If all the dealers get for busness is warranty work and recalls they will not be around for long,I can not wait to see you take your car to the internet for warranty work and recalls btw i am in industrial sales and do not work for a dealership but we do have to aknowlage the value of being able to obtain service no mater what the product :
Umm. I keep cars for 20 years...
My '96 F-150 is still going strong, no signs that it won't make another 4 years.
I've gotten my $12,000 out of it and then some. I just replaced the OEM plug wires last week because one burnt out.
Dealers have to track inventory, sorry. The bank owns the new cars on the lot and they get pretty picky about where their money is.
As for changing attitudes from the top down. You get the behaviour you reward, it really is that simple.
mguar wrote: In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: So you think you can buy transportation for $42 a year? I'd really love to know how..
My last beater cost less than $0/year to drive My last DD non-beater cost approx $200/year
mguar wrote: Take $19,000 add $300 worth of repairs and my New pick-up cost me something less than a nickle a mile.. (.04825) or $1553. per year. ($129 a month)
The car I have now I purchased with 100K on it, for $3000. It has leather, AC, sunroof, etc and is in good condition overall. If I were to drive it to 400k miles like your truck (lets budget $500 for repairs), it would cost me 1.16 cents/mile. So less than 25% what your new car cost you.
You don't even really need to look at it that way. If you bought your truck 1-2 years later with 20k miles on it, you are reducing the price by ~35%, but only impacting the total lifespan of the vehicle by 5% if you are keeping it 400k, 10% if you are keeping it to 200k.
Your argument is contradicting your own previous argument. You said 20yrs/200k, and here you are telling us about operating costs for your truck at 400k miles. Also, you said the second half of a vehicles life is the more expensive half, and you are telling us your truck has had $300 in repairs over its 15 year/400k mile life.
mguar wrote:mguar wrote: In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: Wow I'll bet with reading comprehension like that you failed a lot of tests.. It was a 1997 not a 1996 pickup. I've probably written about that same pickup 50 or 100 times on GRM's site. Yes I own a 2002 Envoy not a Trail Blazer, I also own a 2003 Saturn, a 2009 Toyota, A MGTD, a "D" type Jaguar, a Jaguar XJ-S and a MGuar. I recently sold My XK-E V12 race car, 2 XJ-S V12's and a 1930 Ford Model A pickup I have been selected for the job I spoke about but that still means I need to go visit with the Boss.. (tomorrow 2:00 Am) I won't start work until the owner returns from Europe. As for new versus used.figure out what owning a car will cost you for the next 20 years and then divide by 20.. Remember add the profit I spoke about and the cost of inflation. 10% per decade is reasonable.
There's an edit button.
I'm out of this thread, i should have known better than to feed the troll.
How about not trying to void new car warranties just because the owners did a couple of modifications? Ford dealers have gotten very bad about this, especially with Mustang owners. I understand voiding an engine warranty if you installed NOS or a supercharger, but you shouldn't be treated like a criminal and have to argue your case with the service manager just because you bolted some different mufflers on...
In reply to ls1fiero:
From what I've seen most car dealers have a policy that absolutely NO customer that comes on the lot leaves without talking to a sales manager. I understand the reason, and that is to make sure the right questions are asked and to see if there is an avenue to make a sale to that customer before he leaves.
I have worked for 6 car dealerships in technical and sales positions. The last one was in sales and I only stayed 5 weeks. The problem was that I got publically ridiculed several times for failing to get the customer in the door to talk to the SM. One was a very busy construction superintendent who was driving by the dealership and decided to come take a quick look at the lastest pickups. He told me that when I greeted him. One of the SMs saw me shake his hand and saw him leave. Might they have gotten him to talk to them? I doubt it.
ls1fiero, you probably don't publicly dissrespect your employees but it is a common practice to give them hell if they don't follow the TO rule. I was told about the policy before I started working for the company so I take full responsibility for going to work for someone with a very nasty reputation.
The point is, treat your employees with respect. I think this is becoming more and more of a problem in the work force today because of the weak job market and the more difficult market that exists today.
z31maniac wrote: Having purchased three new vehicles in the last few years, and one used one from dealers...................it'd be cool if the salespeople were car people. Not just sales. It's sad when I come onto the lot and know more about the product then the guy making the sale.
+1000
HOW delerships make money is not something that most people really understand. Like all things we don't understand, we tend to fear/distrust them. When we fear/distrust things, we attack.
So, unless the Automobile dealer businessplan is about to change to something much more transparent to the consumer, the status quo is going to remain.
I don't see this ever happening.
C'est la vie.
Ranger50 wrote:mguar wrote: In reply to Javelin: Yes they certainly do list SOME cars on line.. Not all the information is on their ads.. (if it was you could just buy it on line couldn't you?) You stated it would only take a salesman 30 seconds to check on a car but I just explained why it takes longer..And Mr Javelin just explained why it shouldn't take an act of berkeleying congress to have such information available. It comes down to LAZY EMPLOYEES. Just like having a few simple photos of the car in the "ad". If you aren't listing some information, I should be able to see with my eyes what it has and what it doesn't have. Oh and if you think anyone in their freaking mind is going to keep a car 20 years, I have your freshly pressed and bleached straight jacket right here waiting on you.
We have a Mercury Grand Marquis in the driveway, that was bought new in 1992.
NOHOME wrote: HOW delerships make money is not something that most people really understand. Like all things we don't understand, we tend to fear/distrust them. When we fear/distrust things, we attack. So, unless the Automobile dealer businessplan is about to change to something much more transparent to the consumer, the status quo is going to remain. I don't see this ever happening. C'est la vie.
You mean like Carmax did? Look where they are.
Flight Service wrote:NOHOME wrote: HOW delerships make money is not something that most people really understand. Like all things we don't understand, we tend to fear/distrust them. When we fear/distrust things, we attack. So, unless the Automobile dealer businessplan is about to change to something much more transparent to the consumer, the status quo is going to remain. I don't see this ever happening. C'est la vie.You mean like Carmax did? Look where they are.
Educate me on this carmax thing you speak of? Being in Canada, we are shielded from many newfangled concepts!
I could have bought my new car from them?
Simple - LISTEN to the customers - don't just hear them or wait until they are done talking to continue a sales pitch.
In sympathy - no BS, all inclusive, pricing is difficult and virtually impossible due to cash purchase compared to financing and trade-in value. An advertised price that is lower brings in the customers. Leaving out the smaller fees and taxes allows dealerships to advertise that lower price.
All this being said - customers need to be as informed as they can be regarding the purchase. Salespeople just wait for a customer to start waffling. Know what you can spend and don't move from that price.
Edmond's and Consumer Reports are your friends. As well as great magazines like GRM for acquiring knowledge.
Graefin10 wrote: In reply to ls1fiero: From what I've seen most car dealers have a policy that absolutely NO customer that comes on the lot leaves without talking to a sales manager. I understand the reason, and that is to make sure the right questions are asked and to see if there is an avenue to make a sale to that customer before he leaves. I have worked for 6 car dealerships in technical and sales positions. The last one was in sales and I only stayed 5 weeks. The problem was that I got publically ridiculed several times for failing to get the customer in the door to talk to the SM. One was a very busy construction superintendent who was driving by the dealership and decided to come take a quick look at the lastest pickups. He told me that when I greeted him. One of the SMs saw me shake his hand and saw him leave. Might they have gotten him to talk to them? I doubt it.
Interesting. That rule sounds like the sort of thing a customer annoyed at a dealership's bad service could abuse - round up a bunch of friends, have them walk through the lot and refuse to speak with the sales manager, see if you can get the entire sales staff written up for something they have no control over.
BS quotas aren't a good thing to set for employees, anywhere. My wife had a story from a bank where the customer service people were expected to sell a certain amount of a really dumb financial product (it was something along the lines of a savings account with 0.1% interest, and you could only access the money in December, for saving up for Christmas presents). The staff couldn't convince anyone this was a good idea - including themselves.
When your employees consistently can't hit a quota, the problem may be the quota instead of the employees.
Graefin10 wrote: The point is, treat your employees with respect. I think this is becoming more and more of a problem in the work force today because of the weak job market and the more difficult market that exists today.
+1...
Especially if said employee wants to actually buy a vehicle (egad) from said employer and/or apply for an open position...
You'll need to log in to post.
