I use to have mine in my sig, but as I am no longer an advertiser here I didn't think it was right. I have sold as far away as Arizona, and I am in central Missouri. I know there is a guy who prices at 3% under invoice on the net and if he wants to work for that fine by me. But we can't work for nothing, which is exactly what he is working on. Invoice minus 3% is net-net=$0 profit. What he is doing is banking on making his quota and getting the extra $300-750 per unit depending on the deal at the time. He has no special deal with Dodge as I have previously seen posted on the net, we all buy them for the same price. Invoice less 3% holdback and if they sit on the lot for more than a couple months the holdback is ate up by interest anyhow. We just hope the holdback off the one's we sell quickly will offset the interest on the one's that stick around a year or so. Everybody thinks we are getting rich on our 3% but really if the holdback pays the interst bill every month that is good. I know big dealers are dealing with higher volume and that somewhat changes the numbers. It is not near the money maker everyone thinks it is. Unless you own 20 dealerships and work on average's. The guy's I know who own 5 or more stores do pretty good, but look at what they have invested. Some of the big stores they might have $10mil. invested in, if they have 10 of em they have $100 mil. invested. Does that not deserve a good return?

 

We used to have a great dealership in the town next to us. Lowest dealer prices on parts and service. Honest and did what they said they would do. Good sales staff that had been there for many years. My wifes van had a weird problem, brought it to them and they found the problem within an hour.

Another dealership from the city both them out and most of the employees have left. The dealership will probably be out of business in a few months. The only thing that changed was the owner. I find a good dealer or parts department, I'll drive across town to give them my business.

* I also noticed that some toyota dealerships now have their parts & service depts open 24 hour's now. The big three better start paying attention to what's going on around them.

 

I am sure this site would not let us put info on here. Only fair to the ones that pay for advertising. We are not a high volume store and probably do not know everything about every vehicle. Our diff. is that we will try to find out. If my diesel breaks we do not have an unbelievable diesel mechanic. We just don't sell that many. We do have mechanics that will go out of their way to research and find out what is needed. Wish we sold aftermarket parts. Now that would be fun. Jim

 

Wow, your close to me. Less than 50 miles. Which dealer are you talking about? West brothers? Barreth?

 

Funny, we are in very different markets. 80% of our new sales are Dodge/Cummins, mostly 3500 series. I wouldn't want to sell aftermarket performance parts. Dodge would be all over us like flies on manure if they found out we were selling aftermarket parts.

 

We are mostly vans and Jeeps. I bet we don't sell 10 diesels a year. Ford owns that market here. We are gaining ground though thanks to the 6.0L. The trucks are waaaay more fun to sell. Jim

 

Did we have a bad morning.....**** I would hate to work in a dealership in your area. But I agree the techs that work there can't find the problem right away they just start replacing parts until it gets fixed. All at the added cost to the consumer...

 

I usually sell 10 diesels a month, this month it'll be more like 14 or 15.

 

I read this thread and aparently some of you had bad experiences(understatement). Well, I'll share my dealership experience. My former roommate worked as a New Truck dealer (he worked at one of the biggest automall's in the US) so he sold all of the Big3. He told me before anybody else that ford and GM were really messing up their diesels by trying to compete w/cummins... Back on the subject now. He quit because he diddn't like the way they wanted him to do business. He is the type of salesman that will tell people not to buy a vehicle if it does not suit their needs. He had a huge customer base and he was only 20. The other reason he quit is because his sales manager stole sales from him. He did all the work and he would literally be kicked off the deal. His sales manager scared off two or more customers by doing this because they thought it was unfair for my buddy to do all the work. That is just background on him. My story starts at my car's tranny was on it's last leg (no3rd gear) so i had to buy something RIGHT THEN( about a year ago). We went to a big GM dealer they diddn't want my business. Went to a Dodge truck center. I wanted a CTD but needed to build my credit I was only 20 when I bought it. I looked around for about 5min before a salesman came out (predictable) the first thing he asked me was what I wanted. I told him my desired payment and he said he had one truck that would get me the payment I wanted(not the truck I wanted, however he was absolutely right about the payment according to my buddy) so I drove it and liked it enough (it has 6 cylinder but gas so I hated that fact, but could stand it for a year). The truck I looked at had an ad in the paper for $8,000 off MSRP. When we went in the guy sat us at his desk and said "Well, I already told you I could get you a payment so lets just BS for a minute and go back outside and look like we are negoating" I was shocked. The reason he did this (according to him) was that his manager would not let him sell me that truck for the payment I wanted. The sales manager took him out of the deal and I then proceded to deal with him. He tried to tell me about 10 different things from the AD being a missprint (my buddy jumped on him for saying that because everybody know if you advertiese a price thats what you have to sell it for). Then he tried to give me nothing for my trade (literally nothing). Hen they said they would give me $1000 for my car(busted tranny it was only worth like 900 anyway ) but when he penciled it the price of the truck magically went up $1000. ***? My buddy jumped onhim for that too. After about 4hours of this the sales guy finally let me go with EXACTLY what the salesman quoted me. then I got to talk to the finance guy. He tried to sell me a new warrenty and when i said no he wanted me to call my mother( I was far from financially independent then funny how things change in a year) thinking that he was going to sell some "stupid woman" something I diddn't need. My buddy has met my mother he had a HUGE smile on his face . I just waited for the finance guy to stop talking and he handed me back the phone and she told me " he tried to tell her that if my truck broke after the 36mo warrenty was up I'd be in trouble she told him that she would not let me buy a truck that was only going to last 3 years I love my mom. Well thats my story. I have confidence in the salesman because he was honest with me and did not want to waste my time he told me he only made $200 on each new truck anyway and it did not matter what price he sold it at. <--HIS EXACT WORDS. My buddy was a good salesman after we were finally through the sales manager became our best friend and offerd him a job and said if he showed up dressed the next day he could start then... Without him I wouldn't have know what to do. He ended up saving me $9,000.

By the way before my roommate bought his CTD he went to the same dealership to price. They told him they did not want his business and that the guy i bought mine from diddn't work there any more.

Late.

 

I've been very happy with my dealer. They don't try to get over on warranty work, they fix what they're told to and only what they're told to. If they see something else, they will bring it to my attention without upselling.

The previous owners of the same facility were pirates.

 

I have had great experiences from a dealer in Blair, Neb. (Woodhouse)

Have dealt with only one salesman on whatever I want. He generally specializes in only one vehicle, but since I have bought several of those specialty vehicles, he will sell anything to me. And his prices are better than anywhere else I have shopped. In addition, if there is a limited production vehicle out there, since I have already bought a bunch of cars from him, he seems to give me "certain priviledges".

I am an old fart and have bought many, many vehicles, and have never come across anyone like this guy. Never feel I am getting taken. AND, I live 250 miles from them. Usually have the vehicle shipped sight unseen, and have never been hurt by that experience either.

 

Woodhouse seems to be pretty good folks. I trade inventory with them quite often even though they are about 5 hours away. They keep a lot of stuff in stock.

 

Here's a website you can go to rate dealers and see how others have rated them
http://dodgeram.info/survey_dealer/Dealers.htm

But remember, it's just like the news, no one complains about the plane that didn't crash.

 

If I have learned anything about buying vehicles, it's this.
If I like the salesman, we are off to a good start. I expect the salesman to be as knowledgeable about the vehicle as I am., If not find me someone who is.
I have bought quite a few new vehicles in the past 10 years.
I have established a relationship with a good number of dealerships in the area.
There is a certain person at each of these places that I specifically deal with.
When I call looking for a certain thing, this is what I expect them to find.
So far, I have not been let down.
Owning a small local construction company also helps. They all realize that I have better things to do all day than go look at trucks, cars, or whatever particular piece of equipment it is I desire.
We are usually close on price so there is not much haggling. Just tell me your bottom dollar, I don't want to play the back and forth game.
Make me feel like I'm not getting screwed here, and you just might sell it to me.
There are probably 5 Dodge dealers within a 50 mile radius of me, there is only one that I will deal with.
This is because of the salesman.I have bought 3 vehicles from him in just the past 2.5 years. He knows what I expect.
The other 4 of them I have no use for. As a courtesy I call them when I need something and am never impressed with the sales force.
The attitude and professionalism of the salesmen/women at any dealership is always a factor and will always reflect on the dealer.

Rich

 

Richard,
I agree. A salesperson is the first and last thing you usually talk to at the dealership. You only get one chance for a first impression. Sounds like things are good with the one dealer. Jim