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Do US dealers not display starting prices on the vehicle? The standard way of doing things in Australia is every car has a clearly marked price and then you se

Do US dealers not display starting prices on the vehicle? The standard way of doing things in Australia is every car has a clearly marked price and then you see how much you can knock that down in negotiations, or you could just pay that listed price.

cheald 11y ago
There are starting prices, but the negotiating process is so arcane and twisted that it really only establishes a rough ballpark. Car salesmen are notorious for slipping in extra charges and making "math mistakes" that they benefit from if you don't catch them before signing your agreement to them. They will push very hard to let their lending partners finance a car loan for you, offering incentives which lower the apparent price, but which generally end up costing the buyer more in the long end. Their business is built on cheating their customers, and it's disgusting. They can get away with it because many buyers don't have much in the way of alternatives. Car buying in the US is a really miserable experience. I'd be cheering for Tesla to succeed if for no other reason than that it helps to put the existing dealerships out of business.
ghshephard 11y ago
Yes, they have a "Starting Price", and it is just complete fiction that you can safely ignore. Even the dealer invoice is a number that isn't particularly relevant to the conversation, because it doesn't take into account dealer incentives/kickbacks/bonus kickers. A dealer can sell a car they paid $30,000 for for $25,000 and still make $5,000 on the deal once everything is considered - it's just a lot of the additional revenue is very indirect, and not at all easy to associate with any particular vehicle. And, negotiations with car dealers is frustrating, because they will waste your time, and frequently insist they have to go talk with their "Manager", or "The VP of Sales", or "Call the head office to get permission to make an exception on this deal, because they need it to make quota" or whatever bullshit they are spinning that particular day. If you want to make your life simple, just go to CarMax. Alternatively, if you really like playing this idiotic car dealer game, then do a couple days research on the net, research the best prices that other people have paid, taking into account timing around end of month/quarter/year, factor in when the new model may be coming out as well - set your price - and then just offer it with a yes/no to dealers, starting with your favorite dealer, and working your way down.
chiph 11y ago
The listed price on some vehicles is total fiction. Like for full-size pickups. Twist the salesman's arm just a tiny bit, and they'll come down $8,000 or more on price. Which says to me the truck was never worth what they were asking. And that makes me suspicious about just how good a truck it might be -- did they use a bunch of cheap parts that let them drop the price that much, that easily?

cheald 11y ago

There are starting prices, but the negotiating process is so arcane and twisted that it really only establishes a rough ballpark. Car salesmen are notorious for slipping in extra charges and making "math mistakes" that they benefit from if you don't catch them before signing your agreement to them. They will push very hard to let their lending partners finance a car loan for you, offering incentives which lower the apparent price, but which generally end up costing the buyer more in the long end. Their business is built on cheating their customers, and it's disgusting. They can get away with it because many buyers don't have much in the way of alternatives. Car buying in the US is a really miserable experience. I'd be cheering for Tesla to succeed if for no other reason than that it helps to put the existing dealerships out of business.

ghshephard 11y ago

Yes, they have a "Starting Price", and it is just complete fiction that you can safely ignore. Even the dealer invoice is a number that isn't particularly relevant to the conversation, because it doesn't take into account dealer incentives/kickbacks/bonus kickers. A dealer can sell a car they paid $30,000 for for $25,000 and still make $5,000 on the deal once everything is considered - it's just a lot of the additional revenue is very indirect, and not at all easy to associate with any particular vehicle. And, negotiations with car dealers is frustrating, because they will waste your time, and frequently insist they have to go talk with their "Manager", or "The VP of Sales", or "Call the head office to get permission to make an exception on this deal, because they need it to make quota" or whatever bullshit they are spinning that particular day. If you want to make your life simple, just go to CarMax. Alternatively, if you really like playing this idiotic car dealer game, then do a couple days research on the net, research the best prices that other people have paid, taking into account timing around end of month/quarter/year, factor in when the new model may be coming out as well - set your price - and then just offer it with a yes/no to dealers, starting with your favorite dealer, and working your way down.

chiph 11y ago

The listed price on some vehicles is total fiction. Like for full-size pickups. Twist the salesman's arm just a tiny bit, and they'll come down $8,000 or more on price. Which says to me the truck was never worth what they were asking. And that makes me suspicious about just how good a truck it might be -- did they use a bunch of cheap parts that let them drop the price that much, that easily?