In a free market market economy the profit is whatever the market will bear.
In a socialist economy the entire process is politicized and arbitrary. Think Yugo.
As many of you know profit margins are in decline thanks to the entrepreneurs on the internet.
Contrary to prior posts I have had extremely positive experiences with car dealers and their personel. And I am a very intense negotiator and I do a great deal of homework in preparation.
In fact some of the most professional salespeople that I have met are in the auto business. They have a tough job working 60 hour weeks and customers can be very difficult.
I will say that for me salesmen have been a mixed bag. The good ones are jewels.
I was very pleased with out last experience and more than for just the fact that I knew the used car manager so the deal was already done before I even met the salesman. It has more to do with the time he took to make sure we understood all the little things on the car, including programming the bluetooth for my wife's phone.
I'm still waiting on a survey. They'll ace it.
I've had knuckleheads as well. I try to make it a point to not buy from them.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
A store trying to make some kind of a profit and a cheap customer trying to wring every last dollar out of the deal.
But dont you agree that if a store makes a mistake and misquotes something they ought to honor that quote since it got you talking to them in the first place? (and probably gave them first right of refusal). I'm not talking about thousands of dollars here, but $400 or $500. I believe an ethical dealer and salesman would honor the mistake and accept that it was there error that cost them a bit of money, but that it made for one lucky customer.
Otherwise, it reeks of purposely deceitful bait and switch practices.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
I think my use of the words "scum" and untrustworthy were slight overkill. Sometimes online in forums I'm guilty of strengthening my adjectives beyond what is necessary to really get the point across.
I've met at least one or two good honest salesman as well. However, I have yet to meet one that really goes over all the functions and nuances of the vehicles controls. You know, the little details. I know some dealerships are better than others, just as some salesman are better than others.
I just seem to find that turnover is a big problem because the young one's never seem to know much about the product. The OLD guy did though.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
A store trying to make some kind of a profit and a cheap customer trying to wring every last dollar out of the deal.
I think the reason the OP has trouble finding good salespeople is because he shops price only, and stores that are aggressive on price only hire order takers who work for flats and don't stay there longer than 3 months and who probably don't care about learning the product.
If he'd actually try walking in a reputable dealership or one recomended by friends and family and not worry about price so much, he'd see that there are professionals out there who will not only look after him but also give him a fair price.
It's like going to a dollar store and then complaining that the service and product quality sucks. :confuse:
It's one thing to make a mistake and another thing to misquote a customer just to get them in the door. In the case of a small misquote, the store should probably honor the quote.
Ive told this story before and I'm still loving it!
A couple of years ago, one of our lot attendants hung the wrong sale tag in an Odyssey. It was a MAJOR mistake! We would have lost over 2000.00 dollars had we honored that sale tag.
It didn't take olong for a sharp eyed customer to see that tag.
Immediatly the sales person knew a huge mistake had been made and he went to our Sales Manager with the tag. The SM was horrified but he told the salesperson that we would honor that price since it was clearly on the tag.
Do you think the customer would realize that a huge mistake had been made and would not hold the store to that number?
Or do you think the customer would have rubbed their hands together in glee and snapped up that Odyssey?
Nope! That's not what happened. The customer actually offered less. Much less.
So, they sent me in.
I did have a language barrier but I was able to explain the situation. I told them that the Odyssey had been mistagged but we would honor the price.
Nope, not good enough!
I then told them thatI would only honor that price NOW! I told them that if they left, I would re tag the Odyssey at the correct price.
They didn't believe me and much to our great relief, they left!
Two hours later after no doubt shopping that number at several different stores they returned. The stood in disbelief talking amongst themselves as they stared at the new sale tag.
Typical situation when car dealers behave like a scum. I had an e-mail with prices including docs, registration & etc fees. When dealer bring me printed paper work in a dealership, I saw a different numbers. I put fat X on a papers and throw them in a face a dealer, and went to competitor with a higher price.
Of course, you can't REALLY know that, unless you have 3 or 4 competing quotes.
Oh a little poking around on the internet and you could know that real well.
As I said before with my last purchase I knew that I was getting a deal on the car (I did research and found that I could expect to pay about $2K more for the same car) so we snapped it up. Thats not to say I didn't test the waters and try to get the price down a bit but win or lose on that I was buying the car.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
"But dont you agree that if a store makes a mistake and misquotes something they ought to honor that quote since it got you talking to them in the first place? (and probably gave them first right of refusal). I'm not talking about thousands of dollars here, but $400 or $500. I believe an ethical dealer and salesman would honor the mistake and accept that it was there error that cost them a bit of money, but that it made for one lucky customer.
Otherwise, it reeks of purposely deceitful bait and switch practices"
I agree with this 100%... unfortunately, it is usually not a 'mistake' but a true bait and switch. My wife and I have tried for years to buy vehicles in our community to allow the tax dollars to stay here....and we have been met with the typical hoo-ha from the sales people like "come on down, we have several in that color to choose from", then finding NONE there when we arrive 20 minutes later. Or, "I'm sorry, that price I quoted you was for the wrong vehicle..." Or, the time last year I was at the dealership checkbook in hand to order a vehicle and the price suddenly went up over $500 and the salesman said he'd "have to look into why the sudden price increase occured" and then never called me back...but I did get an email from the General manager asking me to come in to 're-negotiate' the price, if I still wanted the vehicle.
I could go on and on but we've all seen this. Our solution is to call an old acquaintance (sp?) who is a Fleet manager at a dealership over 100 miles away...he is knowledgeable, friendly, courteous, and he gives me a fair price and always sticks to it....which is why we just bought our 4th vehicle from him....and there are others out there just like him...good, hardworking, honest people who are decent.
And, to the topic at hand...if the dealer makes nothing at all, then they will go out of business, so I have no problems with them making a 'fair' profit.....I know that is a subjective statement; however, when dealing with an honest car person, like the one I mentioned, I've never felt that I got anything other than a decent deal on the car, and the lack of hassle is more than enough for me in that regard....and my example is our last purchase where we went to truecar.com and found we paid $3 more than the true dealer cost....I can't complain about that at all and I'm sure the dealer made money and was happy to make a sale.
Gee, I bet the dealer was thrilled with that. Probably split all that profit up and paid the salesperson maybe $1.50. Bet they had a big party to celebrate. :P
Yes, you'r right. Thjey probably made a tiny bit of (gasp) profit and they moved a unit.
Usually the most frugal of customers clip coupons and take their cars to the Quickie Lube shops if they can save 5.00 on an oil change. Once these cars are out of warranty we don't see them.
And, I'm sure the license plate frames get customers here on the run!
That dealer in LA didn't require a purchase before the end of the month for nothing, they probably made a boat load of riches for meeting some special sales target for the month or quarter....
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
That dealer in LA didn't require a purchase before the end of the month for nothing ...
They can require anything they want but you're certainly not compelled to make the purchase - period. And, so what if an incentive is involved? I don't know what line of business you are in but incentives are virtually universal and for good reason. They work. Moreover, a sale isn't a sale unless and until two parties agree to terms. That's how free markets work. What exactly are you expecting from merchants?
Doesn't Honda American pay the Honda dealer "money" when a warranty repair is performed?
I do believe that's true for every make. But you can go to any dealership to get warranty work done.
While the plate holder does get the dealership name out there how much business does it actually drive? My guess is very little. My guess is that if someone sees the new Buiyota Benz sludgemobile and likes it they will go to the Buiyota Benz dealer they know not the one on the license plate holder.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I don't know what line of business you are in but incentives are virtually universal and for good reason.
Not really true, manufacturers give incentives based on what the seller sells and how fast they pay for inventory. A manufacturer may give more or better incentives to a dealer that sells 250 cars a month over one that sells 100.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I actually spoke with the person who sold us the vehicle regarding this....I hadn't beat him up on price, he gave it to me straight up, BTW. He said that after he got his $100 for selling the vehicle, the dealer actually made $387. From there it is all incentives from toyota...from there, depending on the number of sales for the month, the dealer could make easily another $1000 to $1500 depending on how I responded to the survey, etc...and he also would get incentives, up to another $200 total, again, depending on how I responded to the survey, how many units he moves in the month, etc....so they do just fine on the sale....and only their bean counters will know in the end how much they make on the sale....
He's been there as the Toyota Fleet manager for years and said there are so many layers of incentives at times, it can spin your head....so it is a little more complicated than you think...so.....who knows, they may have been celebrating!...and My wife and I are happy with our deal...isn't that what it's all about?
Funny as they gave me a 4 yr/45k maintenance package for a small fee..so I won't be paying for anything for awhile....Toyota is being quite generous these days when making sales...but I'm sure that the dealer will make money on this by billing Toyota...
As to getting the dealers name out there (dealer stickers, lic plate frames, whatever), at least from my salespersons perspective, he thinks it works as we live over 100 miles away from his dealership and once he started selling cars up in my neck of the woods, he's seen a huge increase in sales over the last 5 years...and they don't advertise here at all...to him it's all word of mouth and people seeing his cars driving around in my community....and we had a Big City Las Vegas Dealer buy out our local Toyota dealership....and they lose quite a bit to Tim's in Prescott, the dealer we buy at....I think that Tim's, and their Toyota Fleet manager, just knows better how to treat people...in all the years we've bought cars there, we've never been treated poorly by anyone at any level...and that is saying something about a dealership.
Now, in a big metro area like a Phoenix, it may not matter; however, it certainly does in a smaller community like where I live, Flagstaff, AZ....hard to say how much of this is word of mouth; however, advertising is cummulative, so I'm sure it all adds up together.
It seems these car buying sites are a dime a dozen.
And car classified sites too. I get salespeople from those sites trying ot get us to sign up all the time saying their sites are the next best thing. But even the established ones are having trouble competing against free sites like craigslist or kijiji.
I learned about Edmunds when I started with Honda in 2003. Honda was receiving a ton of awards from Edmunds so I checked out the site in 2004 to see what it's all about. And now after 4000 forum posts and almost 6 years later here we are.
You misunderstood what I wrote. The incentives are nearly universal but I wasn't suggesting that everyone actually receives them. Not everyone can be in the "top ten" but everyone can try.
I get salespeople from those sites trying ot get us to sign up all the time saying their sites are the next best thing. But even the established ones are having trouble competing against free sites like craigslist or kijiji.
Here in Chicago the Chicago Automobile Trade Association has their own website where dealerships can advertise their inventories.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
that's why I responded again, since I felt I could have done a better job explaining where that 'true dealer cost' came from (it was a recommended website, not the dealer).....hard to get some points across on a forum versus over a few beers! :shades:
We have a trade website too but not many people go on it.
There are just so many different websites for advertising inventory, and all claiming to be the be the enxt best thing. We just stick with the ones that worked for us or ones that are free, simple and easy to use for us and customers, and have a lot of traffic like Craigslist.
Do they advertise your trade website? I hear ads for the one in Chicago many times a day. Can't say what their traffic is but they do get the name out there.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
No they don't, that's the problem. But we even used some widely advertised sites and didn't get great results. We'll stick to what we have and once in a while I'll experiment with something new.
As a dealer I completely agree. If I could sell every car for a pre-determined profit (i.e. no haggle price) and have happy customers I would do that all day. The truth is the most unhappy customers are the one's that have the the least amount of respect or care for our dealership or the service we are trying to provide. I know this because those are usually the people that get the best price and still bash us on surveys and say we "ripped them off". The best customers are the ones that are the most reasonable, respectful (they don't lie to us to get better deals), and understand we appreciate their business because they had a choice and chose to shop with us. Nothing is more frustrating when you try to give someone what they ask for and then they balk because they think it was too easy and they feel like they are not getting a good deal. Imagine the people that say they hate haggling over a car price, now imagine doing that 5-10 times a day. If you are an informed respectful shopper you should have no problem getting a good deal on a great car you want. Luckily most of my customers are this way, unfortunately like anything else, the few really do leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth and make the process much more difficult.
As a dealer, I do agree that the customer that pays the least are usually the most unhappy and are also the ones that are prone to ask for more free stuff for nothing. I will also agree but hopefully state it better that in my experience (5 years) a customer is more likely to be untruthful in a negotiation or transaction. If you think about it, I have laws to abide by, other dealers to keep me in check, and websites like this to provide accurate information. Most if the time people are ok in any transaction, I'm just mentioning the bad apples.
One of my first deals ever was for a young guy on a new Accord. He grinded us and a competing dealer to the last dollar and finally came back to and bought a new 4 cylinder Accord EXL on which we made nothing.
About a week later he comes in and wants to return it and get a V6 Accord because to him the 4 cylinder was underpowered (he test drove both numerous times, and declined another test drive during his last grind session).
Since the car was sold, registered, RDR'd, and insured we couldn't take it back as new. We offered trade value which he didn't want. He threatened to sue us and tried to show off his knowledge of the law but came up short. He finally left and said his lawyers will call us and sue us..
Nothing ever materialized of it and I haven't heard from him until about 3 months later when he was in for one of his free oil changes we gave him as part of his initial deal.
It was my day off but I got a call at home from a service advisor because the guy insisted on a car wash with his oil change, which was part of a more expensive oil change package which he didn't get, he just had a basic free oil change.
I told the service advisor not to give him anything at all for free excpet for the oil change he has (as Sales dept would have to pay for it), so the customer got on the phone with me asking me to do him favors and throw in the free car wash.
And this is after he grinded us down to a nothing deal, then threatened to sue us because he wanted a different car, and now he's asking for favors!
Grinders like this never stop and as you say go through their lives being miserable and expecting everyone to give them something for nothing. Sometimes even a mini deal is not worth the headache these people cause afterwards.
Comments
In a free market market economy the profit is whatever the market will bear.
In a socialist economy the entire process is politicized and arbitrary. Think Yugo.
As many of you know profit margins are in decline thanks to the entrepreneurs on the internet.
Contrary to prior posts I have had extremely positive experiences with car dealers and their personel. And I am a very intense negotiator and I do a great deal of homework in preparation.
In fact some of the most professional salespeople that I have met are in the auto business. They have a tough job working 60 hour weeks and customers can be very difficult.
I was very pleased with out last experience and more than for just the fact that I knew the used car manager so the deal was already done before I even met the salesman. It has more to do with the time he took to make sure we understood all the little things on the car, including programming the bluetooth for my wife's phone.
I'm still waiting on a survey. They'll ace it.
I've had knuckleheads as well. I try to make it a point to not buy from them.
I submit the Real Estate business is also with buyers skilled at purchasing.
But dont you agree that if a store makes a mistake and misquotes something they ought to honor that quote since it got you talking to them in the first place? (and probably gave them first right of refusal). I'm not talking about thousands of dollars here, but $400 or $500. I believe an ethical dealer and salesman would honor the mistake and accept that it was there error that cost them a bit of money, but that it made for one lucky customer.
Otherwise, it reeks of purposely deceitful bait and switch practices.
I've met at least one or two good honest salesman as well. However, I have yet to meet one that really goes over all the functions and nuances of the vehicles controls. You know, the little details. I know some dealerships are better than others, just as some salesman are better than others.
I just seem to find that turnover is a big problem because the young one's never seem to know much about the product. The OLD guy did though.
I think the reason the OP has trouble finding good salespeople is because he shops price only, and stores that are aggressive on price only hire order takers who work for flats and don't stay there longer than 3 months and who probably don't care about learning the product.
If he'd actually try walking in a reputable dealership or one recomended by friends and family and not worry about price so much, he'd see that there are professionals out there who will not only look after him but also give him a fair price.
It's like going to a dollar store and then complaining that the service and product quality sucks. :confuse:
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Ive told this story before and I'm still loving it!
A couple of years ago, one of our lot attendants hung the wrong sale tag in an Odyssey. It was a MAJOR mistake! We would have lost over 2000.00 dollars had we honored that sale tag.
It didn't take olong for a sharp eyed customer to see that tag.
Immediatly the sales person knew a huge mistake had been made and he went to our Sales Manager with the tag. The SM was horrified but he told the salesperson that we would honor that price since it was clearly on the tag.
Do you think the customer would realize that a huge mistake had been made and would not hold the store to that number?
Or do you think the customer would have rubbed their hands together in glee and snapped up that Odyssey?
Nope! That's not what happened. The customer actually offered less. Much less.
So, they sent me in.
I did have a language barrier but I was able to explain the situation. I told them that the Odyssey had been mistagged but we would honor the price.
Nope, not good enough!
I then told them thatI would only honor that price NOW! I told them that if they left, I would re tag the Odyssey at the correct price.
They didn't believe me and much to our great relief, they left!
Two hours later after no doubt shopping that number at several different stores they returned. The stood in disbelief talking amongst themselves as they stared at the new sale tag.
" Remember what I told you?" I wasn't kidding.
They left slowly shaking their heads.
Part of being a good negotiator is knowing when you've struck a good deal. You got to know a good deal when you see one.
Of course, you can't REALLY know that, unless you have 3 or 4 competing quotes.
Oh, how I enjoyed that day!
It does not follow that the salesman has "no knowledge of their product" just because you did your research.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
I get asked questions all of the time I don't know the answers to. When this happens, I'll look it up.
These are usually the oddball questions that we rarely get asked like "What is the wheelbase of this car?"
As a buyer, I could care less what the wheelbase is so I don't try to memorize stuff like that. Easy enought o look up.
Oh a little poking around on the internet and you could know that real well.
As I said before with my last purchase I knew that I was getting a deal on the car (I did research and found that I could expect to pay about $2K more for the same car) so we snapped it up. Thats not to say I didn't test the waters and try to get the price down a bit but win or lose on that I was buying the car.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Who says I ask any questions other than "do you have this car in this color with these options and if so how much?"
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Otherwise, it reeks of purposely deceitful bait and switch practices"
I agree with this 100%... unfortunately, it is usually not a 'mistake' but a true bait and switch. My wife and I have tried for years to buy vehicles in our community to allow the tax dollars to stay here....and we have been met with the typical hoo-ha from the sales people like "come on down, we have several in that color to choose from", then finding NONE there when we arrive 20 minutes later. Or, "I'm sorry, that price I quoted you was for the wrong vehicle..." Or, the time last year I was at the dealership checkbook in hand to order a vehicle and the price suddenly went up over $500 and the salesman said he'd "have to look into why the sudden price increase occured" and then never called me back...but I did get an email from the General manager asking me to come in to 're-negotiate' the price, if I still wanted the vehicle.
I could go on and on but we've all seen this. Our solution is to call an old acquaintance (sp?) who is a Fleet manager at a dealership over 100 miles away...he is knowledgeable, friendly, courteous, and he gives me a fair price and always sticks to it....which is why we just bought our 4th vehicle from him....and there are others out there just like him...good, hardworking, honest people who are decent.
And, to the topic at hand...if the dealer makes nothing at all, then they will go out of business, so I have no problems with them making a 'fair' profit.....I know that is a subjective statement; however, when dealing with an honest car person, like the one I mentioned, I've never felt that I got anything other than a decent deal on the car, and the lack of hassle is more than enough for me in that regard....and my example is our last purchase where we went to truecar.com and found we paid $3 more than the true dealer cost....I can't complain about that at all and I'm sure the dealer made money and was happy to make a sale.
It seems these car buying sites are a dime a dozen.
Not Edmunds. I remember buying their magazines when I was in high school and that was a few years ago!
Gee, I bet the dealer was thrilled with that. Probably split all that profit up and paid the salesperson maybe $1.50. Bet they had a big party to celebrate. :P
Second, they wouldn't have agreed to sell the car if they weren't making money.
Third, they'll make a ton on you in service.
Fourth, they get free advertisement if they install your license plate holders.
No law says you have to go back to that dealership for service. Or any dealership for that matter.
Fourth, they get free advertisement if they install your license plate holders.
How many people actually read what the plate holder says and of those who do how many remember what was on it?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
" TON'S OF MONEY"
Sounds like you've got it all figured out.
Yes, you'r right. Thjey probably made a tiny bit of (gasp) profit and they moved a unit.
Usually the most frugal of customers clip coupons and take their cars to the Quickie Lube shops if they can save 5.00 on an oil change. Once these cars are out of warranty we don't see them.
And, I'm sure the license plate frames get customers here on the run!
Doesn't Honda American pay the Honda dealer "money" when a warranty repair is performed? Or any manufacturer pay for the labor on warranty repairs?
I think the license plate holders definitely get a dealer's name "out there."
I simply ask my dealers not to put them on - and they (all) happily comply. So what is the problem?
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
They can require anything they want but you're certainly not compelled to make the purchase - period. And, so what if an incentive is involved? I don't know what line of business you are in but incentives are virtually universal and for good reason. They work. Moreover, a sale isn't a sale unless and until two parties agree to terms. That's how free markets work. What exactly are you expecting from merchants?
they probably ...
Never mind. I withdraw my previous question.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
I do believe that's true for every make. But you can go to any dealership to get warranty work done.
While the plate holder does get the dealership name out there how much business does it actually drive? My guess is very little. My guess is that if someone sees the new Buiyota Benz sludgemobile and likes it they will go to the Buiyota Benz dealer they know not the one on the license plate holder.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Not really true, manufacturers give incentives based on what the seller sells and how fast they pay for inventory. A manufacturer may give more or better incentives to a dealer that sells 250 cars a month over one that sells 100.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
He's been there as the Toyota Fleet manager for years and said there are so many layers of incentives at times, it can spin your head....so it is a little more complicated than you think...so.....who knows, they may have been celebrating!...and My wife and I are happy with our deal...isn't that what it's all about?
As to getting the dealers name out there (dealer stickers, lic plate frames, whatever), at least from my salespersons perspective, he thinks it works as we live over 100 miles away from his dealership and once he started selling cars up in my neck of the woods, he's seen a huge increase in sales over the last 5 years...and they don't advertise here at all...to him it's all word of mouth and people seeing his cars driving around in my community....and we had a Big City Las Vegas Dealer buy out our local Toyota dealership....and they lose quite a bit to Tim's in Prescott, the dealer we buy at....I think that Tim's, and their Toyota Fleet manager, just knows better how to treat people...in all the years we've bought cars there, we've never been treated poorly by anyone at any level...and that is saying something about a dealership.
Now, in a big metro area like a Phoenix, it may not matter; however, it certainly does in a smaller community like where I live, Flagstaff, AZ....hard to say how much of this is word of mouth; however, advertising is cummulative, so I'm sure it all adds up together.
JMHO
The frame I always notice is the Brass/Chrome ones usually on very expensive cars.
The Black plastic frames usually crystalize, crack, & look disrespectful after a few years on the Honda.
And car classified sites too. I get salespeople from those sites trying ot get us to sign up all the time saying their sites are the next best thing. But even the established ones are having trouble competing against free sites like craigslist or kijiji.
I learned about Edmunds when I started with Honda in 2003. Honda was receiving a ton of awards from Edmunds so I checked out the site in 2004 to see what it's all about. And now after 4000 forum posts and almost 6 years later here we are.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Because incentives change from month to month. So the price could be different the next month.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Sorry, I took this literally.
At 10%, it will be easier to calculate, huh? :mad:
On a 10,000 trade, that's 1000.00.
This would not be a good thing!
You misunderstood what I wrote. The incentives are nearly universal but I wasn't suggesting that everyone actually receives them. Not everyone can be in the "top ten" but everyone can try.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Here in Chicago the Chicago Automobile Trade Association has their own website where dealerships can advertise their inventories.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
jwilliams2,
that's why I responded again, since I felt I could have done a better job explaining where that 'true dealer cost' came from (it was a recommended website, not the dealer).....hard to get some points across on a forum versus over a few beers! :shades:
Very true. Maybe over a few Gennys.
There are just so many different websites for advertising inventory, and all claiming to be the be the enxt best thing. We just stick with the ones that worked for us or ones that are free, simple and easy to use for us and customers, and have a lot of traffic like Craigslist.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
The miserable grinders who pit dealer against dealer in their efforts to squeeze the last cent out of a deal are the least happy.
I'm afraid tht is how they go through life.
I'll see them years later in the Service Dept whining over the price of an oil change.
One of my first deals ever was for a young guy on a new Accord. He grinded us and a competing dealer to the last dollar and finally came back to and bought a new 4 cylinder Accord EXL on which we made nothing.
About a week later he comes in and wants to return it and get a V6 Accord because to him the 4 cylinder was underpowered (he test drove both numerous times, and declined another test drive during his last grind session).
Since the car was sold, registered, RDR'd, and insured we couldn't take it back as new. We offered trade value which he didn't want. He threatened to sue us and tried to show off his knowledge of the law but came up short. He finally left and said his lawyers will call us and sue us..
Nothing ever materialized of it and I haven't heard from him until about 3 months later when he was in for one of his free oil changes we gave him as part of his initial deal.
It was my day off but I got a call at home from a service advisor because the guy insisted on a car wash with his oil change, which was part of a more expensive oil change package which he didn't get, he just had a basic free oil change.
I told the service advisor not to give him anything at all for free excpet for the oil change he has (as Sales dept would have to pay for it), so the customer got on the phone with me asking me to do him favors and throw in the free car wash.
And this is after he grinded us down to a nothing deal, then threatened to sue us because he wanted a different car, and now he's asking for favors!
Grinders like this never stop and as you say go through their lives being miserable and expecting everyone to give them something for nothing. Sometimes even a mini deal is not worth the headache these people cause afterwards.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Whenever I miss the business I'll just think of people like him.
What a miserable way to go through life!
When? I thought you'd be around the I 90 Honda shop for many more years.
Good Luck to you,
E