Cobalt SS: Talk me out of it...

Going tonight to take it for a spin and work out a deal. I'll report back tonight.

Gimp wrote: Going tonight to take it for a spin and work out a deal. I'll report back tonight.

hammer the price... Look around at how many people are in the showroom and that should tell you something...

The only thing i'd be worried about is, if you didn't like the crash worthiness of the neon, iirc the side impact ratings of the cobalt were pretty scary when not equipped with side airbags.

^^^ this one has them.

Virtually every small car and most mid-size cars do poorly in side impact tests without side airbags.

Well, no Cobalt tonight. The industry is hurting, and it doesn't help when dealers are shady. Up and walked.

Maybe I'll try someone else later this week.

Thanks Dave! You've been more than helpful.

I would definatly pick a cobalt over an SRT4, the cobalt seems to be one of the best handling new cars out there for the price, the SRT4 handles like crap from everything i have heard (my dad wanted to get one to replace his first gen acr, but after he drove one he said it was terrible).

Que? Do we not get to hear about the dealers shady-ness?

I can give you a little bit of info, but basically they gave me a price on my trade, then tried to sneak a lower number on the buyers invoice, denied incentives that I had printed off the GM website (saying that they just didn't exist, not that they didn't apply), and most importantly, told me they would not honor GMS pricing even though I was legit to have it (and after that, told me that GMS pricing "wasn't that good anyway" and that I was better off taking their straight deal, even though I had the GMS price and it was $3K under their "great price").

Gimp wrote: I can give you a little bit of info, but basically they gave me a price on my trade, then tried to sneak a lower number on the buyers invoice, denied incentives that I had printed off the GM website (saying that they just didn't exist, not that they didn't apply), and most importantly, told me they would not honor GMS pricing even though I was legit to have it (and after that, told me that GMS pricing "wasn't that good anyway" and that I was better off taking their straight deal, even though I had the GMS price and it was $3K under their "great price").

two choices..

1. don't need to deal with them..

2. tell that berkeley hole of a salesman that you want to deal with his manager.. then both barrels.. If that dosen't work.. talk to the managers boss and have GM customer care on your cell phone while you're talking to him..

I'm not going to deal with them, and racinginc215 is going to take care of the administrative end.

SIDE NOTE - If any of you are a car salesperson, or know one, please tell them the phrase "what can I do to get you in this car tonight" makes people hate you.

how about this to talk you out of it: i read somewhere (can't find the link right now) some dealers are selling new mazdaspeed3 sports for like 19k, and 21k for GTs

then if you want used, theres also this:

I don't know exactly how it went down but I can tell you that the $20k price they gave you already included the$2,500 rebate you mentioned. I know this because the invoice price on a $25k Cobalt is about $23.7k. Take off the rebate and throw in a college grad rebate and Viola, your internet price. Even if you got GMS pricing don't expect to be below $20k There's not much holdback on one of those cars. It amazes me that even educated car people think there's thousands of dollars between list and wholesale on new cars. There's not and the margin is getting slimmer every day.

hrdlydangerous wrote: I don't know exactly how it went down but I can tell you that the $20k price they gave you already included the$2,500 rebate you mentioned. I know this because the invoice price on a $25k Cobalt is about $23.7k. Take off the rebate and throw in a college grad rebate and Viola, your internet price. Even if you got GMS pricing don't expect to be below $20k There's not much holdback on one of those cars. It amazes me that even educated car people think there's thousands of dollars between list and wholesale on new cars. There's not and the margin is getting slimmer every day.

I guess if making cars is such a terrible business to be in, then some companies should get out of it/downsize to a reasonable manner that makes it profitable.

Oh no there is plenty of money in MAKING cars, just none to be made on the SELLING of cars. Our dealership makes about $385.00 per car sale, we advertise a ton to take advantage of VWs ad revenue program to support the dealership and then there is the parts and service end that of course has to be on it's toes to not let a single penny out of the trap.

It is a rough business all around but the dealerships take most of the heat financially.

HiTempguy wrote:

hrdlydangerous wrote: I don't know exactly how it went down but I can tell you that the $20k price they gave you already included the$2,500 rebate you mentioned. I know this because the invoice price on a $25k Cobalt is about $23.7k. Take off the rebate and throw in a college grad rebate and Viola, your internet price. Even if you got GMS pricing don't expect to be below $20k There's not much holdback on one of those cars. It amazes me that even educated car people think there's thousands of dollars between list and wholesale on new cars. There's not and the margin is getting slimmer every day.

I guess if making cars is such a terrible business to be in, then some companies should get out of it/downsize to a reasonable manner that makes it profitable.

Yes, cars, construction, banking, mortgage, etc. are all tough businesses to be in at the moment because they rely on cheap money/easy credit.

As far as manufacturing, that's not necessarily profitable either. It's widely accepted that the only profit GM turns is through its financial divisions...making, shipping and selling cars isn't where the money's made. Reducing scale won't help that equation, and finding efficiencies only goes so far. IMO the American public isn't used to paying what a car costs and won't accept the "actual" price of their vehicle.

As for dealerships, most make their money in parts/service, followed by finance. Selling cars is what keeps your finance guys writing contracts and your service department fixing cars.

John Brown wrote: Oh no there is plenty of money in MAKING cars, just none to be made on the SELLING of cars. Our dealership makes about $385.00 per car sale, we advertise a ton to take advantage of VWs ad revenue program to support the dealership and then there is the parts and service end that of course has to be on it's toes to not let a single penny out of the trap. It is a rough business all around but the dealerships take most of the heat financially.

I agree that it's a tough business right now - seems like floor traffic is down across the board for all brands. That makes it tough to make a living. At the same time, though, so many other sales-oriented industries are suffering that we're seeing an influx of mortgage/financial/real estate people taking a shot at selling cars. Very interesting times.

Just to be clear, I walked from that dealer, not because I didn't get the price I wanted (but that did factor in), but because they acted like a "car dealer". Not honoring a valid price, and giving me one value to my face on my trade, and trying to sneak in a lower value on the write-up.

To me, honesty and being straightforward make the sale.

I can remember when the "back shop" was an expense for dealers. Now the trend seems to be reversed.