17,000 points is worth THAT much??

Over the past four years, I’ve taken care of my beloved 2013 Chevrolet Cruze “Dracourage” with a vehicle service contract through DePaula Chevrolet, the dealership where I purchased it in 2016.

And because I purchased the car as a “certified pre-owned vehicle,” apparently any repairs or maintenance that I undertake through DePaula Chevrolet, earn me some sort of loyalty points.

And the other day, I looked over my collection of points earned from nearly four years of Dracourage parenting.

Wow. I’ve got 17,000 points. That is huge.

So … I want to cash in these points. And I know just what to get. I’m thinking 17,000 points should be enough for four brand new Goodyear all-weather radials. Because a car needs a good set of shoes for safe travels.

All I need to do now is schedule an appointment with DePaula, and my chariot will be racing around the Coliseum like I’m Judah Ben-Hur on the final lap.

Okay, a call.

“Yeah, we can help you out with that. You say you have GM loyalty points?”

“Yes, I do,” I said proudly “I have 17,000 points. That should be enough for four brand new all-weather radials that are perfect for Upstate new York driving.”

And then he let me know how far 17,000 points would go towards a new set of tires.

“Well, Mr. Miller, you might not be aware of this, but GM loyalty points are calculated at the rate of $5 for every 1,000 points. So your full total of points would amount to an $85 discount on a set of tires.”

$85?

Eighty-five dollars?

The point ratio is only $5 per 1,000 points???

So … essentially … each GM loyalty point is only worth one-half of a penny?

Ugh.

All right, new plan.

The tires on Dracourage are still good. So I’ll wait until September, when Goodyear usually offers tire rebates and discounts. Because then, I can combine a rebate with my points and then maybe, just maybe, I’ll pick up a nice little bargain here on a set of tires for this bad boy.

Man oh man, now I know how people who collected those old S&H Green Stamps felt back in the day. Or the ones who collected those cigarette coupons off of each pack, back in the day.

So, dear loyal blog readers, if you happen to have some leftover GM loyalty points, and you’re not using them, and you want to donate them to a worthy cause (and by “worthy cause,” I mean ME), I’ll take whatever you can offer.

Heck, at this point, I barely have enough loyalty points to trade in for a bottle of transmission fluid. And I’d still have to pay out of pocket to put that transmission fluid in my car.

Loyalty points. Yeah. Right. Pfft.