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Right now however I'm in charge of updating our site, takink multiple photos of all pre owned cars, updating the invetory, updating, Buy & Sell and Auto Trader, updating specials, responding, and working internet leads, and running my own Craigslist and Kijiji.com show.
So I do a lot of work not just for me but for the whole dealership as well. We have a new GM right now that was brought in to help babalnce the spreadsheet if you know what I mean, and since I like working here (best group of people I've ever worked with), I don't want to be asking for a salary just yet, because I have a lot more freedom and priveleges that other guys don't have. :shades:
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
The ADP thing was that I would come in on mondays and take a look at the Autobase to see which used cars were sold so I would take them off AutoTrader. Only for the cars to reappear the next day! The only way they would disappear the day they were sold was if the deal had been completed and billed.
Mack
Our website pre owned list is linked to Reynolds and uploaded daily. It's ok, but it also pulled back end notes from Reynolds such as repairs done, Pack, service comments and listed them as options for custmers to see (yikes). I spent one whole day changing them and adding proper options, only for it to be overridden the next day. Anyways it's been taken care of now.
We also have a guy that can come and take photos, but he's here once a week, and I need the photos for both our site, and Trader, and my own craigslist listings, so I told him not ot bother coming.
Trader now has a new system where the guy can take a photo of the VIn, and it will pull all the options for that car. The problem is that it's based of a US database, and many cars here have different option packages, and trim levels that the US cars. So I told him not to bother with that either.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I doo however feel a loyalty to doctors, as long as the service is good (I rarely go to the doctor, but still it is good to keep a consistent one), and to mechanics as they keep you healthy and on the road in good shape. These are probably the only two that I have been back to time and time again without going to someone else... Even when the mechanic I go to doesn't specialize in what is wrong with my vehicle such as a radiator, I take it to him and he sends it out. I trust him, so I know that he will send it to a place that will do me good. That saves me from having to find a place that I can trust as much as him...
But to a car dealership?? They want to sell me something. Just like shoes, or clothes, or groceries. When I know what I want, I am going to go where I can get the best price and the best value. That could mean depending on my situation, a used vehicle because or it could be new. I won't know until the vehicles I have start to show signs of needing to be replaced, or my family out grows the practicallity of what we do have.
A few weeks back I was looking a buying a new vehicle to better suit my needs for work. I had in mind what I wanted and had been doing research and wanted get a little "hands on" experience. It was time for a test drive, but my experience in the past has been that the dealership has been reluctant to go on a test drive if they feel that the buyer is not really serious about buying a vehicle and so when I went to the dealership, I let them know that I was looking for a replacement vehicle and wanted to test drive the vehicle I was looking at. They obliged thinking that I was ready to buy, and I let them know what I was looking for as - options, colors etc... We didn't find one on the lot, but we drove to a holding lot where we did find what I was looking for alhtough it was not a color I particularly cared for. It did have the options I was wanted however. I didn't get chance to spend a whole lot of time with the vehicle and didn't get the chance to take it on an extensive test drive. The salesman wanted to sell this particular vehicle to me, but I politely let him know that I was not ready to buy yet. I spend numerous hours in my vehicle for work (I drive between 3-5K a month) and didn't feel that the little jaunt around the block was sufficient for me to really know if I could spend 12-15 hours at a time in the thing. I let him know that I had already made reservations with a car rental agency with a similar model so that I could use it in my "real" world of work. My plan was this. I made the reservation, then went to the dealership to get a general feel for the vehicle. If I liked what I saw, than I would continue with my plan. If not, I would cancel the reservation so I wouldn't be wasting my money renting a vehicle I wasn't even planning on buying. Then, if after my rental term with the vehicle, if I still felt I could live with the vehicle, I would return to the dealer, or shop around to other dealers to make sure I was getting the best price, if they could find the vehicle I wanted.
Is this ethical? Even though I had no intention of buying the vehicle the first visit to the dealer? Was it wasteful of the salesman's time that he had to spend with me test driving and looking for the right vehicle? (we spent about and hour doing all this)???
(just a side note - I ended up not following through as I revaluated my situation and decided that a new vehicle would not suit my needs. I will continue driving my current vehicle at the rate of 4K a month until it wears out or becomes too costly to maintain. I felt that it was not worth making payments on a new vehicle that would be out of warranty before it was a year old, and that the rate of depreciation would be so great with the amount of mileage on it, that it would far out distance the financed amount and when it came time to replace it, I would owe far more than what it would be worth and would be too far upside down. My current vehicle is paid off and by the time it wears out, I can have enough to replace it with very little financed)
Mack
Taxes - depends on your county
Title, registration. This typically won't amount to more than $150.
That should be it unless the dealer adds on "Appearance Packages" or aftermarket stuff.
Hope that helps.
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They will bring a buyers order to the desk and tell them that the people saw it on the net. The deal gets closed and brought to me. After every sale I do an exit interview asking a variety of questions. A couple being
How did you find the car?
Have you visited our web site before?
What is your email address?
It is funny when the people who "supposedly" found the car on the net answer no to the web site question and tell you they don't have an email.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
On the other hand though, if the salesperson attempts to hold all the money and the customer DID see the car advertised on line, the salesperson loses all credibility.
That is why a good salesperson has to properly qualify his/her customer.
Why is it that nobody wants to give you a good price by e-mail. I have done my homework and I know what other people are paying. Why is it you go on the manufactures web site. They asked me if I want a price quote by e-mail,I answer yes. I get a phone call. They make you put your phone number on the request otherwise it won't process your request. Another one I did last night was off the dealers web site. It said get an instant quote by e-mail. The vehicle was a new left over 2007 model. I request the info and I get back an e-mail to call them for the price. Now I know there might be another one of these within 200 miles but I doubt it. This dealer probably has had this truck 1 1/2-2 years on their lot, they should have offered to come to my house with it. I just don't get it, I read a few days ago November sales of new vehicles were the worst since 1982. I am looking for a pick-up truck and have read that there are a flood of 1,2 & 3 year old used trucks out there. The dealers are acting like it's business as usual.
I understand that some dealers think if they give you a really good price that you will use at another dealer. If you don't want to do internet sales then say so. Don't lie to people and waste their time by telling them they need to come to their store or give them a verbal only quote. Rant over! :mad:
Example, let the know not only the year, trim line, color, and packages - plus provide them with your full name, phone number, and a time frame when you are looking to buy.
When I do this, I will often get detailed quotes. Just like "you" don't want to waste your time at the dealership, these guys are not going to waste their time responding to 100s of anonymous emails, where people have no intention of buying or just using to shop around.
just my 2 cents.
The main reason I would want to call an Internet customer is to make sure he is an actual buyer, and not a 6 year old playing on daddy's computer.
I have no problem paying a reasonable amount for registration fees. It's not just added profit. They are saving me from going to the DMV.
You don't want to pay that? Go register the car yourself. I'll happily pay that fee and save myself some time.
A.
I am an internet manager and my job is to answer to email inquiries, and obviously sell cars.
I get the inquiries daily. 75% of them never respond back, whether you send a price or not, whether you're nice and email them back, or leave a phone message. Some people will ask for photos to be emailed of cars, only to never respond again. The least they can say is thanks but no thanks. I will not go out of my way with email leads unless I know the person I'm dealing with is at least a grown up who just might be legally allowed to buy and drive a car.
Some will not give a phone number, and use your price to shop at their dealer locally. I am sorry but I do not feel like acting like a step ladder for someone far away by working out a price they can take to their local dealer and shop me.
If you want a good price and save money, then you have to earn it, just like anything in life. That might mean making some phone calls, providing a REAL NAME and a REAL PHONE NUMBER if you want a REAL QUOTE, maybe showing up with your trade in, etc.....
But it all comes with the job, so I don't mind. But don't be surprised if you do get a phone call to check if you're for real.
Happy Shopping
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
You are just using the internet to advertise your inventory and to make contact with potential customers. The deal can be made with no face time. The bottom line is you need customers and you need cars leaving your lot.
The MSR and Invoice Price are all available, what internet buyers want is what are you capable of doing for us to get us below the invoice price and to include some options for mass produced accessories that you are now nickel and diming your customers to increase your profits.
The invoice price is not the "true" cost of the vehicle. It is below the invoice. Floor mats arent $150, mud flaps arent $100. Dealers are making money, profits may be down but that is not the consumers fault. Internet shoppers want the bottom line with a click of a button. You internet salesmen need to provide this.
I just spent 7 hours at the dealers on a "internet" purchase. Thid did include 2 test drives but was not any thing near what I would consider a "internet" purchase.
Until "internet sales" provides the service we want:
1. offer the invoice price
2. haggle for the accessories you want
3. get the sales and managment to tell you what their lowest sale price is
4. tell them to give you some time
5. call all the other local dealers and see if they will beat the price
6. Tell the salesman what the other dealer will sell at
7. Accept their new offer or call the other dealers agin
I just bought a 2009 RAV4 and am happy with the price but 15 min after we took the sales counter offer another dealer called me back with a lower counter offer. I dont think we hit the lowest price but I was down to $100 difference on quotes.
7 hours??? What the heck was going on that it took that long?
If you handle an internet sale properly, your car, price and paperwork should be waiting for you. Then you take a quick test drive (or not), sign the papers, and away you go... about an hour.
Sounds like you did pretty good though. Congrats on your Rav4.
Why does everyone think that dealers somehow have free accessories to throw in. Do some think that we have a accessory factory with elves in the back, or maybe a compost that turns garbage into free floormats :confuse:
Any business whether a car dealership, a bank, or a furniture store..their goal is to make a profit so they can keep their doors open. If they're not making much on a big sale, then they will try to make that up in the sale of other items whether add ons, insurance, etc..
So how many rounds of stepos 6 and 7 are you willing to go? You want the lowest price up front but yet you will shop it elsehwere and then expect me to lower it again........ :sick:
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
As Jip mentioned, for many of us, the ideal end to the internet transaction would be to show up and find just about everything already in order, sign the paperwork, and drive away. If there's a trade involved, this won't exactly work, but some of the process can be streamlined.
There's no way internet sales are going to evolve to a point where the dealer offers invoice + at-cost accessories, just so you can shop that price and then come back asking for a bigger discount.
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He thinks all cars should sell for invoice or even less so matter what the demand may be. He doesn't care one twit about that the costs of keeping the doors open are nor will he be the slightest bit loyal to you in the future.
Just part of the business.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Why on earth should someone about to spend $20-30-40-50+k not shop around for the best price? Why is this considered an evil trait? Riding across town to save 3 cents per gallon on gasoline is one thing but hundreds and thousands are at stake in a new car purchase.
If it is just not possible this month for you to be able to beat your competition in the next suburb, how can you blame the buyer? If you have really done the best you can do, how can it be fair to blame the buyer if someone else can provide the product at a better value?
I typically will not get involved in "best price" contest for customers like that. I just tell them to come in when they have done their research, test drives, and have quotes from all over town. I'll beat it or I'll give them a freebie of some sorts just for coming in, if I can't do the deal.
Folks expecting a price online do not want to come in to a half dozen dealerships and have to spend hours at a time repeating the same list of desires, doing the same song and dance, to yet another dealer over and over. Maybe I am cut from a different cloth than other buyers but I don't consider it fair to get a good faith number from dealer A and use that information against dealer B. Fair is fair -- put your bid out there and let the best man win. If you don't want to provide a price and are using the so called "internet department" as just another lead generator, as a buyer I see this as a place to avoid --same old routine over at XYZ Motors. Only one place can earn the business; everyone else has to be scratched off the list for one reason or another. I'd hate for a good guy like yourself to lose simply because you were afraid to get into the ballgame. You lose and so do I by missing out on doing business with one of the good guys.
I've learned a bunch over the years but I still don't get this part of the equation.
As for loyalty, I deeply hate that this is a dying concept but it is really a thing of the past in most instances. Case in point, many decades ago my grandfather was injured at work and remained bedridden for a good while. The old timey mop and pop grocery allowed my grandparents to charge groceries until times were better. Without that generosity, my father, aunt and uncle would have suffered greatly. I recall asking my grandmother once about why she chose to pay higher prices for a limited selection of goods long after the modern supermarket chains came to town. She proceeded to tell me the story and I learned a good life lesson at a rather young age. She remained loyal to her death and bought a large percentage of her groceries there.
Still though, the
cynicalrealistic side of me says that if that were to happen to me today, things would be a bit different. I am sure that my local hometown based bank will not let me overdraw my account for the next 6 months. Nor will Duke Power, Chrysler Financial, or the telephone company allow me to slide for six months until the clouds go away. Sadly, loyalty is a two way street that big business forgot about a long time ago. Sales are off = pink slip. Payment late = cancel service, repossess. Nothing personal, come back to see us when times are better.I have done that, but dealer B is the one that I wanted to buy from, as it would be the most convenient for service and the dealer B salesman was the one whose time I had taken more of for test dirives, etc. So I gave dealer B the shot to match or at least come close to dealer A's price.
And trust me, but many of these "best price" shoppers are from out of town, who have local dealers that they shop at, but who want a price from someone far away so they have an excuse not to come in, but rather get an easy email quote that they can take to their local dealer and get a deal done on.
Why should I be a stepping stone or a"negotiator" for them when I know I won't get the business especially when you're talking about margins of a hundred or so dollars.
If all dealers are within $200, would you drive for 4 hours to buy from me, or would you ask the your local dealer to drop another $200 and get the deal done?
This is what the original poster wrote by the way:
Until "internet sales" provides the service we want:
1. offer the invoice price
2. haggle for the accessories you want
3. get the sales and managment to tell you what their lowest sale price is
4. tell them to give you some time
5. call all the other local dealers and see if they will beat the price
6. Tell the salesman what the other dealer will sell at
7. Accept their new offer or call the other dealers agin
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
That's not exactly what I was trying to describe. Some folks want to take all of the offers and go back to each for round 2, round 3, etc. until the last place slams the door in their face.
If A, B, C, D, and E are within spitting distance of each other, by all means go with B if they have spent time with you and were the one you were hoping would "win". That is worth way more than saving $200 by going to one of the others. Ideally, they all should be fairly close. I don't look at internet quotes as a more modern way to "e-grind" to the absolute bottom. Maybe this is what upsets our dealer friends.
I completely understand this and sympathize with you on this one, if someone is intent on squeezing the last penny on the deal.
And trust me, but many of these "best price" shoppers are from out of town, who have local dealers that they shop at, but who want a price from someone far away so they have an excuse not to come in, but rather get an easy email quote that they can take to their local dealer and get a deal done on.
Atlanta and Charlotte are both about 3 hours away. Would I bother for $200? No, probably not. If $200 is truly the range, I'd rather have a local dealer's sticker on the trunk (whether that has any perceived or actual value or not) and keep the money in the local economy. Wouldn't you? But for $500+, I could come down and take the family to an amusement park, aquarium, etc. with my "savings" and make a mini-vacation out of getting a new ride. Also, advantage to them if they happen to have exactly what I want on site. Even better, they might offer to bring it to me. But if they all delete my RFQ, thinking he'll never come this far, we both lose. No way to know if you don't give it a shot. (if you know they are from out of town, shouldn't you hit them a little lower than you would someone local -- knowing of course that it would take a little extra to motivate them? ...if the deal still works for you, of course!)
We're very picky on color and options. (Craig just shook his head in bewilderment, lol) What if I'm emailing you because I know you have the perfect car? I've asked this question on another website but no one has given me a response yet: How do you communicate seriousness and bargain effectively if the perfect car really is a long way from home -- too far to go check out in person? for example, a CPO 5 series in the perfect (rare) color, options, low miles, etc. How does each side protect themselves from falsehoods, scams, misrepresentation, etc.?
I agree with most of what you say traindriver. But I can also understand boomchek.
I am in the Chicago market. And there are an easy 10 dealers within a 30-40 minute drive from me.
When I leased my last car....I sent out an email to the local dealers with my info, the car (and color) I was looking for and the price I wanted. I had all types of responses. Some detailed and some with the "c'mon down pitch".
I narrowed it down, spoke to the sales man a couple of time to confirm everything and then made the appointment. I was hoping to get there, kick the tires and go right into F&I. But there was some surprises and it took me about 2.5 hours to get it down. Most of that time either waiting for the salesman and then discovering things were not what I was told. Almost got to the point of getting up and saying goodbye.
My lease is up next month. I am trying to gear down on price and then will send out my 2-3 emails to my local dealers. And for boomcheck - I do send a RFQ, with the exact make, model, color and options and i do include my full name, email, and phone number.
I am hoping this lease goes smother than the last one.
For the buyer: get the dealer to send detailed photos of the cars if they're not on their website already, plus fax an inspection report, carfax is possible.
For the sellers: leave your full name, number, email and address. Inquiries that have minimal info usually get minimal responses. Yes, I may be losing out on business by ignoring the "childish emails" but if you're a mature adult who wants to conduct a business transaction, the least you can do is introduce yourself properly. How am I going to sell you a car if we can't even get past the stage of introducing each other and exchanging our phone numbers?
I get tons of inquiries that go like this from start to finish:
Interested in your best deal on a Jeep Wrangler 4 door, full load, trading in a 96 Cherokee. Send pix and price of what u got. EMAIL ONLY
JT
:confuse: That's gonna get a "come on in email" cause I'm not even going to waste my digital camera batteries on someone who is too lazy or stubborn to even leave a name.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
See my response above.
Minimal info gets minimal response.
If I get an email from someone who actually does leave their info, they'll not only get a priority response but also I'll go out of my way to provide a competitive price to earn their business.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Not complaining, just answering an earlier post of why we just don't shoot prices into cyberspace hoping to catch a deal.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
JT
That's gonna get a "come on in email" cause I'm not even going to waste my digital camera batteries on someone who is too lazy or stubborn to even leave a name
If that is what the typical request amounts to then I don't blame you. I wouldn't waste 30 minutes, even on a slow day, to run around the lot snapping a bunch of photos and creating price lists if someone can't be more specific with the details and personal info. than that.
As far as paid inspection services go, are the inspectors generally qualified and thorough enough to base a purchase on? What's the typical resume like? retired used car manager, body shop, mechanic, etc. Is the report worth the paper its printed on? I realize nothing is a 100% guarantee but would they be able to separate the gems from the turds?
Thanks for your thoughts.
You sound like a good guy just trying to get a great deal while being upfront and fair. I have no problem with that.
Unless you have been in this business you really have no idea how downright cheap some people can be. Sometimes I'm embarrassed for them.
I wouldn't have believed it either.
What kind of "surprises" if I may ask? If the understanding has been confirmed over and over, I wouldn't call it a surprise I'd call it a lie or a deliberate trick. If I could hold my temper I might play along by coming up with a few "surprises" of my own. The original agreed to price would start dropping like a rock. I might try to play their game until I got bored. Seriously, I doubt I could buy there if I was treated that way. I don't know if I would get greater satisfaction by walking out or by pushing back hard, letting them "win" and then trashing the survey. Revenge can be therapeutic.
Hopefully that's what comes across in my posts. Live and let live. Play fair. Do what you say you are going to do. (dang, I'm naive.)
Unless you have been in this business you really have no idea how downright cheap some people can be. Sometimes I'm embarrassed for them.
I can only imagine. My wife is a teacher and I know from her that dealing with the public is not for me!
No, but we did drive about 3-4 hours round trip to save $700-1000, when local dealer would not lower their price. Another case was only 15 minutes further away for similar price difference. If it had been $200, I'd have gone with the closer one in both cases.
So, I finally said - either take off the locks and flaps or I am leaving. He finally through them in for free. I had some guilt over getting this for free..until..
We get to the lease payment. Now, I did my research. And I had all the lease data from car_man, and another edmunds poster who worked at a Honda dealer on the east coast. In fact I even built a how to calculate a lease spreadsheet, which is a still another active edmunds thread. Honda had a lease special that was going on for a good month. They come back with the payment which is hundreds of dollars off.
I start questioning the numbers and the money factor. They come back with some hideous money factor...I explain to them...what about Honda's lease plan - with this factor...of course the sales man "never heard about it" goes back the third time, comes back with the oh yeah....F&I guy just "found" it.
So now the lease payment is STILL wrong. I pull out my laptop, I back into the number and eventually find out they are still hitting me with an extra $500 for a deposit, which should be waived for Honda Loyalty since I also was a current owner of an Odyssey. I did explain this early on..and 20 minutes later...oh we didn't know it was still in there.
At this point, I am irritated, and said here is my lease payment, either its this number or get F&I in here and we can compare numbers. If there is something wrong with my calculation I will concede, otherwise I am leaving in 15 minutes.
You are right, I had another dealer about 20 minutes away who called me with a I'll match his price, but since this guy gave me the price first I thought I would owe it to him to buy from him..but I should have left after the first hassle.
I don't fault the sales guy for wanting a little extra or the F&I guy wanting to make more, but I thought this went beyond what the internet experience was supposed to be.
This dealership was the closest to our house, and we did go there for service - but I finally cut the chord with them after the tranny went out on our Odyssey at 60K miles and the service guy told my wife that our Honda Care extended warranty of 7yrs/100k miles didn't cover the trans.
I am more educated now and during this round of getting a new vehicle I am going to not only negotiate the price, but the lease payment over the phone and get something faxed to me before I step in to sign.
At this point???? :surprise:
My gosh! You are a patient man, golic. You could have stopped at the $800 mudflaps and I would have been pissed. That would have been all I needed to jet out the door. I would have to double up in the collection plate on Sunday to atone for the words that would have spewed out my mouth.
This is what one should look like:
Thank you for your inquiry into a new 2009 Honda Accord EX-L sedan auto... Your out the door price for SC would be $24400 (including all fees, options, destination charge, sales tax, doc fee) No hidden costs and we have 3.9% for interest rate specials on a 60 month loan.
You are more patient than me
Just curious, how did they try to justify that? What did you do? And what was the outcome? Inquiring minds want to know
I then called honda care directley..the rep couldn't believe a honda dealer told me this. he then gave me a claim number to get the work done.
I called the servce guy back and ask him what the status was and questoned the warranty.
I then told the guy to just tow the car to dealer x and to use my honda claim ticket to cover the warranty repair.
I get a call soon after from service manager apologizing saying rep is new and didn't understand what honda care is....got some free stuff, but that was our last dealing with that dealershp.
I'm amazed at how service departments try to get out of warranty work. I know they have their reasons (not reimbursed enough for example), but in the long run, it hurts them.
I feel like such a rube when buying a car and just have this horrible feeling that I'm always getting taken advantage of.
Thanks
Eric
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Kind of depends on if the dealer has added anything to it. The invoice plus destination price is $22,534. (Don't know if your price quote included dest.) I believe there is a $500 dealer cash incentive from Honda right now (which they don't have to pass on to you.)
If you can find more info about dealer add ons and whether the price quote included destination charges ($670), we could give you more of a definitive answer.
According to Edmunds TMV, people are paying below invoice in your area right now.
The CRV Prices Paid forum is the best place to get this info... and I see you've already posted there.
I am new here so forgive me if I ask a stupid question. I am still working my way through this site and have a lot to learn. i am really thoroughly impressed.
Anyways, my question is should I use the "Get Dealer Quotes" part of this site or do I call a dealership or the manufacturer and ask for the Internet Manager to get the quotes for the model I want.
Thanks!!
JC