Same day; same dealership; different price for same car....I think this is SICK!

[trackfan]

I know this is how cars are generally sold; but I think it is a crime that on the same day, at the same dealership, 2 people could pay a different price for the same car. I think it is GODDAMNMOTHERFUCKING SICK. I HATE THAT.

[hobbit709]

1. Caveat emptor

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. They pay a different price for the loan, not the car

No?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

3. Same day, same country, different price for same care.

What does it cost for most to have HCR like their congressmen?

[Richard D]

4. Have you ever bough an airline ticket?

[taterguy]

5. All prices based on customer's attitude

Some long-forgotten store had that sign.

I dug it.

I don't know or care what my dealer charges other people for the same ride I get.

I like to think that I'm getting a deal but I have no way of knowing for sure and I like that.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Meh.

Not good at haggling, eh?

[liberal N proud]

7. Lots of factors in that decision

How much one person is willing to push the dealer.
Credit ratings.
Profit margins, if the dealer made his quota on one car, he will bend more on the price of the next one.

It isn't isolated to car dealerships. But it is how deals are made on a whole host of products and services.

[Electric Monk]

8. Capitalism: A Love Story

Check it out.

[bullwinkle428]

9. You've always got the power to walk away from any deal that pisses you off.

I've done it more than once in my life!

[Cleita]

10. My mother, when she wanted to buy a car, would cruise through all the dealers that

had the car she wanted. She would walk away and come back the next day and make an offer and walk away again while saying that so and so had a better price. She would hang around while the sales people tried to sell to other people and stand there and smile saying she would buy for a certain price and then she would walk away. Because she was peti, pretty and very polite, they couldn't do much about her until the day the sale manager would come out and say, "Give her what she wants". Then when they went into the office to write up the contract, she would ask for all the extras but for no additional price. By that time they were worn down and she got what she wanted. She got some really great deals.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. You are always welcome to pay sticker price.

[SoCalDem]

12. 50 people on a plane..most did not pay the same price

That's market-based capitalism for 'ya

[ThomWV]

13. And I think that just the opposite of it is just as SICK

In the last couple of days I've visited 3 dealers for a large US equipment manufacturer looking for a backhoe/Loader. I got exactly the same price from each of the three - not a dime's difference. One Dealer was in West Virginia, one in Maryland, and one in Pennsylvania. There is no way on earth it is possible that they had the same overhead costs, that they might settle for the same levels of profit on a sale, that there is much likelihood at all that they would have come to the same price given the difference of their circumstance. But there it was, exactly the same price. There was one difference though, If I were to buy it in-state I'd have to pay sales tax on it, if I buy it out of state there will be no tax. That makes for about $1,000 difference in my case - and they all deliver, so there is no advantage at all to buying local and in fact some significant disadvantage.

[jmowreader]

18. Aren't consignment sales great?

Heavy equipment dealers don't buy machines from the manufacturer. Can you imagine having to floorplan a Cat 966 at over a million dollars a copy? Rather, that equipment is sold on consignment: the manufacturer puts the machine at the dealership and sticks a price tag on it. When it sells, the dealer pays the manufacturer. (And because it still belongs to the manufacturer, it makes life much easier if someone buys a 966 from a dealership that doesn't have one in stock. They go to a special website and see which dealers have one, call up the closest dealer and pry the machine away from them.) This is why all Cat dealers have rental operations, used-backhoe lots, service centers, truck repair shops, marine power shops or whatever; that's where the real money is made, not in selling new equipment.

[virginia mountainman]

14. I don't understand why people DON"T haggle with prices, on big ticket items..

My wife and I, just yesterday, bought a NEW front load washer, the list price was $899...It was on closeout for $699, and I haggled them down to "$600 out the door" on it, by pointing out that I would not need their free delivery and hook-up service, and that I was making several other purchases at the same time. I also reminded them that Sears was just down the road...

This was at Lowe's home improvemnt...

When we bought my wife's Grand Prix GT several years ago it was 3 years old at the time, the window sticker said $12,999

We drove it off the lot for $7,000.

After pointing out a few minor faults, not to mention the fact that we was not going to trade anything in on it, and already had financing worked out...Also helped big time when I whipped out the "blue book" car price guide on them... And said, "Lookie what we have here?!?!"

A word of advice...

Use Kelly Blue book, as a price guide when BUYING a car...

Use NADA when SELLING YOUR CAR...

The Kelly Blue Book, prices cars lower than NADA.

If you go onto a car lot, and pay sticker price, you have no one to blame but yourself. They are planning on you to "dicker" on price, and they price high so they have room to give. It is not their fault that some people don't understand how to negotiate a good price.

[doc03]

16. I found you are right about the Kelly vs the NADA

Blue book. Just a few days ago I checked on line and the trade-in value on my truck was $17000 in the NADA and $14000 in the Kelly. My car is valued at around $1500 in the NADA and around $750 in the Kelly. Why is that? I also notice at the book store the NADA book is called the "Consumer Edition". Do they have another edition for dealers with different values?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. We used to tell customers: Bring your wife back and we'll dicker.

[tammywammy]

15. It can be very simple

Just pay MSRP and be done with it. :shrug: