The Truth About the ‘Free’ Monat Cadillac
One of the main things that often convinces people to sign up as a Monat Market Partner is the opportunity to receive a free Cadillac when they hit a certain rank within the company.
People who have qualified for the Monat Cadillac shout from the rooftops about how incredible it is having a free luxury car, and for many, it’s an opportunity not to be passed on.
The white Monat Cadillac acts as a physical manifestation of the lavish lifestyle that can be yours if you just work hard enough.
However, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and I’m here to tell you that unfortunately, there is no such thing as a free lunch free Monat Cadillac.
I dived into the ‘Monat Motor Club’ opportunity to find out just what the catch is with Monat’s ‘free’ car, so if you want to know more, just pour yourself a drink, get comfy and let’s get into it!
The Truth About the ‘Free’ Monat Cadillac
What is Monat?
For many people, the promise of a free Monat Cadillac is the first they’ve ever heard of the company, and it is the driving force (pun intended) behind why they want to join.
However, it’s always important to do your research fully before you join a business like Monat, so here are some quick facts about Monat:
- MONAT Global is a huge multi-level marketing company that sells haircare and skincare products including shampoos, conditioners, serums and more.
- Their products are sold online through their ‘Market Partners’ who hype up the products on social media to their friends and family.
- Monat is an MLM company, which means that in addition to selling products, Market Partners can make money by ‘growing a team’ or recruiting other into the company.
- Because the way to achieve true success within Monat or any other multi-level marketing company is through recruitment, Monat has been compared to a pyramid scheme.
- 94% of people who earned money with Monat in 2018 earned an average of $183 for the year
- 47% of people who signed up to Monat in 2018 made no money at all (You can read more about the Monat business opportunity here)
- Many Monat Market Partners feel as though Monat is a very toxic company to work in. You can find out more here.
The Monat Cadillac
Let’s get straight to the point.
There is no such thing as a free Monat Cadillac.
The way that the Monat Motor Club works is that when you hit the rank of Market Mentor (the 7th rank in the company) and keep that rank for 3 consecutive months, you become eligible to join the ‘Monat Motor Club.’
However, the Monat Motor Club is not a free car. It is payments towards a car.
The car itself has to be purchased/leased in your name, connected to your bank account and it will impact your credit score.
As long as you continue to keep your rank, you will continue to receive payments towards the Cadillac from Monat, but if your rank drops, you will still be responsible for meeting the payments on your ‘free’ car.
This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on not just you, but your downline as well, because their sales count towards your own. If a few members of your downline make less sales that month or decide to take some time off, it is you who won’t receive your car bonus that month.
Put simply, you are tied into a lease and Monat are not obliged to give you a penny towards it.
And that’s not all.
Monat state that the car must be a white Cadillac, of any model, but no more than 5 years old.
The reason for this is that Monat want you to showcase the luxury lifestyle that you have attained thanks to them. The car must be new, because if it wasn’t, this wouldn’t fit the image that they are going for.
They confirm this themselves in the ‘Why Cadillac?‘ section of their website, saying that the Cadillac brand represents ‘prestige, high ideals‘ and a ‘standard of excellence.’
In other words, a brand spanking new, white Cadillac promotes the Monat ‘opportunity’ and shows potential recruits what Monat could give them.
Another giveaway that this is all an advertising ploy is a stipulation in the Terms & Conditions which states that ‘When you receive your white Cadillac, you must provide a picture and testimonial to MONAT so that we may feature you in print, web or marketing pieces.’
The negative side of the ‘free’ Monat Cadillac
The fact that Monat use their Motor Club bonus to advertise the business isn’t all bad.
In fact, it would be surprising if they didn’t do that. It’s a great marketing tactic.
However, the dangers come when unsuspecting women see the Monat Cadillac pictures splashed all over social media, talk to a Market Partner who convinces them that it’s a totally free car, and decide to sign up for Monat without doing anymore research.
If that person then makes it to the Market Mentor rank and becomes eligible for the Monat Motor Club bonus, they won’t necessarily read the small print and see that the ‘free car’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
That’s why I’m here.
Here are some not so good facts about the Monat Cadillac bonus.
- The payments must be made towards a new Monat Cadillac. If you already own a white Cadillac, you can’t use the payments for that one. It must be a new lease/purchase.
- You are liable to pay tax on your new car.
- You are liable to pay tax on the car bonus money given to you by Monat.
- You are liable for paying any fees associated with your car, including registration, licensing, insurance, inspections etc.
- The contract is between you and the car dealership. It is in your name, and therefore it is your responsibility.
- Monat will make the payments up to a maximum of 48 months. If you took out a longer lease, you are obliged to make all payments after the 48 months are up.
- If you lose rank, Monat will pay up to 2 month’s grace (not consecutively) in a calendar year. This means that if you drop rank for 1 month, Monat will make the payment, but if you don’t qualify again after a month, the onus falls on you to make the payment. If drop below the rank of Market Mentor, you will not receive any grace from Monat. This makes the Monat Cadillac deal marginally better than the Arbonne Mercedes, where no grace is given.
- If you ever struggle to make payments on your car, it will affect your credit store which could negatively impact you in the future.
- The car payments don’t necessarily cover the full cost of the car. For example, you will receive $500 per month towards your car payment if you are at the Market Mentor rank. This is not usually enough to cover the cost of a luxury car.
- Monat reserve the right to change the terms and conditions of the plan at any time, or terminate it without giving you any notice (you will be stuck with a luxury car to pay for in this case). They also reserve the right to change the amount of money that they pay out, and they don’t provide any guarantees that the Monat Motor Club programme will continue for the duration of your car lease.
- Go back and read the previous point. It means that Monat can move the goal posts whenever they like and you won’t be able to do a thing about it.
I think it’s safe to say that your ‘free Monat Cadillac’ may actually end up costing you quite a lot of money!
It is notoriously difficult to keep your rank in multi-level marketing companies, and people who are eager to snap up the car bonus may just find themselves biting off more than they can chew.
While it may seem like Monat are just being super generous and taking care of their Market Partners with the Monat Motor Club programme, it is really just another win for Monat.
Not only do they increase the pressure on you to make more sales for them, but if you stop making as many sales, they will never be out of pocket because they will simply stop making the payments. When you factor in the promotional aspect of the whole thing, you can’t deny that it’s genius…it just might not be the best idea for you.
The Free Monat Cadillac | Final Thoughts
To give Monat credit, they are more transparent about the financial risks associated with the Motor Club programme in their Terms & Conditions than Arbonne.
There is a section of the T&C’s that says ‘MONAT highly recommends that you be completely comfortable financially when making the decision to enter into a lease or purchase agreement. In addition to the monthly lease or vehicle loan payments, there will be other costs associated with your purchase. These include, but are not limited to, registration, licensing, insurance, inspection fees, and maintenance. We want you to be completely comfortable with these costs before participating in the program.’
This section of the document is in bold and in a large section titled ‘ADVISORY.’
It does seem as though they are going to some effort to warn Market Partners of the financial burden that they are about to take on (or maybe they are just trying to cover their asses so they can’t get sued, what do I know?).
With all that being said though, I still believe that the ‘free car’ offered by Monat is just another one of those network marketing lies designed to make the company look better.
While driving around in a Cadillac is certainly not to be knocked, I would only suggest signing a lease if you can already afford the payments without Monat’s help.
If you are financially sound and were already planning on purchasing a luxury car, and you could still afford the payments if you lost your ranking with Monat, by all means sign that lease and use the money to supplement your car payments.
However, if you could not afford the car without the bonus, I strongly recommend that you don’t take part in this programme. There are many, many companies that offer company cars without all of the red tape and sneaky terms that Monat offer, and so if it’s a car you’re after, I’d look elsewhere.
If you have any more questions about Monat or the Monat Cadillac bonus, don’t hesitate to ask me in the comments section below!
Until next time,
XOXO
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