bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Long slide deck showing how cars are priced, what factors/parameters dealers and you have in negotiating, etc. It's not simple, and when you think a dealer might be 'ripping you off' that might not be so.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_th...rship?#slide=1

mmarshall

Many car buyers today (and I'm with them on this) just don't want to spend time haggling like a Middle-Eastern Bazaar. They don't have time for it (especially single parents with kids), and even many salespeople/managers today don't want to waste lot of time haggling out one deal, either, when they could be making others with more customers at the same time. That is one reason why Saturn introduced list-price, no-haggle deals in the 1990s (though a buyer could still sometimes bargain on trade-in value and finance-rates). Of course, the main problem with that system (as with the similar Scion no-haggle system we have today) is that no ever ever gets a substantial discount...and the Saturn list prices for the basic car all included a significant 14% markup over wholesale (roughly 12% for options). That, of course, is where much of the money came from for the little perks that Saturn customers used to get. Oldsmobile (briefly) tried a similar system, but it just didn't work for them.

One system I particularly like today (and I have shopped with a number of car-buyers who also like it) is the No-Haggle, one-price discount. Some dealerships refer to it as the Internet discount, but you can usually also get it apart from the Internet if you ask for it. In my D.C. area, the Fitzgerald group of dealerships (mostly in the MD suburbs) has been doing this system for years (in fact, I think they first started it here). With this system, the car's advertised price (minus dealer/factory-approved accessories) is discounted a bit from full-sticker, is usually reasonable and in line with the supply/demand for that specific vehicle or line of vehicles, is non-negotiable, and contains both a reasonable profit for the dealership and a reasonable discount for the car-buyer. Salespeople at dealerships with this system typically work for a regular salary (as long as the dealership is in business making a profit), and don't have to fight or haggle for their own commissions during the deal-making. If the customer prefers, there is also a slightly higher "Value" price (also non-negotiable) that includes some added features like free service/loaners). Most people I have shopped with using this system have been very pleased with it, and I think we will start to see it at more and more new-car dealerships. Among used-car dealerships, Car Max has also been using a similar one-price no-haggle discount system for a number of years....and that company, of course, has also been quite successful.

corradoMR2

Toyota had the fixed pricing in Canada about 10 or so years ago but only lasted a couple years.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

carsdirect.com is referenced in the slide deck too as a way to get someone else to do the negotiation. probably not the absolute best deal you can get, but time is money too for most.

mmarshall

That's part of what I was saying in my post above.......that the best solution may (?) be to not have to negotiate or haggle at all.

whoster

When I was car shopping, CarsDirect reps could get me "competitive" internet rates. Not the best, but definitely not the worst--especially since the car I was after was a low-volume vehicle (not the FR-S in the sig, incidentally).