Ford speaks

[ay1820]

At least with standard price you know the deal you are getting. Instead of playing the game of getting the best deal or having to pay a market adjustment. Or trying to order a car and your dealership doesn't have enough allocations. So the guy in Cali gets his car sooner than you because the dealership he ordered through is bigger.

Regardless of what you think online sales/direct to customer will win. Specially considering younger buyers will always prefer this method. The Tesla business model is clearly what more people want. Which is why ford is talking about doing it.

We can disagree to agree. But I will celebrate the demise of privately owned dealerships.

I agree.

Everyone loves to think that they outsmarted the dealer and got some special deal because of some super negotiating skills, but at the end of the day the dealer HAS to make money on the transaction (even if they are not gouging you) or they go out of business. Yes, with the current sales model, some people will get better deals than others, but everyone puts cash into the dealer's pocket AND into Ford's. Because of this simple fact, you will always pay more when there is a middleman involved. The best anyone can ever hope for with the dealer model is to not overpay.

Yes, Ford will try to claim as much of the profit for themselves as they can, but supply and demand always end up ruling the day and if their prices are too high, their cars won't sell.

Truth be told, I like to haggle prices, so I don't mind that aspect of the dealer model, but you are right when you say that most younger people prefer the no haggle model. I believe that will end up winning out regardless of whether you are buying direct or through a dealer.

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[Mspider]

I agree.

Everyone loves to think that they outsmarted the dealer and got some special deal because of some super negotiating skills, but at the end of the day the dealer HAS to make money on the transaction (even if they are not gouging you) or they go out of business. Yes, with the current sales model, some people will get better deals than others, but everyone puts cash into the dealer's pocket AND into Ford's. Because of this simple fact, you will always pay more when there is a middleman involved. The best anyone can ever hope for with the dealer model is to not overpay.

Yes, Ford will try to claim as much of the profit for themselves as they can, but supply and demand always end up ruling the day and if their prices are too high, their cars won't sell.

Truth be told, I like to haggle prices, so I don't mind that aspect of the dealer model, but you are right when you say that most younger people prefer the no haggle model. I believe that will end up winning out regardless of whether you are buying direct or through a dealer.

Once millennials and gen x are the primary market for new cars. You can say bye bye to the old school dealership model.

 

[WildHorse]

One thing it should stop is that dealer gouge

Yep. Phuk dealers 7 there 'market adjusted 100% mark-up" bullshit.

 

[Fyoutoo]

Dealership owners speaking to the Wall Street Journal on the changes at Ford said that dealers have an important role in working with customers on their car purchases, such as offering them servicing, repair and education.

This was my favorite part. How much have you learned from boards like this vs. how much have you learned from your dealer?

I have had to bring things that I have learned from reading on this very board to my dealer's attention more than once as they simply didn't know what is supposed to be their process that they are supposed to be helping me navigate.

 

[Bikeman315]

Your personal negative reactions to the purchasing experience don't mean anything is wrong with how vehicles are bought & sold, just that you don't like it. Others like myself have 0 issue with it.

Actually my dealings with dealerships has always been pretty good. It helps that I am a well educated car guy that happened to once work at a car dealership. I know all the ins and outs so they are not going to put one over on me. On the other hand I know a dealer has to make money to stay in business and I let them know that. Once all of our cards are on the table it is fairly easy to get a good deal.

There will no be price shopping on a MUSTANG. Don't be deliberately obtuse, that isn't good for the discussion, nor is it intellectually honest. Ford will set one price, and you will pay it.

First off by the time Ford moves the ICE part of there business to Direct there probably will not be a V8 Mustang or any Mustang for that matter. Secondly there is nothing that you cannot get a discount on if you do your due diligence and know how to work the system. Lastly, if, and when, Ford takes the ICE Mustang direct and you cannot get a deal, that's on you.

Ask yourself this; do you want ONE entity deciding the price of a car? Or thousands of different retailers competing to win your business by cutting each other's throats on pricing?

What you and I want is is of no importance. Ford will do what's best for them and their shareholders (that includes me). And they will not be alone. all of the other manufacturers will be right behind them.

 

[ay1820]

First off by the time Ford moves the ICE part of there business to Direct there probably will not be a V8 Mustang or any Mustang for that matter. Secondly there is nothing that you cannot get a discount on if you do your due diligence and know how to work the system. Lastly, if, and when, Ford takes the ICE Mustang direct and you cannot get a deal, that's on you.

When I was a kid, my 80 year old Italian grandmother had Stanley Steamer come to clean her carpets. When the guy showed up, she told him that she wanted an extra $50 dollar discount (this was back in the 70's so it was a pretty big discount she was asking for). The guy said he was not authorized to give her a discount, but she persisted in politely, but sternly saying that she would not pay full price (she was a tiny little woman, but a true force to be reckoned with!).

She said, if you are not authorized, get your boss on the phone. The guy uses my grandmother's phone to call his boss and my grandmother goes through the same drill with him. The supervisor finally decides that he has to cut his losses since his team is spending more time haggling than cleaning and there were other customers waiting, so he gives in and authorizes the discount.

Lesson learned, you never get the discount you don't ask for!

 

[Inthehighdesert]

When I was a kid, my 80 year old Italian grandmother had Stanley Steamer come to clean her carpets. When the guy showed up, she told him that she wanted an extra $50 dollar discount (this was back in the 70's so it was a pretty big discount she was asking for). The guy said he was not authorized to give her a discount, but she persisted in politely, but sternly saying that she would not pay full price (she was a tiny little woman, but a true force to be reckoned with!).



This is hilarious. All this bitching about adm’s, blah, blah. YOUR grandmother did the exact same thing all are complaining about in this thread. I’m always amazed at grown adults that can not handle there own personal affairs(insert car purchase here) so they look for someone else to remove the discomfort of there bad decision by “making it easier”. How many in this thread work in a service industry where they ask the customer if they would like a,b, or c as well. No different then a dealer either. As for the grandmothers situation I’ve had customers attempt that. Politely sorry, have a good day. I’m in a heavy service orientented industry(contractor), and learned long ago those that ask or demand for large discounts and freebies aren’t worth the hassle. A customer will never dictate what I charge or how I run my business. If they wish to go down that path there more then welcome to go start there own with there own sweat and finances.


She said, if you are not authorized, get your boss on the phone. The guy uses my grandmother's phone to call his boss and my grandmother goes through the same drill with him. The supervisor finally decides that he has to cut his losses since his team is spending more time haggling than cleaning and there were other customers waiting, so he gives in and authorizes the discount.

Lesson learned, you never get the discount you don't ask for!

 

[Inthehighdesert]

Sorry some how stuck my response in the middle.

 

[lugbolt]

dealers as we know it will have to change if the EV model is gonna take over

also, it appears that there is no end in sight to supply chain shortages--hindering the ability to get cars on the lot and showroom. This means that there is a fairly large building that a dealer owner is paying rent/lease/mortgage on, and they oftentimes don't have enough sales numbers to cover those outrageous costs. And trust me, from experience, few know what those costs really amount to.

I worked at a place. Dealer. To break even, they had to turn almost $1,100,000 a month. This is all inclusive (wages, utilities, insurances, fees, taxes, lease, inventory acquisition, etc). That dealer is failing and going away quickly and part of that is because they can't get product to sell. The other end of that is that the service dept couldn't fix a flat tire and they think that they aren't going to because they can't make enough money doing it to pay any of that dept's bills. And, in a way they ain't wrong about that.

You see, the game is changing. The costs to run a dealership have gotten so high, that it also affects car prices, and those are getting so high that people aren't buying as many, so they're trying to buy used to save a couple bucks and there ain't enough used vehicles to keep up with demand so the prices of those are way up, plus there are no incentives to help with the cost of used vehicles plus the interest rates are higher'n a cat's back, and keep going up.

I'm not particularly politically biased, but this stuff (cars and everything else) going up as fast as it is, uncontrolled runaway inflation, is a direct result of our leaders' blunderous policies. IT's costing EVERYONE, for everything they buy and use.

If you were smart you'd have taken that "free" money you got a couple years ago and bought an old beater. I did, I actually bought several. They are handy to have around for a lot of reasons. One, I can't get a new one anytime soon, two EV is being rammed down our throats and sales of new cars that run on gas will be going away (rammed down our throat EV), but so far they haven't said anything about the used car market.

The fact that EV is being pushed so hard begs the question, can every American afford one by 2035 or whatever date? I don't think so. I'm a typical average middle class American and I cannot afford a new car right now, gas or ev. The money is just not there, the cost of the vehicles has increased faster than most of our rate of pay increase. And they wonder why there is a such thing as "the great resignation"??

Some say this writing might be all about money. But I'm here to tell you from my own experience, that if it weren't for money, we would have nothing. We MUST have it to survive because everything costs. And I don't know about y'all but nobody ever GAVE me anything, I had to work for everything I own which ain't much.

Now on dealerships. They aren't really totally going away. They HAVE to support the vehicles, so I think like Tesla, there will be service centers but as far as a sales department? I think that will be whittled down. I currently work for a powersports dealer and I'm seeing more and more pre-order stuff done online only. About 85% of our sales are online pre-order. Some of the older generation still show up at the dealer looking for a particular unit, which we don't usually have because we can't get enough product to meet demands (for whatever reason....), and I've heard the sales people tell these older folks that they'd have to get on the website and order their desired equipment there, then it will show up at the dealer where we shop maggots have to assemble and inspect, and then the customer can show up & pick it up or we can deliver it. That part (assembly and PDI) are not going anywhere anytime soon for many reasons. But I can see sales department getting whittled down to bare bones, with much of sales going online only.

Some say well that's great maybe they'll do away with all of the "grease my palms", and I understand that thought. But what will likely happen is that the prices of the vehicles listed on the website will have a few added fees to cover the dealership PDI/inspection/assembly costs, and possibly the MSRP will rise too. I'm already seeing that in our little industry.

Lots of changes coming. Better get ready.

 

[ay1820]

This is hilarious. All this bitching about adm’s, blah, blah. YOUR grandmother did the exact same thing all are complaining about in this thread. I’m always amazed at grown adults that can not handle there own personal affairs(insert car purchase here) so they look for someone else to remove the discomfort of there bad decision by “making it easier”. How many in this thread work in a service industry where they ask the customer if they would like a,b, or c as well. No different then a dealer either. As for the grandmothers situation I’ve had customers attempt that. Politely sorry, have a good day. I’m in a heavy service orientented industry(contractor), and learned long ago those that ask or demand for large discounts and freebies aren’t worth the hassle. A customer will never dictate what I charge or how I run my business. If they wish to go down that path there more then welcome to go start there own with there own sweat and finances.

Huh? Really not sure what you are trying to say here.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

Sorry if it escapes you.

Huh? Really not sure what you are trying to say here.

 

[ay1820]

Sorry if it escapes you.

Well it sounds like you think customers shouldn’t complain about getting gouged with ADMs and that customers who dare to ask for discounts aren’t worth doing business with. So are you saying that customers are just “marks” to be taken advantage of?

 

[Inthehighdesert]

It doesn't matter how I explain it, you’re going to interpret it the way you want to suit your point of view or agenda. What you just posted is a good example. I didn’t state anything like what you just stated. Your grandmother pulled a bait and switch, no different then the dealers your complaining about with there adm’s. The difference is you and so many others are ok if the scenario benefits them, but not ok if the benefit is the other way. By definition, its hypocritical. I don’t think or feel I have the right to tell anyone else what they should sell there goods or service’s to me for. I do have the right however to either accept the price, try to negotiate it down, or move on to another avenue for that good or service. Many are comfortable with basically a nanny being in place in there lives, I’m not. That’s what the crux of this thread really is in a nutshell.

Well it sounds like you think customers shouldn’t complain about getting gouged with ADMs and that customers who dare to ask for discounts aren’t worth doing business with. So are you saying that customers are just “marks” to be taken advantage of?

 

[JCFoster]

When I bought my ‘16 GT is was at the end of the year, December. It was marked down from msrp of $48+ to $38+. If I had to order that same car today and pay msrp for it I wouldn’t have bought it. Ford will try this on EVs , then migrate to all their vehicles. I’ll buy from another manufacturer that will have inventory and specials. If not, I’ll buy used.

 

[Hack]

I wonder if this means that Ford is getting into the used car business? Many people when buying a car are also looking to sell their current car. Here in MN if we sell and buy separately we have to pay additional taxes on our purchase vs. doing it in a single transaction.

I wouldn't think that Ford would have the means to start purchasing trade-ins. They probably also don't have the money to "encourage" politicians to change the laws in every state. That would cost a fortune.

This kind of seems like a negotiating tactic to me more than a real "plan". Ford is telling their dealer network that they aren't happy with them. I'm not sure Ford has the leverage to make any changes.

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