Friday, July 8th, 2011 • Posted in General, Uncategorized • No Comments »

Went to a local dealer yesterday they are new and I just swung by to check them out. I was reminded of the reason why we do what we do, it’s because dealers run their stores essentially as numerous separate business’s. Each only interested in there departments bottom line not in the business as a whole and definitely not in the customer unless it helps the bottom line of their department.

The used car manager isn’t over paying for your trade so you’ll buy a new car, he doesn’t care. If you are getting more for your car than it’s really worth some money is going into your new car, not 90% of the time it’s 100%. The exact same thing can be said for the parts department and service department which is usually the most profitable department in a dealership.

This window sticker for “dealer installed accessories” is what caught my eye & made me think. EVERY car on the lot had a separate sticker for “dealer installed  accessories” which is not uncommon. The problem is if you want the car your buying the accessories & they will explain in detail why you need them & why they will save you money in the long run? Let’s look at a couple of these:
       *XZILON (paint & leather protector) $1,897 dealer cost less than $500.
       *LOJACK $995 dealer cost approx $175.
       *Window Tint $497 dealer cost approx $100.
       *Decklid Spoiler $995 dealer cost approx $250.
       *Aftermarket Leather $1,995 dealer cost $1,300.

Then there’s the finance department or F&I where they sit you down sometimes for hours selling you the really crazy stuff while also marking up the rate & bank fee’s. Again very common, the finance department is only interested in the finance departments bottom line, that’s how they get paid.

Next is  the dealer/bank relationship, basically they don’t have one. So & so BMW has nothing to do with BMW financial so the dealer that says they’ll “cover your wear/tear or mileage” well, no they won’t. They will however happily put it into your new car. If any dealer paid for lease return mileage or wear/tear they would be out of business within 6 months! They don’t build those fancy buildings by loosing money & frankly they SHOULDN’T loose money. There’s also no reason they shouldn’t make money they should there’s just a right and a wrong way to do it. We will be the FIRST one’s to tell a client, a family member or even ourselves when one of us is getting a car that there’s a place that’s fair for us, the dealer and you the customer.

That’s where we stand and where the value of our service is. Our starting point is your day, week or months long ending point if you’re lucky. So ask yourself the next time you’re in the market for a new car how much is my time worth or is the hassle and aggravation worth it? We think you’ll come to the conclusion that it isn’t and contact us. Why not make getting a new car the enjoyable experience it should be?

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