BLOCKBUSTER Deal !!! (At least for me !)

[NSX-GUY]

The price spread on used cars across the nation is crazy.

Yup !

Hey Mike. Care to tell us the relative profit making opportunity diference between a primo used, high demand car vs., say, a *new* car ??? :wink:

And where are those pictures of Kerry ? (Or is it Carrie ? ) :biggrin:

 

[steveny]

Yup !

Hey Mike. Care to tell us the relative profit making opportunity diference between a primo used, high demand car vs., say, a *new* car ??? :wink:

And where are those pictures of Kerry ? (Or is it Carrie ? ) :biggrin:

Yes please do tell. I find it funny when I ask one dealer, "how much do you make on the sales of new vehicles." I get an answer like, "oh we don't make anything on new vehicle, we make all our money off the service department." So then I ask a different person in the same dealer ship and the answer I get "we make all our money from the used car part of the dealership." Go to a different dealership and get yet an even different answer.
One thing I know for sure if someone is lying they are usually trying to hide something.

The last new vehicle I bought was a 05 Titan I traded in a 2000 Audi A-6 4.2. I received 17.5K for my trade. The Audi needed nothing to be perfect, I just had the car detailed. I bought the Titan at "invoice." So I asked the dealer how much he made on the sale of the truck. He said nothing. I asked what about factory holdback? Oh then he said that is 2k but we don't get it until the end of the month . SOOO, you did make something from the sale. If I did not know about holdback would the dealer have told me the truth? No, I don't think so.

Anyways the next day I drive by the dealership and there is my Audi on the pedestal for 26.9k. LOL. After a few weeks the dealer lowered the price a bit and sold the car. I asked the dealer where the car was and he said he HAD to wholesale the car because there wasn't any interest in the car. Little does he know what I know and that is who bought the car from his dealership, and it wasn't a wholesaler!

Seems to me there are tons of ways dealers make money selling cars, loans, service, body shop work, etc. I just wish dealers would be more up front about the practices they use. I bet if I knew all the truth I would be sick to my stomach.

 

[steveny]

tell us dealers! I take 40 of them.... Anyone what to sell me nice, story free E46 M3 for $25k? Ill pay $30k if I have to

Would you pay the 39K-45K you would ask for the car? How about 2K less than you would retail the car for? What is that price spread? Is the spread as wide as you can make it? If you did get a M3 for 25k would you retail it for 27.5K or would you shoot for the 40's where all the other dealers have their cars priced?

 

[The Kid]

Would you pay the 39K-45K you would ask for the car? How about 2K less than you would retail the car for? What is that price spread? Is the spread as wide as you can make it? If you did get a M3 for 25k would you retail it for 27.5K or would you shoot for the 40's where all the other dealers have their cars priced?

Depends what I think I can sell the call for.... If I bought an M3 for $25k and I thought I could sell it for $40k I price it for that but a $15k deal may only happen once a year. Our average gross on a used car is $2500 and maybe about $500 on the financing. How about when we appraise a call for $25k and we wholesale or sell it for $23k? We lose $2k; and dont think that doesnt happen. How about when we sell an RSX, MDX, or TL at invoice. We do make the holdback but also need to pay for advertising, electric, water, commision for a salesperson, commision for the manager and many other things. We send our customers gift baskets, key chains and other little free-bees. For the first half of 2003 we were breaking even on all these cars if not losing a little bit. Its not as easy as it use to be to make big money now a days with the internet and with the huge competition.

By the way, what happens when we have to do warranty work on that Audi that we made $4k dollars on. Lets say the motor blows within the warranty period, maybe the motor for that 4.2 V8 audi is $4500 and we lose money. Think about that before bashing dealers as a whole. We are independtly owned operations and are completly different. We at bridgewater acura do the right thing and im tired of being grouped with the other scum bags :wink:

 

[steveny]

Depends what I think I can sell the call for.... If I bought an M3 for $25k and I thought I could sell it for $40k I price it for that but a $15k deal may only happen once a year. Our average gross on a used car is $2500 and maybe about $500 on the financing. How about when we appraise a call for $25k and we wholesale or sell it for $23k? We lose $2k; and dont think that doesnt happen. How about when we sell an RSX, MDX, or TL at invoice. We do make the holdback but also need to pay for advertising, electric, water, commision for a salesperson, commision for the manager and many other things. We send our customers gift baskets, key chains and other little free-bees. For the first half of 2003 we were breaking even on all these cars if not losing a little bit. Its not as easy as it use to be to make big money now a days with the internet and with the huge competition.

By the way, what happens when we have to do warranty work on that Audi that we made $4k dollars on. Lets say the motor blows within the warranty period, maybe the motor for that 4.2 V8 audi is $4500 and we lose money. Think about that before bashing dealers as a whole. We are independtly owned operations and are completly different. We at bridgewater acura do the right thing and im tired of being grouped with the other scum bags :wink:

Thanks so much for the straight answer. So it is standard procedure to try and make the maximum profit on every deal? I can see your point about losing money on some cars or having to do high dollar warranty work. You mentioned the internet has made selling cars not as easy.Do you think this is because of cars being sold on the internet or because of the information people need to get a better deal is now public information?

I have a friend who has a used car dealership. He buys warranties on all the cars he sells. So if a motor blows he pays a small deductible. He sells cars 500 dollars above what he pays at auction plus the cost of the warranty. He does not take trades. He sells a minimum of two cars a day. He has almost zero overhead. He is also pissing off a lot of other dealers in the area.


Lastly...will you sell me the yellow M3 for a grand over what you allowed on trade? Keep in mind BMW warranties the motor to 100k. :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[NSX-GUY]

Mike,

Don't be so touchy ! :biggrin:

Steve,

Would it be fair to say the YOU, as the seller, would not try to get the very best price you could for a car regardless of what you paid for it originally ?

If you were the buyer would you not try to get it at the LOWEST possible price ?

Of course you would so you can hardly blame a car dealer for doing the same thing, can you ? That makes him a business man, not a "thief". :wink:

And in the same vein WHY would the dealer tell you how he makes his money ? Do you tell your (potential) customers how, or how much, YOU make on your deals. Or even if you are an employee how often do you volunteer your salary to someone else ? I'm betting not very often. :biggrin:

Having said that, I Am just a little bit insulted when someone that should be savvy enough to size me up tells me he's only making $1,000 leasing me an '05 NSX, pointing solely to the invoice and the cap cost. :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: (Especially when I've read about the $5-6K dealers are getting from Acura to move the NSX. :wink: )

 

[steveny]

Steve,

Would it be fair to say the YOU, as the seller, would not try to get the very best price you could for a car regardless of what you paid for it originally ?

No. I work in percentages. I price what ever I sell a certain percent above where I bought it regardless of how much I paid

If you were the buyer would you not try to get it at the LOWEST possible price ?

The only really good deals I get are the ones where the seller offers me something at a price well below what I was willing to pay. Even then I still price whatever I bought at the set percentage above what I paid. When I get the "really good" deals I actually pass on the really good deals to the next buyer. I am only interested in my percentage nothing more.

As far as when I set the price I am up front and honest with the seller. The seller tells me what they think the item is worth and I don't disagree with that value. However I do explain that what the item is worth is what I will be selling it for not what I will pay for it. Again I pay a percentage below market value. Also the seller knows I am going to make money from what ever he is selling me at a discount. I let the seller know he/she could sell it for more on the open market if they want to.

Of course you would so you can hardly blame a car dealer for doing the same thing, can you ? That makes him a business man, not a "thief". :wink:

I am not accusing anyone of being a thief. The only thing I blame (BAD) car dealers for is not treating every customer the same. I know my mother or sister, who know nothing about business, would not get the same deal I would get at a dealership. I know this because on the last car each bought I sent them to the dealer first and then I went. On each deal I saved them both a ton of money, simply because of what I know.
I think car dealers should have to disclose when they are marking up a loan, get a dealer holdback, etc.

And in the same vein WHY would the dealer tell you how he makes his money ? Do you tell your (potential) customers how, or how much, YOU make on your deals. Or even if you are an employee how often do you volunteer your salary to someone else ? I'm betting not very often. :biggrin:

Yes if the person asks I am straight forward with them. I have nothing to hide. If you check any of my pervious posts on Prime you will see I hardly ever beat around the bush and dodge questions. In fact I always give straight to the point answers. I believe if I am a straight shooter and don't try to make a killing on every deal than what do I have to hide. If I am pricing items below market value and someone is insulted I am asking more than I paid ..well at just below market value there will be another buyer waiting in line. Very few people will chose insult over getting a good deal even if someone else is making money from it. Deals are a lot easier to negotiate when the parties involved are negotiating the money to be made on the deal rather than all the peripheral's involved. Could you imagine how easy buying a car would be if both the buyer and seller knew everything right up front.

That being said...How much did you get on trade for the M3?

Having said that, I Am just a little bit insulted when someone that should be savvy enough to size me up tells me he's only making $1,000 leasing me an '05 NSX, pointing solely to the invoice and the cap cost. :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: (Especially when I've read about the $5-6K dealers are getting from Acura to move the NSX. :wink: )

[/QUOTE]

My point exactly....and no need to worry about motor replacements on a new car.