That 73 year old dealer Medved can’t understand what it takes to meet ‘new’ expectations, and his old shenanigans aren’t pulling in the weight they once were…it’s happening.
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I know it’s jalopnik but still some good article
The entire premise of this article assumes that the vast majority of consumers don’t want to step foot in a dealership. Most people do their research by actually sitting in cars and test driving them at the dealership. Doubtful that they’ll rush back home to get in front of a computer to complete a transaction with a remote salesman. Doubtful that the salesman in the dealership will want them leaving to do just that. There are some business models that should just be left alone, this is one of them.
Hahah i wouldn’t go that far lol
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I mean do dealers try to take advantage? Yes, but so do the consumers. It’s one of the few industries where both sides are often attempting to screw each other over. From the consumer side, knowledge is truly power here and many of us have been able to benefit from it. So from my perspective, it’s largely fine the way it is.
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Very well put.
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The program exists and it is called Roadster. My dealership and many others use it.
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Looking back I wasn’t clear at all clear. I wasn’t trying to say some dealership or even dealership group will sell Hondas online in a no BS manner. I meant in a given region a corporation will aquire one of every major car brands dealership per state. The company then advertise itself as the best way to buy a new car totally online without setting foot in a dealer.
So say I’m in NY, NJ or PA and want a new X5, I know from the TV ads I can go to Mid-Atlantic cars.com, complete the transaction online and have the car delivered within a week.
Individual dealers using Roadster are different because an average buyers does not know that even is an option. Carvana commands a price premium because people know their whole business model is that you order the car online and that Carvana doesn’t have dealerships.
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Avon speaks the truth. Props for the reference!
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Completely disagree. Most consumers just want a fair and hassle free deal and experience which explains the rapid growth of online sales, Tesla and Carvana. Being armed with knowledge is not trying to screw over a dealer or salesguy it is self preservation of one’s wallet and peace of mind. Few consumers are approaching the car buying experience attempting to screw over new car dealers…
By contrast, most dealers and sales managers are compensated to extract and shake down every dollar possible from the consumer (whether they can afford it or not) with 4-square gymnastics and other sales tactics…
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Most consumers want the best deal. Period. Full stop. They know shopping for a car is not the same as shopping for a pair of jeans, or an iPhone.
Arguably people are not shopping for a Tesla because they can place the order online. They’re buying into the product, not the process for acquiring the product. As far as Carvana is concerned, I’d agree that it might be preferable to go online for a one-stop shop and not have to used car dealers, who have a stigma of their own. I feel new cars are different though.
Correct, when you are speaking from the perspective of the buyer. Ask what a salesman thinks about that. I’m certain that they’d say the 20% pre incentive discount you’re asking for including the trunk money you’re not really supposed to know about is your way of trying to screw them over.
Just one question - do those who are in favor of this model realize that it would be the end of “lease hacking”?
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Not true, there will still be ways to get a better deal then the rest.
There are people who still get deals on Teslas be it a car they’re not able to sell or the one you want is not in stock & they want to make a sale etc
Dealers have continuously posted on this forum that lease hackers do not represent the huge percentage of their customers.
The idea of open pricing is for the ones who go to a dealership & come home with the leases listed in the Worst leases you’ve seen thread & are now in financial hell for the lack of a better word.
So if I understand correctly, you’re in favor of this because it will make the process more equitable. In essence, punishing those who put the time and energy into worthy deals in order to reward those who don’t bother doing their due diligence. Is that it? If so, count me out.
I think smart contracts will disrupt the current model, and leasehacking will simply become ratehacking.
Who said those people still won’t be rewarded?
There are so many items which have open pricing (TVs, appliances, furniture etc.) but people still hack pricing on those items by researching and negotiating.
These things are not mutually exclusive like you are suggesting.
Then I might not be clear on what you mean by “open pricing” as it would relate to car buying/leasing. Feel free to clarify.
Relatively speaking cars have been dirt cheap in the US compared to other countries (look at Canada or Australia or most of Asia for that matter). On my last two leases I literally felt like I robbed the dealer. I guess those days are gone for the near future.
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But why should cars be sold differently from every other product. For any thing else you go to amazon.com, click buy it now and get a fair price. Yeah you can try to find coupon codes, cash back sites etc… but if you don’t want to do that you know amazon is giving you a fair price.
One way i see it is,
Manufacturers website will allow ordering online with all proper disclosure & option to pick up or delivered.
For example,
MSRP
Minus
All Customer Facing Rebates
Plus
Dealer Fees (doc or something)
Taxes
DMV Fees
Any options Customer would want to add (fixed prices - GAP, F&I products etc)
---------------
Final Out of Pocket price
& If they decide to lease then all lease related information like RV, MF etc & final price.
Dealer gets to sell their car, gets the fees etc for their trouble & make the profit based on invoice etc anyway.
Now the other back-end stuff can still exists, if there are any specific goal based incentives dealer wants to meet or they want to get rid of a old model that’s not moving or Fart cars or anything else …they can do their own negotiating with a customer to make a sale by offering additional discount etc.
This is just one way of doing it…
Car buying, which in theory should be fun and exciting, is instead one of the most dreaded experiences for many (most?)…see Fargo and Vacation for two examples.
One reason I like getting new cars is the thrill of the chase…getting a good deal is fun.
If deals dry up in the future, then I’ll keep my cars longer…which, for the most part, will be a benefit to ones personal balance sheet.