1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

X amount of cars at this price!

Discussion in 'Dealers & Pricing' started by Corvidae, Dec 29, 2010.

  1. Corvidae

    Corvidae New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    43
    3
    0
    Location:
    Arizona
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I have seen many dealers offering newspaper prices, saying X amount of cars at a certain price. I am wondering how a dealer determines if a car is worth more than the other if they are all the same model and trim with no extra options between them?

    Example: I see 5 cars at $19,500 sticker. These are base 2010 Prius II. None of them are Blizzard Pearl, which I want. The Blizzard Pearl 2010 Prius II starts at $23,500 sticker. $4000 mark up for white paint when Toyota wants $220 for white paint?

    I am just trying to understand dealer psyhe before I go in to neogotiate...
     
  2. bedrock8x

    bedrock8x Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2008
    1,483
    137
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    This is the good old trick the car dealer preys on you. When you walk in they will tell you that all x number of Prius advertised were sold and you will have to pay the regular price.
    If they do not say only x numbers, then it would imply all of their inventory are on the sale price, get it.
     
  3. Corvidae

    Corvidae New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    43
    3
    0
    Location:
    Arizona
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Yeah, I figured it was a trick to get you in. What I was wondering is, what is their defense when you present to them that the cars are physically the same with the exception of paint. There may be a few more miles on one or the other due to test driving but not enough to make a $4000 difference in price.
     
  4. Ct. Ken V

    Ct. Ken V Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2007
    535
    57
    0
    Location:
    Bolton,CT
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    guys,

    A dealer (non-Toyota) here in Ct who does a 1/2 hr info-mercial on Sunday nights after the 11:00 PM news, ran some sale a couple of months back where he offered 2010 brand-X cars (I can't remember which brand it was because he owns multiple dealerships selling different brand new & used cars) for sale at $9,999 (no quantity specified). I looked at his on-line inventory & all the cars of that line & model were in the $19,000 to $21,000 price range. I know he can't take a $9,000 to $11,000 loss on those cars, so I figured that the cars at that price had to be used or off-lease or ex-rental cars (the ad never said "new", just 2010 model year).

    At the auto auction I work at, we typically sell between 3,500 to 5,000 cars per week (a lot less these last 2 weeks though), & it's not unusual at all to run 2010 models through the auction even as far back as 10 months ago. Heck, we even had a fair number of 2010 cars for auction that only had between 7 & 50 miles on them (usually Mitsubishi's, but also some GM's once in a while). Well, do you want to guess who I started noticing at the auction in my lane (one of 20 lanes)? Yup, the guy who was selling some of his 2010 cars for about 1/2 price, so it's totally likely that he had been getting some good deals on some used/off-lease or ex-rental cars & passing on the savings to the public selling some of them for $9,999.

    Ken (in Bolton,Ct)
     
  5. bedrock8x

    bedrock8x Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2008
    1,483
    137
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    The defense is it is an advertising promotion sale and only limited to a small number of vehicles. Sorry that you didn't line up over night in front of the dealership before it opens in the morning.

     
  6. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    At least in Massachusetts they had a great deal of problems with consumers claiming bait & switch so the law now requires the dealer to have identified specific cars at the price - in many newspaper ads they actually list the stock numbers of the cars being sold at the sale price.

    Now as for why dealers pick specific cars to put on sale - most likely they are cars that have been on the lot or are an unpopular mix of color and options. In your case OP, I would hazard a guess that the blizzard pearl is a popular color and they have no issue with them sticking on the lot. So to the dealer there is a very big difference beyond the color - one sells quickly and the other needs to be discounted - it is not like they have marked up the blizzard pearl to stick it to you, rather they are discounting cars that they want to get off the lot.
     
  7. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2006
    7,028
    1,116
    0
    Location:
    South Jersey
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    No Prius has a MSRP of $19500 so it must be a sticker for a "used" car. Around here your car's AAA price is $20907. Any car is worth what someone (who can) is willing to pay for it.