Nathaniel goes to the moon, Ask Chad and news from MotoringFile.com, including some talk about the F56 that we found here before all of the news broke this week.
Woofcast 485:
Download | WRR @ iTunes | 24.8MB |53:51| Show Notes
Comments are closed.
Nathaniel goes to the moon, Ask Chad and news from MotoringFile.com, including some talk about the F56 that we found here before all of the news broke this week.
Woofcast 485:
Download | WRR @ iTunes | 24.8MB |53:51| Show Notes
Comments are closed.
1) Yes to the Shuttlecast!
2) Todd – “…you could end up buying a R56 for a couple of thousand off, which is unheard of…”. I have to strongly disagree with that statement. I bought all three of my MINIs way below MSRP (even one at Invoice price) and I’m pretty confident a lot of people did the same. Whoever buys theirs cars at MSRP just doesn’t have the appropriate negotiation skills when stepping into a dealership. I’m not saying those are easy to develop/practice, but there’s plenty of information on the web to be well prepared for the awful experience buying from a dealer is. You guys should definitely do a show about that by the way.
3) Todd – “…other dealers’ margins are razor-thin and they are practically making no money on each car they sell…” I would agree on the razor-thin margin but definitely not on the part where they make no money. It is well known that dealers make it up on the financing/leasing and anything maintenance/repair related. Also when you have someone like Herb Chambers in the Boston area that has a net worth of $1.8 billion (yes, billion), I don’t think you get there by supposedly making no money on cars you sell.
4) Great show as always. Keep it up.
Thanks for the comments Alexandre! As for buying a MINI below MSRP – it completely depends on what dealer you are woking with. There’s so much more to the “behind-the-scenes” numbers than mere negotiation tactics. With your second comment, you proved the point that dealers are getting your money one way or the other. You may “think” you’re getting a good deal with a substantial amount off list price, but in the end, dealers are not in business to lose money nor are the sales people. In some cases, a car may go for pretty close to cost. It happens. But again, if that were the norm, no one would still be in business. MINI is a premium brand that is competing with a lot of other brands that run off of a discount mentality. As a businessman myself, I do not deal with customers that shop merely on cost. As I like to tell them, “go to the mall” if you want a deal. If you want the best product available from me, you’re gonna pay for it because I deserve to get paid for my hard work. If you don’t want to pay the price, then there are plenty of other options out there. Knock yourself out. Sadly, MINI dealers are losing confidence in their brand and losing that shared attitude. In the end, the product has to sell itself and compete on a level that is head and shoulders above the competition.
Cheers!
Thanks for you response Todd. Completely agree with what you say here. In my respective professional dealings we often compete with vendors that price their services/solutions way below ours but in a numbers of cases we end-up winning those RFPs (although it’s becoming more difficult) on quality. You’re right, if you want quality you’re going to have to pay for it. All in all the dealership experience is terrible and while buyers are becoming smarter thanks to some services (i.e. carwoo, truecar, etc.) and to all the information available online, the car buying process is getting worse in my opinion. I think Tesla’s retail model is a very interesting thing to watch especially for premium brands. This space is just ripe for disruption.