No never would take it as a personal attack .
Two things though .
MSRP is a 'made up sticker' yes. It is the manufacturers suggested retail price. From that comes regional rebates , incentives and discounts.
The invoice here in Florida is the actual invoice and the actual price the dealer pays for the car. There is msrp , invoice cost and one thing called holdback on the invoice. We will sell a $60k F450 at dead cost less incentives and rebates but will not negotiate holdback which is usually anywhere from $500 to $1000. Incetives and rebates are regionally based which means the regions/areas/dealers who move a higher volume of units will get stronger discounts. One of the reasons dealers have gone to 'dealer fees' is due to the fact we sell cars for so little now. If out of 200 cars you actually have to 'lose' money on 15-20 on them we will. Only thing that matters is if at the end of the month the mgrs can still show an overall dept profit.
I'm in one of the top regions in the country and promise you I can sell any Ford,Lincoln or Mercury vehicle for much less than most other states/regions due to our volume.
To give you an example this place sold almost 3000 new units this year in 2010.
I doubt there is any dealer on the Midwest or similar that did half of that.
When you say you try to screw the dealer as much as they try to screw you it is you then who is perpetuating the belief we are trying to screw you. I know in my heart any of you would be stunned to see how I handle my customers . I deal with some of the richest , cheapest old farts in the country and still bend over backwards to 'earn their 'business'' and treat them right.
Firm handshake , nice greeting , treating you like family, calling you regularly to ensure your satisfaction , mailing cards for all types of occasions. These things set me apart from the normal ones and is the reason I have only been here for two months but have the second highest sales out of twelve others in those two months. I was out of the business for almost five years , walked on and am doing better than most here. It's all attitude and customers sense that and feed off it.
Within short order I'll be back on desk managing a crew whether it's this one or another same as I did at Palm Beach LM.
I do truly enjoy it and get great satisfaction when folks say as their driving away 'we had no idea we were gonna buy a car today!'
Know why that happened ? Because they bumped into a nice person who cared and treated them right.
the thing is walmart's jeans which cost say 5 bucks doesn't say to the consumer "we have to buy the jeans at 50.00 dollars so selling them to you at 45.00 is money out of my pocket." Instead it's simply 20 bucks. Believe me, I know it's marked up high so many people rely on a sale day to make their purchase. There's still profit being made even on those days.
MSRP is a made up sticker
dealer invoice is a made up sticker
don't get me started about the finance departments
the whole markup process starts way before the consumer sees a product. The dealer negotiates each month with the factory on the price the dealer will pay for the car. It just snowballs from there and by the time the consumer is involved everyone has already built into the price their cut. it's just a painful process to have to negotiate prices. I'm glad I don't have to argue a fair price on my restaurant bill.
Blanca - I like you and I hope you don't take this as an attack on you or yoru carrier choice. I understand you're view from the slaes side but from the consumer side it's always a battle.
btw, I never pay sticker or anything close when purchasing a car. I do all the negotiating through several dealers and then send my wife in to finish them off. She'll rant and rave until the manager either kicks us out or closes the deal. I try and screw them over as much as they try to screw me over.
