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> Thus everyone knows exactly what the dealer is paying for the car before walking in. Myth, I think. That information (the real wholesale cost) is not public.
by dboreham 4y ago
> Thus everyone knows exactly what the dealer is paying for the car before walking in.
Myth, I think. That information (the real wholesale cost) is not public.
- Scoundreller 4y agoAnd hard to genuinely calculate with the Hollywood accounting that goes on with promos/rebates/incentives for the dealers themselves. How do you allocate a $x promo for selling Y cars in a month, when some of those cars were unpopular crap and others sold themselves?
- phpthrowaway99 4y agoBeyond even what you mentioned, there's crazy payment bonus (holdback) structures based on so many variables it really doesn't make much sense to try to figure out what a dealer paid for a car. A dealer for example will get more back per car sold, if they have the most modern building style. (a way manufacturers entice dealerships to remodel to latest corporate recommended aesthetics/experience). They also pay more if your dealership is stand alone. A joint VW/Audi/Porsche dealership will end up paying more for cars (getting less money back technically) than a standalone dealership. I could go on and on about the various metrics for getting more or less rebate money back. Would you really pay more for your car because a dealership paid more because they hadn't remodeled recently? Of course not. You compare to what others are doing and that should be enough, unless you really want to try and randomly guess just how low they might go that day and walk and try again everywhere?
- bluGill 4y agoThe cost is known, dealers leak this. As others have said things like holdbacks and incentives are not known. (And since incentives depend on number sold they can't be known) Still buyers have good information and take advantage of that.