I go to the dealer in Santa Barbara. I tell them I will be going to Lompoc and Ventura also. You will give me your best possible price for the car and for the trade in. I will be doing the same thing as the other guys. I will not haggle or price match. If you have the best deal you are the winner, otherwise you will never hear from me again. Repeat at the other two dealers.
what about what they are making on the financing? honestly asking!
my first time at a dealer it was 2011 and a small town: I bought a 2010 from them (but brand new) and was completely happy with the entire experience. I had planned to finance elsewhere but they offered me 0% so I went with that.
fast forward to my second experience at a dealer, also a (different) small town and maybe 3 years ago: I was there for a repair on the car I bought from the first dealer and since I was waiting around, I asked to be shown their cars.
I explained how happy I was with the 0% and asked what they could do for me. Never did find out the rate.
But I got a really thorough look at how they do business and was extremely offended
TLDR: they gave me a song and dance while asking me to sign papers where the finance rate wasn’t listed. It just wasn’t there. I was supposed to sign based on their pretty monthly payment numbers (in color!) and not push the issue! Never went back there and never will.
Egads. I would regard that as daylight robbery. The consumables would be a small fraction for each part, and it isn’t as if service technicians cost hundreds an hour.
OTOH here Audi dealers are similarly bad. There is a huge margin in servicing. A friend of mine’s son worked for the main Audi dealer here. He told of basic lying on the part of the servicing. Things like customers being told of specialist Audi trained technicians working on their cars, when the reality was that an apprentice did the work with only the barest oversight.
This could result in cars coming back with problems due to mistakes in servicing or even basic services being not done at all.
The sad reality is that dealers have made the bulk of their profits from inflated service costs for some time now. Hence things like extended warranties that require on time services performed only by that dealer.
My latest car is leased through my employer (due to impossible to ignore government tax breaks) and I have no control over the running costs. I just see a pay deduction. But I can be sure that the leasing company will have no truck with inflated prices. They will cut a deal. Obviously some of that improves their margin, but leasing is itself a competitive market, so I will hope I see some of that improvement.
My independent shop is now $175/hr for labor. The Ford dealer is $225. FYI. We bought our first high-end car in January (Cadillac Lyriq). Zero BS. A one minute pitch for an extended warranty (declined). $7500 tax credit, $5000 from GM, $1000 from Costco. Out the door in an hour including an orientation session for the infotainment.
I made biscuits for breakfast. Come on over and have a few. Only $10 each.
When they did that to me. I crossed it out, wrote “refused” on the paperwork and initialed it. Then told them to rewrite the contract before I’d sign. No argument from them.
I teach financial algebra and part of my curriculum is amortization so I have the formula memorized. When they try to four-square you, it throws them off of their game when you calculate the payment yourself.
Those had better be Audi biscuits.
Yeah, I did look around and while I found lower prices from other mechanics they were not a whole lot lower. Further, I have almost no sense or ability to assess how good or honest a given mechanic is. There is anecdotal evidence aplenty of auto mechanics ripping off customers in various ways. Most are probably competent and honest but I can’t tell who they are. The unscrupulous ones don’t stand out.
I will say this Audi is 11 years old with over 135,000 miles on it and it looks and drives like it is new. It has had Audi repair all along (which I believe will help in re-sale value someday, in part because they keep all the repair records on computer and will send the lot to you whenever you ask). The Audi repair center is scrupulously clean and the whole operation is very slick and smooth and fast.
To me that is worth some premium.
I think the issue is that many of those services don’t need to be done according to Audi’s schedule. Brake fluid is every 3 year and wheels almost never need aligned unless you are in the habit of curbing your wheels.
That many people go back to the dealer for maintenance is, I think, one reason why dealers are willing to accept thin profits on car sales. Some of the maintenance is legitimately complex and not easy for the owner, but others (like changing air filters or wiper blades) are things that the owner could easily do.
You can tell if they are by the fact the biscuits don’t have a sunken center.
I almost never curb my wheels but the car is parked sideways on a slope. Not sure if that perpetual lean has any effect.
I am sure they did- but those prices are nutso. Dont you have a trusted local mechanic? I get my oil done- synthetic and all for under $100.
In 2019 we got the regular maintenance done on three cars. Very similar work done, all at the dealer:
Toyota $250
Subaru $410
Volvo $800+
But the Volvo interval was one year of 15k miles, while Toyota and Subaru were six months or 7500 miles.
Why do people insist on getting regular maintenance done at over priced dealers?
Over-priced dealer prices is right! An oil/filter change and tire rotation is over $100 at the local Mazda dealership. They used to give out coupons for a free full-service car wash (which is way overpriced as well) with the service so I figured that into the cost.
But the free car wash coupons are gone now, so I wait for the dealer coupons that offer oil/filter changes for around $40, about half price. I get my tires rotated for free from where I bought them…it’s an extra trip but the shop is about 1/2 mile away and with an appointment I’m in and out in 30 minutes.
Change the “d” to “st” and you’ve got it.
Because I’ve had two incidents in the last 20 years where the “trusted local mechanic” has fucked up the car to the tune of thousands of dollars and refused to compensate us.
Another local mechanic will not touch the Volvo.
The dealer keeps consistent records, has a comfortable waiting area, gives me a loaner car if it’s going to be more than four hours, and washes the exterior and vacuums the interior.
Last time I took the Volvo in because a warning light came on, I told them I needed to join a meeting at work. They set me up with an office so I wasn’t joining a call in the customer lounge.
In any case the independent garages are not that much cheaper anyway. Certainly not on the Toyota or the Subaru. Maybe 20% cheaper.
Yeah, this is the waiting room where I was:
Free WiFi. Some food and snacks and drinks (coffee/tea). Even a walled-off (glass) play room if you have kids.
In my case, they gave me an Uber voucher to go home and come back. It is all automatic. They text it to you, you click on the link and that’s it. The addresses are in and the ride is paid for.
They do have loaners but my service took a day so I got Uber. I bet if I asked they’d give me a loaner.
My dealership’s service department used to have a sign behind the service desk listing their price for several common service items and that of several other, independent shops in town, making the point that they were competitive, cost wise. Many shops use the same manual to set the amount of time that any particular maintenance item should take, and the hourly rates aren’t that different.
As for loaners, I don’t get one for my Honda but my mother does for her Lexus. It seems to be something offered only by high-end makes.
FWIW the cost I showed is more than just an oil change. It’s a whole inspection thing (which they video and send the video to you so you can see the issues they identified). Upsell? I guess it is. I checked with the last service it had (not at this location) and compared what was done and these are different items and fall within the recommended service windows for those things. I also sent it to them and they compared as well.