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Meanwhile, people are ordering directly from Tesla and paying full sticker...
Free market. So what?
The only possible argument against car sales reform is a weak, truly stupid one I've already mentioned: the near-total illusion that if you're smart and savvy enough, you can beat the bastards.
Just like you might clean out a crooked crap game if you play long enough. C'mon, seven!
The whole industry carefully fosters that notion - "Sure, pal, we're going to try to clean you out <wink wink>... but you're man enough to take us on and win, right, buddy?"
The only possible argument against car sales reform is a weak, truly stupid one I've already mentioned: the near-total illusion that if you're smart and savvy enough, you can beat the bastards.
Just like you might clean out a crooked crap game if you play long enough. C'mon, seven!
The whole industry carefully fosters that notion - "Sure, pal, we're going to try to clean you out <wink wink>... but you're man enough to take us on and win, right, buddy?"
Ha, excellent visual.
Whether we're talking about doc fees (which we are), other fees, the actual price, or other comps, everyone wants to have their war story to tell how they got one over on the dealership. Why does it seem that we brag about how little we paid for our cars, and how much we paid for our house? Interesting creatures we are.
From the very beginning of the discussion keep telling them you are needing a "cost out the door" of X amount for the vehicle. They can dice it up on paper however they like.
From the very beginning of the discussion keep telling them you are needing a "cost out the door" of X amount for the vehicle. They can dice it up on paper however they like.
And from the very beginning, I've been saying that helps nothing and no one, including the buyer who makes this deal.
It is about more than the bottom line on any one deal, no matter how good - like saying street crime is no problem because you're a big guy who carries a bat and no one messes with you. Walk safe.
And from the very beginning, I've been saying that helps nothing and no one, including the buyer who makes this deal.
It is about more than the bottom line on any one deal, no matter how good - like saying street crime is no problem because you're a big guy who carries a bat and no one messes with you. Walk safe.
Then you say no and walk out the door and go elsewhere exactly as you did.
A dealership owner or manager saying it's mandatory does not make it mandatory in any meaningful sense.
Customers are told, often in flat-out lies, that it's some kind of governmentally-mandated charge, and only the most persistent find out it's just a business charge, which is for some inexplicable reason absolutely, totally "mandatory."
It's flat-out grift.
The DMV's in many states audit dealers for this. In those states, it absolutely is mandatory that a dealer charges it to everyone. If they don't, then the DMV can force the dealer to refund all the DOC Fees they previously collected if they catch a dealer waiving those fees for someone. That's why instead of taking out to the DOC fee, the dealer will sometimes just lower the price of the car to make up for it. (But of course the dealer is prepared for that.)
The only way out of that is if you do the tags/title yourself. Then the dealer can waive the fee and/or charge a smaller fee. (Some still won't, though, as they don't often get asked that and are unsure if they can do it.)
Not all that many, according to the list published above. And nothing about this exculpates dealers from the ripoff - they've just had sufficient clout in some states to get their practice quasi-legalized.
Quote:
The only way out of that is if you do the tags/title yourself.
Which many states will not allow, for new car sales. And the fee has nothing really to do with the five-minute job of bulk- or online-registering the sale. $25 would be a generous tip for this service.
Accepting this crappy, butt-reaming, downright thuggish sales system on any basis - including thinking you're smarter than it or know how to work it - is a disservice to all US car buyers and the US economy.
It is absolutely mystifying to me why we put up with this horseflop - and even laugh at ourselves about it and give the racketeers a pass because, well, just because. You know.
Name any other consumer good where people put up with one-fiftieth as much crap as is expected in buying a car. And really, honestly, ask yourself why.
I'd rather buy a car than buy a house.
I'd also rather buy a car than a cell phone.
That's two that I can think of.
What you fail to understand is some of these "games" played by the dealers is because they don't make squat on the vehicles they sell. You're getting all worked up over and industry who makes 1-2% on the product they sell. Are some dealers terrible? Yep....but claiming they are rip off artists in general is just an odd premise given how little they actually make on the products they sell.
Even when you add in parts & service business the average dealer makes 4% return on sales. It's also a very cash intensive business. Many people in other businesses wonder why car dealers bother working that hard and tying up that much cash to earn a 4% return. That's why you rarely see private equity groups buying auto dealerships.
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