I’ve been seriously considering getting a Scion tC for several months now, and I was wondering about this “Pure Price” thing.
What is it, exactly, and how does it affect the purchasing process? To me, it sounds like a euphemism for “You’re gonna pay whatever it says on the sticker and you’re gonna like it.” Is there some hidden benefit to it that I’m not catching? Is there any wiggle room at all? Does the “no-haggle” thing apply to accessories and add-ons too, or just the car?
Also, I’ve heard some bad things about Scion dealers, but I’m determined not to let that dissuade me from buying the car I want. Any advice/anecdotes you guys have to help me prepare for this would be much appreciated.
I bought a new tC almost three years ago. You pretty much got the gist of it. They won’t haggle on the price of the Scion, but they will on your trade-in. They offered a more than I had been hoping to get for my trade-in.
I can’t speak for any dealer accessories, since I didn’t get any, but I do wish I would have gotten the spoiler. I really like the way they look with the spoiler. At the time, I had to order my car and wait almost two weeks for it to come in, so after that I didn’t want to wait longer for the spolier to be installed/painted.
I really didn’t have any problems with our Toyota dealer and my wife had bought her Corolla at the same dealer a couple of months before I bought my Scion, so if we’d had any problem with her deal we wouldn’t have gone back there to get my Scion.
Saturn used this policy when they started out (and may still use it). It was one reason for their success.
If you like to negotiate, then it’s a problem, but if you want to avoid the hassle, it’s good to know what the figure it and also know that no one else is getting it for less than you.
Since most people are at a major disadvantage when negotiating at a car dealership, this guarantees a fair price for all. In other dealers, the sticker price includes room to negotiate, so the dealer will cut the price and you end up playing a higher markup than with a set price.
Well, if it truly is no-haggle, I’m not real sure how I feel about that… I’m actually one of the few people I know who doesn’t mind negotiating. I feel I can get a better price than most people would, so it’s kind of disappointing not to have that option. However, if there were room to haggle, I’m sure the MSRP would be quite a bit higher, so I’d probably end up buying the car for around the same price in the end either way.
I guess in the end it is kind of nice to just know upfront what I’m going to pay for the car before I even get to the dealership. The only thing left to deal with is the financing, the accessories (which I hear can vary quite a bit in price from dealer to dealer), and the trade-in.
Well, I’m not saying I can get the best of them or anything-- no matter what, they’re going to make money and I’m going to lose money as soon as I drive off the lot. All I’m saying is that if I’m buying a car, I find out what the dealer paid for it, I take that number and add in a fair profit for the dealer, and that is what I will pay. That’s about the best deal one can ever hope to get, because they’re sure as hell not going to give it to you at cost.
shrugs Overall, I’m just not sure the Pure Price thing is to my particular advantage. I’m a little disappointed that I won’t even get the opportunity to get a better deal than what’s predetermined.
