How One Cadillac Escalade -V Owner Reportedly Gamed the System and Used Points to Pay Off His Loan

The Cadillac Escalade -V is one of the most powerful vehicles on the road. The Escalade -V is also expensive, with sticker prices well over $100,000. The Cadillac Escalade has led the full-size luxury SUV segment in sales for over a decade. GMAuthority is reporting that one clever owner of a 2024 Escalade-V was able to exploit a GM points program and pay off his Escalade’s loan balance with GM points virtually free. GMAuthority quotes another publication called Resell Calendar. Apparently, the owner used a temporary glitch in GM’s rewards program to amass millions of points. 

Here's How the Owner Gamed the System

According to Resell Calendar, the owner of a 2024 Cadillac Escalade-V was able to create a multitude of accounts on GM’s Rewards platform and generate nearly 6 million award points.  A loophole allowed the person to pool the points and apply them directly to the loan balance, paying off the owner’s $59,370.00 vehicle loan. Rewards members apparently were able to earn rewards for completing different tasks like watching videos. The rewards program allowed members to apply their points directly to their GM Financial loan notes. The owner was able to clear his loan off the books without spending any real money for the Escalade-V with its 6.2L Supercharged V8 engine and 682 horsepower.  

While some argue that the person just took advantage of a loophole, I would have to believe that the owner had inside information that a glitch like that existed. Few people have the time to generate hundreds of multiple accounts to amass those kinds of totals. GM Financial and GM Rewards have now taken action to close the loophole, so point pooling cannot happen to that extent. 

Another Recent Credit Caper

The GM Financial points scam sounds like a version of another current credit card deal calling churning. According to Forbes, “Credit card churning is the process of opening cards for the sole purpose of earning welcome bonuses or other benefits. Usually, it involves closing cards after the bonus posts to your account and before the next annual fee is charged. This can be lucrative if done right, but you should be aware that a pattern of opening and closing cards quickly is often a red flag for card issuers.”

The churning process involves applying for a credit card, getting approved, meeting a minimum spending requirement or balance transfer within a set amount of time, earning a large welcome bonus, and canceling the card before the next annual fee is due. Once this is complete, the process is repeated again and again. While some users have bragged online about generating huge amounts of airline or hotel miles, often their credit scores are ruined in the process. Even worse, some spend money they don’t have and are bankrupted when the bills come due. 

GM Closed the Loopholes

GM Financial has cancelled the generous points offers and also banned members from pooling large numbers of points. Surprisingly, GM did not try to halt the payoff, instead realizing that the company had been taken. You can bet that the new verbiage has been legally vetted to make sure another $6 million point caper can’t happen again. 

Cadillac Photo

Mary Conway is a professional automotive journalist and has decades of experience specializing in automotive news analysis. She covered the Detroit Three for more than twenty years for the ABC affiliate, in Detroit. Her affection for the Motor City comes naturally. Her father ran a gas station while Mary was growing up, in Wisconsin.

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