bblac

What is the general thought around using the dealer internet quote option? They make it sound like they are giving you some great deal that you otherwise would not be getting since they work on a commission free basis and that if you contact a store rep you will blow the deal and the great pricing. An example to give you. Sent in a quote for a car priced at $30,565 and was sent back a quote of $29,342. Not exactly a steal. Any thoughts?

April

You'll have them take you much much more seriously if you call ahead, speak to the sales manager and ask to make an appointment with an ABS (Audi Brand Specialist), and make your offer in person. Some ABS suck, but you'll have a better chance of getting somebody who knows the cars and details, since they are trained by AoA. Every dealer has at least one of these people.

The attitude towards internet or fax quotes is that why should they commit to quoting you the the bottom line, when all you will do is use that number to cross shop them with other dealers?

bblac

Yeah I kind of figured. At least it does give one a starting point. So with the figures I was given would that suggest that there is perhaps another $500 $1,000 or more that could be negotiated? I'm thinking $28,800 - $28,500 would be a "fair" price that I could pay. Anybody think that offer would be out of line?

BlueWorld

We emailed 12 regional Audi stores with the specs we were looking for. About 60% responded, most with 'come on in we have a car that's close for a few hundred under MSRP'

However we also received three offers for $500 over invoice.

We drove to store, signed the papers, and said thanks. 30 minutes including the new vehicle delivery.

There's no way I would ever buy a car again by walking in to a dealer.

We sent the mails out on the last Tuesday of the quarter. You just never know which store wants or needs to move one more car for the quarter or the year.

Tuesday December 27th will be a great day to buy a car this way. Slow time of the year, last Saturday of the year falls on New Years Eve which means it will be a slow day to end a slow week, and the year.

Go to http://www.fightingchance.com/ it's the only way to go.

AlexTTQ

That's pratically invoice!

Don't you guys know that there is only about $1,600-$1,800 between invoice and M.S.R.P??

Long are the days with big margins.
That's over.
Even the A8 with the new body, margins have been cut by 1/2.

If all dealers sell their cars for $0 how do you expect your car to retain it's value.

I'm just amazed.

April

Depending on the option packages, a $30,500 car has an invoice of around $28,500. The only things not shown on edmunds is the ad fee (1% of base invoice) and port prep fee. Once you've settle on a car and dealer, they should show you the invoice. It's going to be the real deal - since showing a faked invoice can shut down the dealer (the whole dealer - service too) instantly.

There isn't that much margin in the car in the first place, and there aren't any incentives except Audi loyalty rebates (which go directly to the deal - dealer can't touch them) on the V6 and and some very very early production cars from last Spring (odd equipment combos).

Pricing depends a lot on what you want, and availability of that combo. It also depends on if the dealer needs to trade for a car or special order.

A salesperson makes 20% of the margin between invoice and whatever the final negotiated happens to be. They sell maybe 20 cars per month in Summer, and 12 in Winter. Extrapolate what you would need to make to survive, and also consider service and knowledge - or lack thereof.

Who did you test drive with, and why aren't they getting your business? Or did you not test drive?

April

I would so love to have dealers charge a nominal fee for the test drive - and refund it if the customer buys through them.

radcoup

test drive, maybe 1 hour or so, on roads of the drivers choice with no restrictions on how the car has to be driven. I would pay $100 for a real test drive.

My last few test drives were worthless.

April

with people who have a basic knowledge of the car, but not much more. A total of 30 minutes max - and usually closer to 20 minutes. Something for people who are in the beginning stages of shopping.

Then people would have the option of signing up for a paid real walk-around and test drive that would take 45 to 60 minutes (more time purchasable). The person doing the presentation would be highly trained about the models and have some track experience in the car as well. If the customer ended up buying the car from that dealer, the fee would be refunded.

Negotiations would be handled by a different person with some knowledge of the cars, but more about the financing side of things. That would free up staff to focus on certain areas, becoming expert in those. With so many aspects to a car deal, it's extremely hard for a salesperson to be an expert in them all - and stay up to date. The smaller the sales margins, the more customers they must try to find - which leaves no time for study.

I noticed that in selling cars, the things that took time were the initial qualification (helping the customer decide if they liked the car upon first inspection), refining the choice (visual and driving options and testing of those), and then finally the negotiation itself and the delivery. A good delivery often takes another 30 minutes, since you want to (re)familiarise the client with the features of the car, so that when they drive away, they aren't fumbling for the controls.

Of course when the dealer gets paid $500 over invoice and the salesperson myabe $100, that doesn't begin to cover the time it takes to acquire the knowledge and then turn it into a proper test drive, pleasant negotiation, and comprehensive delivery.

bbbradley

as opposed to the typical BS tactics like charging to go shopping... Let me get this straight, you want me to pay money for the honor of giving you $30K You are drinking waaaaay too much dealer kool-aid!

Show some value, and you can extract money.