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This is not true everywhere. Forward thinking dealerships recognize the truth of this article and have adjusted their revenue models accordingly. As an example
by thrav 7y ago
This is not true everywhere. Forward thinking dealerships recognize the truth of this article and have adjusted their revenue models accordingly.
As an example, I got to know the leadership at the DGDG dealer group in the Bay Area over the past couple of years, and they've fully embraced the notion that there's not much money to be made on the sale itself -- and the more you try to make, the more your customers dislike you.
Instead, they aim for the price you might be able to negotiate down to somewhere else, and focus on making it an extremely pleasant experience. The goal is for you to return for trade-ins, maintenance, and all other auto related transactions.
- alexhutcheson 7y agoThat changes the negotiation strategy for the dealer, but doesn't really change it for you. Even with a "nice" dealer who's planning on making money later in the car's lifecycle, your incentive is to get the lowest price possible, and there are no negative consequences from negotiating a price that is "too low".
- jimbokun 7y ago...unless you somehow manage to piss off the mechanics who will be servicing your vehicle.
- brianmcc 7y agoIn the UK, sites like autotrader.co.uk make price transparency crystal clear, even going so far as to prominently advise that an advertised price is great/low/fair/high for the make/model/age/mileage in question. Dealerships now seem to make money on finance - why haggle about a £500 price difference on a £20,000 car when there's £7,000 on the table via a 12% APR finance rate?