rickr84 wrote: In reply to rickr84: Sorry wish I could edit that.
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This thread reminds me how badly I don't want to deal with anybody in car sales.
It just reminds me of a substantial down payment dissappearing by the time the paperwork rolled around....
You're talking to a bunch of people that generally don't buy new cars because they loathe car payments and get excited about $500 Miatas.
Likely not a good audience for feedback haha
In reply to Datsun1500:Most luxury brands (BMW level, not Porsche level) pay brokers between 500 and 1000 depending on car. I've paid a few $1000 to help us make in the end only $500 on 60k car the customer got for 57000. Ive never heard of a broker that would do anything for $200. I average about 650-700 a car now but it takes about 3 hours to complete every sale, forget the time lost not making a sale. As a broker I figure averaging 500 a car and not having to deal with test drives and post sale deliveries would be a huge time saver, and honestly I think I'd have a higher contact to sale ratio. No matter how much someone loves me, if they decide on another brand I can't help them. This way once I'm in, I can just get them what they want. And just to clarify, if the best deal a dealer will give a customer on a car is $2500 off msrp, they will give the broker a quote of the same $2500 off msrp AND pay that broker fee. Its just something they do to get those 10 easy deals a month. If they gave a broker a higher quote, the system would quickly break down with brokers having angry customers. That broker would move on to a dealer more likely to stick to the obvious rule of conduct between sale prices and brokers.
DaveEstey wrote: You're talking to a bunch of people that generally don't buy new cars because they loathe car payments and get excited about $500 Miatas. Likely not a good audience for feedback haha
We can provide unbiased feedback 
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BoxheadTim wrote:DaveEstey wrote: You're talking to a bunch of people that generally don't buy new cars because they loathe car payments and get excited about $500 Miatas. Likely not a good audience for feedback hahaWe can provide unbiased feedback
True, I don't think there's a tougher customer than the DIY automotive crowd. But while several may think they hate the idea, if your buddy said he could get you the best deal without headache on your wife's new Q5, and cut out the salesperson, and make sure they don't get any finance profit off you, and have all docs there so it's a 1 hour process not 2-3, you might go with your friend. Well that's me for many customers. And even if we don't start as friends, but I had an ad up for a rare Q5, you called me and we talked, I don't think you'd say "oh you're a broker. Never mind". I just don't see it. Maybe thats the delusion of a good salesman.
I probably would use a broker ... the biggest problem I see is that I usually have a car to trade in as well.
J
Just go do it. Understand that you probably won't pull many customers from here. If you're good then you should be able to make it work by word of mouth. Best of luck.
We're not your target audience, as a group we're pretty cheap, and are typically armed with knowledge. I've brokered many deals for family members where I've gotten them a far better deal than if they had walked into a dealership alone. I've never charged anyone.
I think your market could be someone who hates dealerships so much that they're willing to avoid them at all costs and use something like Costco's car buying service.
I've thought of the idea myself, but think that the margins would make it tough to make any serious money doing it. I can only see it worked as a concierge service for the very wealthy...
rickr84 wrote: Not to discredit anything, but being in the industry right now I can tell you this is the reality.
I'm in the business too. I actually don't find car salesmen that bad. About 50% of them don't last more than a year anyway. The vets know their stuff. Customers are more of a problem than salesman. They consistently lie on their trade and income and make ridiculous offers. If people worked instead of taking the time to go back and forth on a car deal, they'd make more money. I heard a story about a guy walking on a $100k car over $100. He sat there for 5hrs. This guy made about $500/hr as a lawyer. This is why a lot of ultra wealthy people use brokers. You can make a single phone call and be done with it and they make a better buying decision than they typical rich guy who knows nothing about cars.
When ever I've bought a car, I just say write it up. I'm not going to waste an entire day over $1000. The last car I bought I was in the dealership for just under 2hrs from setting foot in there before I drove home. As a benefit, if I have a problem, I get my ass kissed.
double
When I bought my truck I showed up, drove it, told them to figure out the paperwork and I'd be back the next day.
Went back, signed a few documents and left happy. Total time spent including test-drive was about 1.5 hours.
Last few times I've been involved with a purchase at a dealership (my parents buying, I was just there) have gone like this:
One of them--a one-man band dealership--we test drove it, and he had a fair price, we wrote a check. Maybe 1 hour total.
Another was a no-haggle dealer (I want to know how those guys stay in business... oh right, they probably rip you off in trade, but they gave us a fair offer)... Test drove, got them to throw in floor mats, deal was done in about 2 hours.
Others have been: Test drive, like it, here is the out the door price we will pay. If the say no, we walked.
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