Quote:
Originally Posted by wtwo3
I understand what you're saying, however I'm not talking about most buyers. I'm talking about myself, a savvy shopper, and others who are knowledgeable about the process.
After a test drive of course a sales person will ask me those questions. My response? "I'll think about it", and I walk out of the dealer. What are they going to do? Tackle me and chain me to their desk until they get through their sales process?
You ask why do we NEED a dealership experience. I said multiple times that me, as a savvy shopper, can leverage the competitive dealership network to get a great deal. Like I said before, I saved over $10k between the 2 cars I was shopping for by simply email blasting 20 dealers and going with the one that offered the best deal.
I know EXACTLY what I want and I detail that in my email. I know the exact configuration I want, what my credit score is, if I want to lease, finance, or pay cash. If I'm leasing I know beforehand what the residual value and money factors are, I know what "good" deals in for the car in question in my local market are. If I'm financing I know what the base apr is. At that point the ball is in their court and they simply have to answer a yes/no question. It's literally that simple for me to save thousands of dollars. And THIS is what I'll lose out on by going with a direct sales method.
Like I said before, most consumers won't have this experience and that's because they're not willing to put in the legwork. For those I agree, the convenience and hassle-free experience of direct sales makes sense.
However for a savvy shopper, the process can be about as convenient as direct sales, while in the process savings thousands.
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But it's not about you or me, it's just a general thought about the subject as a whole.
There would be no need to be savvy or to have knowledge, or to have resistance or the ability to say no to a salesman if you don't want to be pressured into buying a car and want to think about it. Not everyone has the same thought process when walking into the dealer. They see the car they like, they like it even more after the test drive, and literally bend over backwards to the dealer just to bring the car home. There is always doubt when someone is driving the car home thinking, "damn did i really get a good deal on this?" I can almost bet every single person has thought that after signing papers. Myself included. And i'm pretty good at knowing what i want and don't want and if i feel like if the purchase is worth it.
My idea of everything i said eliminates all that and that is why i feel like cars would be cheaper, if there was no dealer. There's no middle man, so there's no one else to pay as i said these people do not work for free. A car that could cost 80, might only really be worth 65-68 because you're getting it directly from the manufacturer. How you wanna slice what the dealer could make on profits is all on you. I say cars can be cheaper if we don't have anymore dealers. You pick the car you like online and that's it.
There is no need for a dealer other than it's service dept.