Do you think the major car companies will ever offer "direct to consumer" purchasing?

[Vic]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
If you belong to a credit union I would see if they are an Autoland partner. It makes the car buying experience 100x better as you don't have to step foot into a dealership and you get a GREAT DEAL!

My friend bought his Mazda RX-8 through his CU for about $200 above invoice plus $113 TTL, signed papers at the CU, car was delivered to the CU. Absolutely no haggling, no bargaining, and no headache :thumbsup:

I saw the Autoland sign at my CU today in fact. First time I had noticed it. Something to think about. I bought my last car through AAA's buying service and it was a very pleasant experience. No haggling for under invoice pricing. Arranged it all over the phone, then showed a couple of days later to sign the papers and pick up the keys, which took less than half an hour.


To answer vi_edit's question though, the answer is a resounding NO.

First, think of Saturn and how well their no-haggle pricing system has worked for GM. Which is to say, not well. On large purchases, people like to think they are getting a great deal even when they are not. Such a transaction requires a salesman.

Second, car dealers are a major source of consumer complaints and as such of fee revenue for state and local governments.

Third, direct sales would only reduce manufacturer profits. Right now, price negotiations tend to range somewhere between dealer invoice and MSRP. That's a good environment for the manufacturers. In direct sales, the actual cost to manufacture would start to come up in the negotiations, and that's something they want to avoid at all costs.

 

[vi edit]

First, think of Saturn and how well their no-haggle pricing system has worked for GM. Which is to say, not well.

Saturn isn't a good comparison. They are terrible offerings compared to the compeition and IMHO often times overpriced to begin with..again compared to competing models.

Bad comparison.

Take Scion on the other hand. That's a flat priced system that I think is doing quite well for Toyota.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: RossMAN
If you belong to a credit union I would see if they are an Autoland partner. It makes the car buying experience 100x better as you don't have to step foot into a dealership and you get a GREAT DEAL!

My friend bought his Mazda RX-8 through his CU for about $200 above invoice plus $113 TTL, signed papers at the CU, car was delivered to the CU. Absolutely no haggling, no bargaining, and no headache :thumbsup:

I saw the Autoland sign at my CU today in fact. First time I had noticed it. Something to think about. I bought my last car through AAA's buying service and it was a very pleasant experience. No haggling for under invoice pricing. Arranged it all over the phone, then showed a couple of days later to sign the papers and pick up the keys, which took less than half an hour.

:thumbsup:

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: RossMAN
If you belong to a credit union I would see if they are an Autoland partner. It makes the car buying experience 100x better as you don't have to step foot into a dealership and you get a GREAT DEAL!

My friend bought his Mazda RX-8 through his CU for about $200 above invoice plus $113 TTL, signed papers at the CU, car was delivered to the CU. Absolutely no haggling, no bargaining, and no headache :thumbsup:

I saw the Autoland sign at my CU today in fact. First time I had noticed it. Something to think about. I bought my last car through AAA's buying service and it was a very pleasant experience. No haggling for under invoice pricing. Arranged it all over the phone, then showed a couple of days later to sign the papers and pick up the keys, which took less than half an hour.

:thumbsup:

Wow. I'll have to check into that and see if anything like it is available here. Doesn't Costco have some sort of vehicle purchase program?

 

[DaWhim]

no, I don't think they like to deal with customers. that's why you buy from a dealer.

 

[spidey07]

I don't think so.

There is an entire industry built and protected by lobbyist/government around selling a car.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: RossMAN
If you belong to a credit union I would see if they are an Autoland partner. It makes the car buying experience 100x better as you don't have to step foot into a dealership and you get a GREAT DEAL!

My friend bought his Mazda RX-8 through his CU for about $200 above invoice plus $113 TTL, signed papers at the CU, car was delivered to the CU. Absolutely no haggling, no bargaining, and no headache :thumbsup:

I saw the Autoland sign at my CU today in fact. First time I had noticed it. Something to think about. I bought my last car through AAA's buying service and it was a very pleasant experience. No haggling for under invoice pricing. Arranged it all over the phone, then showed a couple of days later to sign the papers and pick up the keys, which took less than half an hour.

:thumbsup:

Wow. I'll have to check into that and see if anything like it is available here. Doesn't Costco have some sort of vehicle purchase program?

CostCoAuto.com

It would be interesting to see a comparison of Autoland vs AAA vs CostCo.

Which is the least amount of hassle and the best price for a new car?

 

[Spencer278]

Originally posted by: StephenM

Originally posted by: vi_edit


Good point. Couldn't the car manf. just charge sales tax and then just report it to the state like most retail companies do?

They could, and would....I think this change would be revenue-neutral from the state's perspective. Nevertheless, dealerships would lobby against it hard, and politicians would probably tow the line, out of fear of losing a donor. I can just imagine the campaign ads: "Big Business wants to drive out your friendly neighborhood car dealer, and ruin the trusted relationship you have with your local service representative. Do you want corporate suits in Europe, Japan, or even DETROIT telling you how to buy a car? Vote no on question 7"

I'd still like to see it, but I can understand why it's no easy task.

I don't think anyone would care if their local dealer was firebombed. The media would hate that idea. I swear almost every single local ad I see is for some scamming car dealership with the best prices in the world.

 

[radioouman]

Ummm, didn't Saturn try this?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: radioouman
Ummm, didn't Saturn try this?

I don't really have faith in GM to pioneer any program successfully.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: radioouman
Ummm, didn't Saturn try this?

I don't really have faith in GM to pioneer any program successfully.

Sigh... how little some people know of GM. They are so much more than cars and trucks, it's not even funny.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: radioouman
Ummm, didn't Saturn try this?

I don't really have faith in GM to pioneer any program successfully.

Sigh... how little some people know of GM. They are so much more than cars and trucks, it's not even funny.

Yes, I realize that over 2/3 or more of their profits are from the mortgage and finance industry. Point is, this thread is about cars and GM has an inferior product in that regard and is continuously losing ground in that industry.

 

[virtueixi]

Or maybe instead of having these demo lots and service centers seperate they could put them in the same place. Oh wait thats a dealer?

 

[alent1234]

dealers don't make a lot of money on selling cars

service is where most of the money is made, so no the current system will probably not change

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: alent1234
dealers don't make a lot of money on selling cars

service is where most of the money is made, so no the current system will probably not change

If they aren't making money selling cars, then wouldn't that SUPPORT changing it? I would think the used car market is a much bigger revenue center than new sales.

Instead of having massive and expensive show rooms and an unfathomable amount of money tied up in inventory sitting on a lot, why not just do a JIT delivery?

Biggest problem I see is trade-ins. But that would just make places like carmax more popular I guess.