Wake up call, today's reality?

jyoutz

Well-known member

Equipment
MX6000 HST open station, FEL, 6’ cutter, forks, 8’ rear blade, 7’ cultivator
Jan 14, 2019
2,458
1,565
113
Edgewood, New Mexico
In the 'good old days', dealers would get the vehicle you wanted, from another dealer to make the sale. I'm guessing that service isn't there anymore ??
Few dealers have inventory and what they have will go to their waiting list.
 

torch

Well-known member

Equipment
B7100HSD, B2789, B2550, B4672, 48" cultivator, homemade FEL and Cab
Jun 10, 2016
2,583
831
113
Muskoka, Ont.
Best practices means you find a way without trying to screw your customers.
I'm not sure that qualifies as "trying to screw your customers". Agreeing on a price, then sneaking in all sorts of extras that weren't mentioned is screwing the customer. Claiming that the warranty is voided by the customer servicing his own vehicle is screwing the customer. Tricking the customer into signing finance applications with 3 different loan companies is screwing the customer*.

But any item is worth exactly what a buyer and seller agree it is worth on any given day. Sounds like this dealer was upfront about pricing. The customer was free to disagree and look elsewhere. It may be a poor business strategy, but then, maybe that dealer felt screwing over his employees by cutting wages was a worse strategy -- there's another thread going on pointing out the shortage of good mechanics and the need for dealerships to offer competitive wages in order to attract and retain experienced people.

*This actually happened to my son. He bought a used car at a fair price. Call it $10k after trade-in, but I forget the exact amount. The salesman would handle all the financing, just sign the paperwork here, here and here and drive it off the lot.

Turns out the paper in triplicate was turned into 3 separate applications for the full $10k to 3 different banks, putting the kid on the hook for $30k. His first inkling of trouble was when each bank sent him the approvals a few weeks later. If that wasn't bad enough, it turned out the dealership didn't even own the car -- it was a leased vehicle and GM wanted it back!

In the end, that was his salvation. It proved intent and got him off the hook for the loans since the sale was fraudulent. He even eventually got his trade-in back (despite that having been sold to another patsy in the meantime), since it formed part of the fraudulent sale.

Now THATS screwing the customers.
 
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lugbolt

Well-known member

Equipment
ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
4,807
1,575
113
Mid, South, USA
In the 'good old days', dealers would get the vehicle you wanted, from another dealer to make the sale. I'm guessing that service isn't there anymore ??
yeah in the good ol' days you could get online and find a dealer that had what a customer wanted, and request transfer. The dealer didn't have to agree to it-and often didn't. But there was so much inventory to be had, that it was kind rare to not get it.
 

chim

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Equipment
L4240HSTC with FEL, Ford 1210
Jan 19, 2013
1,738
823
113
Near Lancaster, PA, USA
While we haven't bought any vehicles for some time, I was always accustomed to getting between 10 and 15% off the sticker. If the dealer didn't want to do that I moved on to find another who would.

We were looking at new Tahoes in September of 2020. Our plan was to buy a new one when I retired some time in 2021. I wanted to see one up close and personal, and contacted a dealer in Maryland. I made it clear we weren't ready to buy and simply wanted to drive down to see one. My requirements are simple - leather gut and exterior color of "not black". They had a nice one that had a sticker price in the upper $50's. The salesman asked what he'd need to do to sell it to us that day. I reminded him that when I called to check their stock we only intended to look.

He was very courteous, but started getting anxious for a sale. He pressed and I told him we probably wouldn't be able to get together on it because he'd need to do something crazy. He asked "How crazy?". I told him the first number would need to be a 4. He said "We might be able to do that". At that point, Wifey grabbed my arm and went into her "chim chim chim, wait a minute" mode and kinda de-escalated things.

Should have pulled the trigger! Some dealers on Cargurus were running Tahoes at $5K under sticker back then without even starting to negotiate. Now some dealers are asking as much as $10K OVER sticker. I refuse to buy till the situation changes.
 
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58Ford

Active member

Equipment
BX23s, LA340, BT603, RCR1248, PFL1242, STB1072
Jan 1, 2022
248
202
43
SW Washington
“What they can do, however, is tell people the truth-that we are all sold out, everything is presold, you can order one today just like it and we can customize it as needed. But it'll take 6-8 months to get it. Then the customer says I'll pay extra if needed. We personally don't agree to that but some dealers do, and there's nothing "wrong" with it.”

HAMMER MEET NAIL HEAD!
This is capitalism and I love it. Sucks if you can’t afford to wait but dems da brakes!
I literally just experienced this - Wife decided arbitrarily that she “didn’t feel comfortable driving her 19 XC90 in the snow.” Liked the look of the 4 runners. It’s her car, so as long as it doesn’t cost too much I’ll play along.

At Toyota dealer, no 2022s, no 2021s to test drive only a 20 with 20k on the clock. Test drive is a test drive so no biggie. I asked how much they had it listed for and the answer was $54k. I mentioned the Monroney is in the glove box and the car stickered at 44k when originally sold. Response was, “Don’t buy this one unless you absolutely have to! Let us order what you want.” Maybe that guy who needs a milquetoast white 4 runner with no options will pay $50? No idea but won’t be me.

on the way home Mrs 58Ford hit PayNow on the Nokians that have been sitting in the cart for 6 months! Just got them mounted. She won’t have any more issues and I also reminded her of the button that lifts the car up high like she really wanted. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️
 

skeets

Well-known member

Equipment
BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,094
2,755
113
SW Pa
I remember HD dealers, would say thats the price if you want, if not some one else will buy it. And it would take 2 to 3 weeks to do an oil change ( when you could do it in the driveway in about 30 min and thats changing the primary and tranny fluid) 3 days to replace a tire. Yep supply vs demand the more people want something the more the dealers feel like they are the only provider and act it,,