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Is there a place online where I can buy new cars, and cut out the ridiculous dealer fees and cut out the middleman (salesmen with their large commissions)?
It'd be awesome if I could order my car online, had a price cut compared to the store, and just pick it up from a warehouse...
Nope. All mfg's contract with dealers and in most states it is actually a criminal offense for the mfg's to sell to anyone but a dealer. You can, however, buy online from a dealer. Any decent dealer is going to have an internet sales division. The internet sales dept will give you a lower price (which is still negotiable) than if you just walked in to the dealer. The dealers make up for the lower internet price with volume.
German dealers won't really negotiate at all; the only real exception is VW.
Toyota, Honda, & Nissan are a little more flexible, but won't do much negotiating if they are the only game in town.
American car dealers seem to be the most competitive and will negotiate a fair bit.
It'd be awesome if I could order my car online, had a price cut compared to the store, and just pick it up from a warehouse...
This is, approximately, the sales model Elon Musk is using to sell Teslas where there are no laws preventing him from doing so. Dealers, of course, are seeing red, and have pushed state legislatures to outlaw Internet sales.
Laws prevent direct sales of motor vehicles... regulation, restrictions, certifications, etc. restrict open commerce in many industries all across the country. Most have weak justifications but have evolved to cater to politicians and their supporters so don't expect a rational objective discussion. We simply have too much government and too many laws.
You essentially need dealer licensing to cut out all the BS. In my case, my dad's business goes through enough vehicles that he was able to acquire dealer licensing through a few manufacturers. It is a family perk The price difference is noteworthy as compared to what walk-in's would pay. You simply order the vehicle how you want it, and it ships to one of the local (actual) car dealerships. Off the top of my head I don't know what the cut to the dealership is for managing the shipment, not much though.
The middlemen in this case had the foresight to go to most state legislatures and *ahem* impress upon them the importance of enshrining their important purposes into law.
Legally in many states, you are REQUIRED to go through said middleman.
Is there a place online where I can buy new cars, and cut out the ridiculous dealer fees and cut out the middleman (salesmen with their large commissions)?
It'd be awesome if I could order my car online, had a price cut compared to the store, and just pick it up from a warehouse...
No. The closest you can get is talking to a fleet manager, or internet sales manager, who often push cars out right around invoice. If you saw what the average commission for the salesman on a new car is, you wouldn't quite call it "Large."
If you saw what the average commission for the salesman on a new car is, you wouldn't quite call it "Large."
Regardless, you are still paying for all of the (unnecessary) overhead of a dealership.
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The price difference is noteworthy as compared to what walk-in's would pay. You simply order the vehicle how you want it, and it ships to one of the local (actual) car dealerships. Off the top of my head I don't know what the cut to the dealership is for managing the shipment, not much though.
