How about Disaster Relief Car? Step 1: present validated insurance claim for ruined car Step 2: receive keys to brand new Chrysler 200 Step 3: go back to re-arranging your life, while Chrysler writes up the tax write-off paperwork and all those dealers start sending out service flyers

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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