toy4two

lets start a online petition to repeal this anti - consumer law. Does anyone know exactly what law(s) forbid manufactuers from selling to the public? I know other countries allow it and their cars are cheaper to the consumer without the middlemen according to clarkhoward.com

diablo1

Ya this is a very strange law. I wonder if it was originally designed to protect the consumer - ie by requiring dealerships, you require the consumer to deal with an in-state company that is therefore subject to state laws. Because if you live in California but buy a car directly from Detroit (or Japan), it's not so clear that the state law applies to that. Another reason is probably taxes. It might be hard for states to keep track of sales tax on so many out-of-state purchases. Then again, I think most states require proof that you paid sales tax before they will allow you to register, so that may not be such an issue.

In any case, I agree that this law probably does hurt consumers now, whether or not it was originally put in place to protect us. I don't see why corporate and dealerships both need to be profit centers. If the company can both make AND sell the cars, I bet consumers will end up saving money.

Thanks for posting that article, very interesting. I also liked the prediction of voice-activated internet in cars within a year. That was back in 2000 - haha. Guess that didn't happen...

jaydunn

...
The concept was even more dangerous than cell phones-legal departments forbade it.

GS69

No Haggle Doesn't Mean No Hike

Saturn dealers are charging more than the sticker price for hot Sky roadster, newspaper says.

March 20, 2006; Posted: 1:35 p.m. EST (1835 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Saturn still has a "no-haggle" pricing policy, but that doesn't mean the dealer has to charge sticker price. And some dealers are charging over sticker price for the new Saturn Sky sports car, according to a California newspaper.

Charging a premium over the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for a popular car, especially one that's in short supply, is a common practice at car dealerships of all kinds. But many Saturn customers had assumed that the General Motors brand's policy of "no-haggle pricing" meant that customers would always be charged the vehicle's sticker price.

Car manufacturers cannot legally require a retailer to charge any set price for a vehicle, however.

"Retailers are free to set their own prices, but we always highly encourage our retailers not to sell above the MSRP," said Jill Lajdziak in a company statement quoted in the Orange County Register story.

Saturn's no-haggle policy simply means that every customer coming into a given dealership gets the same price, a GM spokesman said in the story. It does not necessarily mean that every customer pays the sticker price.

In order to prevent price competition, General Motors does not allow different Saturn dealers to operate dealerships in the same general area, GM spokesman Brian Brockman told CNNMoney.com.

The general manager for Orange County, Calif.'s three Saturn dealerships declined to discuss pricing policy with the newspaper.

The Sky is based on the same vehicle architecture as the popular Pontiac Solstice sports car. The Solstice, the Sky and the Opel GT, which is very similar to the Sky but is sold only in Europe, are all built in the same factory in Wilmington, Del.

In the past, Saturn dealers had charged prices lower than the MSRP for slow-selling models, according to the story.

XeroK00L

Sigh, so much for mmarshall's repeatedly stated threory that the Sky would become a better deal than the Solstice.
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