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I'm pretty sure what their trying to say is, yes a car dealer, but not a car dealer.
I'm the same way. When I want to buy a car, if I need to go look at one and don't have one set in my mind already...
I'd want to be able to go to the Car Store and see what cars they have in stock. If they have one in stock and I like it, I can try it on, and see if it fits me and my style. If I want to buy it, I go to the counter to pay for my purchase at the price that was on the price tag plus sales tax, plus title, plus no bogus fees.
If I like a model that they have in stock, but want something specific about different, like color, I could then order it, and they would have shipped to the Car Store and then I would pick it up.
I don't know why buying a car has to be so drastically different than say, buying a pair of shoes.
Simple model - A shoe store buys shoes from a distributer, who buys them from a wholesaler, who buys them from the maker. Everyone makes their markups so they make a profit and stay in business. But the end price, it doesn't matter if I'm buying the pair of shoes online, in their store in NYC, in their store in LA, or wherever, it's the same price. If they're blue, black, green, yellow... same price.
A car goes through essentially the same path, but for whatever reason a car dealership gets to be unlike every other store out there and can just charge whatever price they want and then make someone haggle in hopes that they think they got a good deal.
Because the consumer demands it be that way. I would also like to point out that a car is subject to a lot more factors involving the government, the environment and the complexity of its deisgn and construction then a pair of shoes.
people want sweat shop built cars that are 5 star safe and get 100mpg and have 400hp and cost less then 10grand? No you didnt say that, I did. Also you are hapoy paying the markup you do on a pair of shoes? How much does it cost to make an average pair of shoes? Two, three dollars? How much do you pay for your shoes? 15, 40, 125, 400? Most cars are not marked up anywhere in the realm of that much.
be real careful what you ask for.
dealers do not MAKE you haggle. And dealers who charge "whatever price they want" go out of business - or flourish because they deal in a bespoke product. Supply and demand - the american way. You can pay MSRP refuse any rebates and decline any subvented rates or lease factors. Or you can make them one offer and leave.
I'm pretty sure what their trying to say is, yes a car dealer, but not a car dealer.
I'm the same way. When I want to buy a car, if I need to go look at one and don't have one set in my mind already...
I'd want to be able to go to the Car Store and see what cars they have in stock. If they have one in stock and I like it, I can try it on, and see if it fits me and my style. If I want to buy it, I go to the counter to pay for my purchase at the price that was on the price tag plus sales tax, plus title, plus no bogus fees.
If I like a model that they have in stock, but want something specific about different, like color, I could then order it, and they would have shipped to the Car Store and then I would pick it up.
I don't know why buying a car has to be so drastically different than say, buying a pair of shoes.
Simple model - A shoe store buys shoes from a distributer, who buys them from a wholesaler, who buys them from the maker. Everyone makes their markups so they make a profit and stay in business. But the end price, it doesn't matter if I'm buying the pair of shoes online, in their store in NYC, in their store in LA, or wherever, it's the same price. If they're blue, black, green, yellow... same price.
A car goes through essentially the same path, but for whatever reason a car dealership gets to be unlike every other store out there and can just charge whatever price they want and then make someone haggle in hopes that they think they got a good deal.
How is that different than today's dealership?
All cars are marked with MSRP and you can pick out the one you want and go and pay for it without haggling whatsoever.
You can buy a Tesla from the manufacturer somewhat. I don't think you should be forced to buy a new car from a dealer. I think the manufacturers should have a choice though for them it is probably better through a dealer.
We purchased our Jetta through True car, a TDI Premium with Manual Transmission, the car cost about $23k which was a decent price, nothing fantastic, but still quite a bit lower than MSRP. I asked the dealership if they were participating like the Truecar website stated, and they said they were, went in, had my paperwork, had talked to the salesman on the phone earlier and when we're finalizing the paperwork the sales manager is screaming about how this won't work, the price is to low, he can't deal with it, (blah-blah-blah)...responded that it wasn't my problem, and he eventually gave into the price...either way, no issues from me! Sad to hear if their group has changed.
We purchased our Jetta through True car, a TDI Premium with Manual Transmission, the car cost about $23k which was a decent price, nothing fantastic, but still quite a bit lower than MSRP. I asked the dealership if they were participating like the Truecar website stated, and they said they were, went in, had my paperwork, had talked to the salesman on the phone earlier and when we're finalizing the paperwork the sales manager is screaming about how this won't work, the price is to low, he can't deal with it, (blah-blah-blah)...responded that it wasn't my problem, and he eventually gave into the price...either way, no issues from me! Sad to hear if their group has changed.
You can still get quotes for a supposed no haggle price guarantee, it's just that the dealers can't see what other dealers are offering through the website anymore, which supposedly caused bidding wars among the dealers.
How is that different than today's dealership?
All cars are marked with MSRP and you can pick out the one you want and go and pay for it without haggling whatsoever.
I know that all cars come with an MSRP, but that doesn't mean that's what they sell for. I also don't care about any sort of government regulations or safety regulations or anything like that. Price it in to the cost of the car. I also don't care about mark up.
All I'm trying to say is that buying a car, although it is a much bigger purchase than buying a pair of shoes, should be similar.
I can't go to a store and say oh, these have a sticker price of $500, but how about I pay $450 out the door.
I also disagree with the person that said that we have the ability to haggle at a dealership because consumers demand it. Ask 100 people. Ask them, "When buying a car, do you WANT to haggle to get a fair price?" and give me your results.
I would imagine that the whole dealership business model will need to change. There's a few here in Manhattan that are making strides, and Toyota did with Scion. There's a couple that pay no commission to their salespeople and they are paid a straight salary. Scion also started out with a set price on their cars, which was easy for that brand to do because unlike most companies, the American ones especially, If you got a tC, xB, xA, etc. you got one. You didn't have to differentiate between an xA SE, xA ES, xA GT, xA GTS, xA ETC.
I know that all cars come with an MSRP, but that doesn't mean that's what they sell for. I also don't care about any sort of government regulations or safety regulations or anything like that. Price it in to the cost of the car. I also don't care about mark up.
All I'm trying to say is that buying a car, although it is a much bigger purchase than buying a pair of shoes, should be similar.
I can't go to a store and say oh, these have a sticker price of $500, but how about I pay $450 out the door.
I also disagree with the person that said that we have the ability to haggle at a dealership because consumers demand it. Ask 100 people. Ask them, "When buying a car, do you WANT to haggle to get a fair price?" and give me your results.
I would imagine that the whole dealership business model will need to change. There's a few here in Manhattan that are making strides, and Toyota did with Scion. There's a couple that pay no commission to their salespeople and they are paid a straight salary. Scion also started out with a set price on their cars, which was easy for that brand to do because unlike most companies, the American ones especially, If you got a tC, xB, xA, etc. you got one. You didn't have to differentiate between an xA SE, xA ES, xA GT, xA GTS, xA ETC.
But who's making the consumer haggle at the dealership?
If tomorrow all car dealerships went to no-haggle pricing, where the MSRP is the only price they'll honor, would you think that's a "fair price"?
It sounds like you just don't want to pay more than the next guy for the same product, which is all fine and good, but it's probably not realistic as long as you have this franchise dealership model.
There are a lot of folks who believe they can get a better "deal" than the next guy when it comes to buying a car...there are dealerships that do no haggle pricing, when I purchased my 2006 Jetta from Enterprise, I paid exactly what was written on the window, it was less than the other dealers were advertising a used 2006 Jetta for but I'm sure if i haggled enough, and walked out of enough showrooms I MIGHT have gotten a deal that was better than that one.
It seems that people wish they could go into a dealership and just pay what's written down, but then they feel bad when making payments on the car, wishing they'd gotten a lower price...So, secretly, people want the crappy and annoying system that's already in place.
I know that all cars come with an MSRP, but that doesn't mean that's what they sell for. I also don't care about any sort of government regulations or safety regulations or anything like that. Price it in to the cost of the car. I also don't care about mark up.
All I'm trying to say is that buying a car, although it is a much bigger purchase than buying a pair of shoes, should be similar.
I can't go to a store and say oh, these have a sticker price of $500, but how about I pay $450 out the door.
I also disagree with the person that said that we have the ability to haggle at a dealership because consumers demand it. Ask 100 people. Ask them, "When buying a car, do you WANT to haggle to get a fair price?" and give me your results.
I know you dont care about it (gov and safety regs) and it is priced into the car. That's why you are trying to equate buying a car, the second largest purchase most people generally make with buying a pair of shoes.
You think you speak for the majority of buyers when you obviously dont understand what is going on withthe system that brings a vehicle from raw materials to sitting in your driveway vs a company like Nike belting out a pair of shoes.
I coukd ask a 100 people, I could ask 1000, 10,000 any number. In my experience the vast majority of people want to deal, haggle in one form or another.
Depending on where you live and what car or cars you're interested in, paying MSRP for most cars out there makes no sense; some folks may like to haggle as opposed to buying a car through Costco, the Auto Club or whomever, but that's the way the market works.
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