HiTEC

I use both Edmunds and Carpoint.

I think Carpoints is a little better and shows GG Tax. The only problem is is requeires Internet Explorer

HiTEC

<ul><li><a href="http://autos.msn.com/">http://autos.msn.com/</a</li></ul>

ONEQWIKWHIP

Do they get kick backs or rebates?? I know that in the plumbing and heating business (that's what I do) most of our manufacturers offer rebates, etc. at the end of the year? Just curious if the auto industry is similar.

NaudiB6

When buying a new car, you have many options, 1. You can go to another dealer and negotiate 2. Buy online 3.Fax your offer to multiple dealers,ect. Its critical that the dealer knows you are prepared to put down a deposit that day. That shows intention, and most likely will result in you getting the car. Additionally bypass your salesman/woman and ask directly for the manager, he/she is ultimately making the decision. I personally wouldn't go throwing around edmunds #'s, they are quite familiar w/ them anyways, and it just pisses them off. If all else fails, walk! Buying a new car that isn't in heavy demand or of a certain popular color/options is easy. Have fun w/ it! BTW: I wouldn't accept anything above invoice on a '03 A4 stripper @ this time.

April

What happens is AoA basically holds a contest each quarter. The country is broken up into zones ( CA has two zones ). The top 3 dealerships in each zone with best combined sales and service customer satisfaction scores, share part of a pot that varies each month depending on sales numbers. AoA sets a minimum score, so if the score is not at least at the minimum, they get nothing, even if they are in the top three.

Sometimes AoA offers an rebate style incentive on a particular model in a particular region at year end. Theoretically it's for the dealers to use as they see fit, so they can keep part of it, if they can find a way to hang onto it. The reality is that the consumer almost always finds out about it, and wants the whole incentive for themselves in addition to getting the car next to nothing ;-) It does nothing except make resale even worse for the almost new cars already out there. Hence Audi has all but phased it out.

The sales dept almost never makes money and they are lucky if they can break even after the overhead of ads and salaried staff ( receptionist, DMV clerks, lot porters, etc ). The only reason they exist, is to provide cars for the service dept to work on. That dept makes the money at a dealership.

At $500 over invoice, they are almost sure to be losing money. It costs an average of $125 to 200 per car in advertising ( in addition to what AoA adds to the invoice as an ad fee ). The salesperson will make 20% of the "profit" margin, and sell maybe 15 cars a month, working 60 to 80 hours a week. So you can see that finding good qualified motivated staff is one of the hardest obstacles a dealership faces. It's no wonder people report bad experiences - as a whole, Audi buyers vote with their dollars on how they get treated.

I'd love to see the system changed to be more like Mercedes or Saturn, where everyone gets the same price and the focus and competition between dealers is on the quality of the service provided.

It's interesting that people in your business have a system like that. I take it that it's hard to make money without it ?

ONEQWIKWHIP

That was exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks. I agree with you that all dealers should be "no hassle" pricing like Saturn and Mercedes. And yeah, Rebates is were we can salvage a little bit of profit in my field of business. For example we would sell a water heater at about 5-7% gross profit on our cost, but we get a 7% year end rebate from the manufacturer. Doesn't make much sense to me but oh well. :-)

UCLABruin4life

Good point, but GG tax doesn't apply to A4. Just S4 6-speed.

April

labour ? It seems like margins on hard goods is smaller than ever these days unless you have a monopoly. Overhead is insane ! Sigh. I just had a large tree taken down in my back yard. It cost over $2K ( very tall and in tight quarters ). The owner of the company was lamenting that he couldn't compete against the illegals in the area because he had workman's comp and insurance to pay for. Not everyone appreciates that he follows the rules and takes care of his people :-(

ONEQWIKWHIP

We are just a supplier. So it makes for a tough business!

April

Those rebates really mean something then.