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I recall shopping Buicks long ago at a metro Cincy dealer who owned the Reds at the time (identity shall remain anonymous) and the car had special wax, pin stripes, and 3M cloth protector spray (available for $5 at KMart) all for up to $500. that would be $1500 today. Most cars in the intermediate group I was looking at had the stuff already listed on th addon sticker. Chutzpah.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
WOW.... that was a pretty good close can I use that one too?
You might be trying to solicit business when you close like that.
Keep up the good work Rich...
GP
cheap, economical, price effiecent, tight with there money, think every one is out to get themWhen dealers add those items, why do you think we do it. Welllll, I will tell you.
Because people buy them.
Just because most of the consumers here wouldn't doesn't mean they have to bash dealers all the time for selling something that someone see value in.
If people were not buying this stuff. Dealers would not go out of their way to install. Why would a dealer want to loose money on something nobody would buy?
GP
On the lighter side did anyone hear about the New York Police officer who got a vanity plate that said " GET OSAMA"...
Some liberal person is complaining that it is offensive and asking the registry of NY to make him change his plate............. :confuse:
Oh one more thing. Does anyone still have any doubts that the Pats can't go 16-0 this year?
GP
I'll just sell them a car that's in transit and stop the accessories. We DO install these when the cars are prepped.
I don't tell anybody the cars come with these items. They don't. We install them.
If it weren't already on the car as a mandatory "option," would people not buy it? After all it can easily be added to the vehicle during prep.
It's like the "optional" ticket charge for Ticketmaster when I buy tickets to almost any event at a publicly paid for and publicly built arenas, e.g. Is it an _option_ I would have chosen? But Ticketmaster probably says people pay it so they want the additional charge.
Or the reverse is that I drink caffeine free diet cola. I stop at a large chain of gas station stores along the interstate and they won't have any 12-pack cans of caffeine free diet colar but they have 45 kinds of beer in the cooler already cold. They will either say they don't have room to stock all types of cola or they will say the coke delivery guy doesn't leave any because they don't sell it. To that I respond if you don't stock any you won't sell any to justify stocking it again, duh. When they give me any come back that's even dumber I just mention I'll call corporate offices in the morning or the district office in Ohio for the subsidiary stores.
Why not stock cars without the addons and install them when the customer "wants it and buys it." That way people who don't want that don't have to wait for a "car in transit" to arrive sometime in the future.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
But do they buy them because they want those things or because they can't get a car without them? I wonder if customers were offered a choice would they scream "I'm not buying that sludgemobile unless it has wheel locks!"
BTW, I AM cheap and think everyone is out to get me .
I was wandering a Nissan lot on Sunday and listed on the sticker for every car I looked at was "Floor Mats--$175". Those must be some nice floor mats.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Carpet mats are less then 150 bucks.
Why not stock cars without the addons? Because for every customer that complains, there are 10 that don't.
At the end of the model year at Clearance Time, we leave all accessories off. We get shopped to death by "bargain shoppers" at this time and a set of splash guards can kill a sale.
Add ons can be After market roofs, after market leather, Road Block, pro pack, touch of class, heated seats , spoilers, mudflaps, pinstripes, bedliners, special wheels, etc...
We try to put it on the popular colors. We put them in the showroom so customers can see and feel them. If people want it on a different color now they know what they are buying when they see them on a particular car.
GP
Exactly.
A couple of months ago I started driving a new way to work because of construction on my normal route. I actually like the new route better and will continue to use it after they finish construction on the regular route but that is not the point of this story.
I stopped by a package store I had never been in on the way home one night to pick up some Modello. I don't see any on the shelfs or in the cooler so I ask the guy at the register if they have any.
"Modelo what the hell is that?" He says.
"Its this good mexican beer they make Modelo negra and modelo especial. It is good beer comes in a funny short fat bottle."
"Sorry never hear of it," he replies. "The only mexican beer we stock is corona cause that is the only one that sells. Plus most of those mexican beers have the shelf life of ________________________." Censored so as not to offend Richards delicate ears. :P
This demonstrates two things that get discussed on here all the time.
1: Stores carry what sells the most.
2: What sells the most isn't necessarily the best.
Corona is nasty beer IMO. Modelo especial or negra is much better even though they are all made by the same company.
But do they buy them because they want those things or because they can't get a car without them? I wonder if customers were offered a choice would they scream "I'm not buying that sludgemobile unless it has wheel locks!"
We put clear bras on all our Range Rovers, Range Rover Sports and Service loaners. We do this because this is Colorado (average windshield life about 60-90 days before pitting ot cracked" because you would not believe how many hoods we have repainted on trades due to rock chips and do not want to mar a new car. On the cars we do not put a clear bra on at least 85% of buyers want one put on.
Correction: stores stock what makes most profit with least amount of effort. Although close, it is not the same thing. Nothghing wrong with that unless of course you are a consumer who wants something else.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
2018 430i Gran Coupe
A) discounted for the $600-800 to repaint the hood
You just might want a clear bra. Also, the plastic on a couch is much more noticeable and lessens the comfort level. Not true with a clear bra - it is hardly noticeable.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Now someone who does a poor job waxing the vehicle will leave a line of wax residue where the bra ends but that is it.
Some items with a high margin aren't good sellers so they won't be stocked.
I guess you have to be in retail your whole life (like me) to understand.
In one religion, earning "profit" is actually banned on certain transactions
So, during a slow week where I only deliver a car or two - and of course they happen to be mini deals - I've made a whopping $75 or $150 for my family. I take the draw and pay it off the next week, if I happened to make any gross.
In talking to the guys who have been at our dealership for 6 or more years, they say this is the absolute worse pay structure, spiff, bonus, etc. they have ever experienced. Traffic is slow, the shoppers are shopping and they buyers are lying.
In fact, I've had 3 deals this past week that were happy and satisfied with price, a buyers order drawn up and signed and one of them "blew out" in finance, another needed to bring their trade in (sometime today?), because they hadn't considered it earlier but wanted to know what they could get for it, and finally the last one who had to leave to pick up kids and just hasn't bothered to come back in and take delivery or have the decency to call.
Whats with this business that just brings out the worst in people? I had spent over two hours of my day with each of these people - demoing cars, going over all the features and benefits, getting them the price THAT THEY OFFERED ME, had the deals done (or so I thought), and POOF! I left early on Saturday because I just felt beat down and worthless, and seriously considered walking away for good.
I haven't sold a car since last Tuesday (a mini), and I'm really starting to doubt if I am going to be able to make this a career.
Highs and lows. The highs are nice and things just seem to roll along, but the lows are much lower than the highest high, and the swings are killing me. Its like mood on any given day, week, or month is determined by how many cars I'm selling and I'm having a hard time separating the bad work days from my home life.
Help......
I order grilled chicken toppings and the response was "Sorry- we do not carry chicken". It does not sell in this neighborhood.
After 28 years with high school students and 12 years with teachers, you couldn't put a word on this site that I haven't seen or heard.
So far it is working as I am having a much better month now then I did last month. I struck out las week and that sucks but because I got a lot of bonus money last week it evens out.
Nope, it also got fuel and air filters, plugs, and maybe coolant...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
It is of course a self-propelling loop. The advantages (quick stock turnover, high profits) far outweigh "lost opportunity" risk presented by not stoking models/trims that are believed unpopular, but could actually sell if only given a chance. Nobody wants to take that chance and I don't blame them. It's just an observation from a non-mainstream customer.
Going back to accessories - all I have a problem is appearances of no "opt-out" choice. I know it works and sells, but in every other area of public business bundling wanted and unwanted product for extra profit is often prosecuted by anti-trust laws. Sometimes it is even called extortion. Car retail business calls it "good business".
Send a long-legged Suzy (or bodybuilder Sam, if that works on others
But we I walk on your lot and see your little extortion scheme by preloading every car on the lot, I'm ready to walk out - and angry. I might even change the brand. That Civic at 16K may be a bargain (even at MSRP
2018 430i Gran Coupe
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Good one, Mack! It was Harry Morgan and his character name was Gannon, I believe. Sgt. Friday must be one of the most spoofed characters from TV. I always liked the Friday-like library cop in Seinfeld.
Gogiboy
Don't wax: Zaino!
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
Are you selling a bad product? If so - switch to the brand you believe in.
Is your pay plan bad? Negotiate a better one, or find a better place to work.
The rest is up to you.
We only preload the items that most buyers want anyway. No paint protection etc.
Very few people have a problem with this.
I did have a "thrifty" customer on Saturday who refused to pay for ANY accessories on a Touring Odyssey. No problem, I threw them in and told the customer I would simply remove the cargo tray that we install in Odysseys that they saw no value in.
Ah, but alas, they had SEEN the cargo tray...you know, the one they didn't want, so they demanded I throw that in too! Sorry, didn't work!
With all respect............. I think it is weak for someone to run out of a store because a ADM on a vehicle. It is the same thing as pre-qualifying a store. Thatis like saying oh this person is wearing ripped jeans and driving a 1992 Buick. We shouldn't wait on that person. Maybe I am taking it personaly because we do ADM's on some of our vehicles, but I work in a brand new state of the art store. We offer a lot of service to our customers that someone would miss out on if some were to run out and miss it because of a ADM............
It is one thing if you go into a dealership and they treat you with disrespect...
but isn't everyone innocent untill proven guilty???
ALl I am saying is you shouldn't run out because of a peice of paper on a car. Especialy people that come here. You guys are the ones that are educatedand shouldn't be afraid of anything.
GP
1 Bottle Tequila
1 12 Pack of Corona
Take one shot of tequila and chase with a swig of beer
Continue process until you are drunk enough to pass out
When you wake up in the morning the hiccups will be gone.
If we lived closer to each other I would come and administer the procedure by giving you an example on each and every step.
BE AWARE THAT THERE ARE STILL DEALERS OUT THERE THAT JUST DONT CAREABOUT YOU ALL THEY WANT IS TO SELL A CAR MAKE THE MOST THEY CAN AND DONT THINK ABOUT MAKEING YOU A FRIEND THAT WILL BUY FOR YEARS TO COME AND SEND ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO. MOST OF THE TIME YOU ONLY WANT TO GO BACK TO THEM TO [non-permissible content removed] THEM OUT AND THAT IS SAD. GREAT JOB GUYS!!!!!!!!!! MAYBE ALL OF THE STORES YOU HAVE TOGETHER CAN BRAKE THE 200 MARK FOR A MONTH.
PEOPLE IN NJ SHOULD THINK ABOUT GOING TO A DIFFERENT STATE THAT IS NOT TO FAR AND DEAL WITH THE BEST..
Chances are you have actually made money on the houses but certainly not the cars. New car depreciation is typically your biggest expense. Of course I could be wrong.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Nothing wrong with that. They don't want to pay, you don't want to throw it in, then they don't get it.
I still don't agree with preloading. If most buyers want them, then you should have no problem selling them and adding them during prep. But I guess we will just have to disagree on that.
GP, I don't think that's a problem. I actually like seeing some accessories on the cars to see what they look like. I would probably not buy it, I do understand why they are nice to have in showrooms. What customers have a problem is when dealers ADM every vehicle and say that's the way they come.
By the way - I actually bought a bunch of accessories (cargo tray, net, and such) with my last purchase, so it's not that I don't see value there. We are of course talking about those real ones, not the "mog&glo". My salesman was actually asking "why do you want differential protector?" - can you imagine that?
2018 430i Gran Coupe
We look forward to hearing your tales - if you could take off the CAPS LOCK when you type, that would help us read your posts. Thanks!
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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What did you buy that offered that? Only non-truck I can think of that has those as an accessory is Subaru.
ADM on Solstice: I just smile and move on as I would nod buy that thing even at invoice. But even if I did - I keep shopping. I don't need to be first on the block.
ADM on all Corollas and Matrices: I'm out of here. They are obviously idiots or think I'm one. Either way - don't do business with them. That is lack of respect. Doesn't matter if I could negotiate lower. I just don't do business with people whose understanding of free market economy is "take money and run".
2018 430i Gran Coupe
2018 430i Gran Coupe