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I can't wait for traditional dealerships to die....

bajadahl

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Sorry guys - I've chosen our little Rivian group to vent a little.

My parents called me out of the blue yesterday because they were driving down to my side of town to look at a Ford Truck (they could never talk themselves into a Rivian even though I believe they could afford it. It was a major milestone to get them over 30k for a vehicle purchase.) Anyway.... I am a little leery of going to a dealership without first doing a lot of research so that I have an idea of what a car is worth but I wanted to go with them to make sure they didn't do anything silly. We met with a young salesman and described the truck my dad was looking for and they had 3 on the lot. He brought one up and we confirmed it had all the features my dad wanted although they all had a few that he didn't need..... While I never tend to concern myself with sticker price I did look at the sticker to get all the option codes so that I could build the truck online later. Sticker was in the $50 range... However, the salesman said all three dealer priced at 39,500 or 42,500 depending on the mood the salesman was in at the moment.

Seriously, I could not get him to give me a price. "Well the price depends on if you have a trade in... 39,500 with trade or 42,500 without trade...." - no actually it doesn't, We agree to a price for the truck, then we decide if we want to offer a trade and you offer what you're willing to give us for our trade, and then we decide if we want to accept your offer or not.... nothing to do with the price of the truck. Finally asked to speak to a manager and the manager said the salesman is wrong and the trucks price is $42,500 regardless of trade. We decided to leave. I get home and start researching only to find that on the dealers website they are offering that exact truck (I mean the exact stock number.. not similarly equipped.) for $37,600. Building it out on Edmunds gives me a fair market value of $36,600 (Not that I totally trust Edmunds anymore, I used to trust Edmunds especially back when it was a print book... a long time ago but I digress). That dealership lost a sure sale because they wanted to play a ridiculous game.

Found another truck at another dealership with the exact config my dad wants and have all the numbers I need... headed there when they open at 11 this morning to see if I can find a reasonable sales person..... I really hate dealerships.... but my parents are stuck in the age of seeing and touching the vehicle they intend to buy....
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RforRivian

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headed there when they open at 11 this morning to see if I can find a reasonable sales person
Let us know how it goes!

my parents are stuck in the age of seeing and touching the vehicle they intend to buy
Are you talking about them wanting to see and drive the exact vehicle that they buy rather than like going to drive that model and then ordering one?
 
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bajadahl

bajadahl

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Let us know how it goes!



Are you talking about them wanting to see and drive the exact vehicle that they buy rather than like going to drive that model and then ordering one?
It's the exact truck they want to buy... on the lot.. meaning the dealership should want to move it.... on my way out the door... will let y'all know how it goes...
 
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bajadahl

bajadahl

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well ok then... so it wasn't on the lot... apparently it is still in inventory but is currently being used as a loaner vehicle and is loaned out... no real interest in buying any car as new that's already got several thousand miles on it... and no other trucks with the max tow package on the lot... so back to the drawing board...
 

Andyo

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well ok then... so it wasn't on the lot... apparently it is still in inventory but is currently being used as a loaner vehicle and is loaned out... no real interest in buying any car as new that's already got several thousand miles on it... and no other trucks with the max tow package on the lot... so back to the drawing board...
Offer the dealership 15% less than the invoice price and insist that is the best you can do because it’s a used vehicle. Chances are they’ll accept it.
 

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bajadahl

bajadahl

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Update - Dad has a truck.... errr will have a truck tomorrow.... but he signed all the paperwork an hour ago and will pick it up after the detail shop cleans it in the morning....

Here's another example of the downright shady things dealerships/sales people do.....

What a mess this was - I reached out to several dealerships in the area last weekend and none took the time to call me back.... Well this afternoon I got a call from a very young sounding salesman from one of the local dealerships asking if I was still in the market for a truck. He apologized for taking so long to call me and said my request got stuck into the used car group (where he works) while I was in the market for a new truck.
I told him I was and we briefly discussed the specifics of the truck I was looking for. He sent me a link to truck that met my requirements and I called my parents thinking we had another contender and asked if they wanted to pursue it. They said yes. So I called the salesman back and asked him to set us up for a look at it tomorrow morning. He said he would set it up but that it would be someone from the new car group who would be calling me back. (I have no idea if this was a ploy or not... The kid seemed genuine so I choose to believe he was just following orders). Of course the next phone call 20 minutes later is from a regular old salesman and guess what... the truck the kid had sent to me was already sold... Apparently it was at the downtown location and that location sold that truck an hour ago..... (this dealership has at least 3 locations in town) of course he says.. "but I have three more just like it...." only the asking price was 10k more... For some reason the three he has don't qualify for all the same rebates that the first one qualified for......

Now I have a serious question.... Do people really fall for this crap?

I told him that was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard and we were no longer interested... After fuming about another wasted couple of hours I decided to just call the downtown location myself to inquire about the original truck the kid had sent to me.... Still sitting there on the lot, still asking price 10k less with exactly the features we were looking for... Parents made a beeline for the dealership to get a test drive and confirm pricing.... had to haggle a little as the asking price didn't include the spray-in Bed Liner and the window tint... Gotta love mom... she's like that's fine just take that stuff off cause we don't want it if it's not included in the price.... oh and by the way we get another $500 off because Military... yeah dad thanks for your service.... anyway we worked a decent deal and they decided they would just throw in the bed liner and window tint....
(edit) - obviously not taking spray in bedliner out and scraping off window tint....

It's not dad's favorite color but I thought it looked pretty good... Magnetic Grey.... Metallic.... It's no Rivian but I think it'll keep dad happy for a while.. Pictures tomorrow... and thanks all for letting me vent a little.
 
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bajadahl

bajadahl

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Well here it is... it didn't need to be so difficult.... But mom and dad are happy...
Rivian R1T R1S I can't wait for traditional dealerships to die.... IMG_4870
 

Coast2Coast

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bajadahl, did you consider using Costco's auto buying service? I wonder how its pricing compares. Supposedly, it's about as good as one can do without all the hassle of cross-shopping at a bunch of dealers.
 
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bajadahl

bajadahl

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bajadahl, did you consider using Costco's auto buying service? I wonder how its pricing compares. Supposedly, it's about as good as one can do without all the hassle of cross-shopping at a bunch of dealers.
Yes I did... and I got the message... No Participating Dealers in your area. I was hoping to check several sources before deciding on a target price but it didn't work out with Costco this time. We came in about $500 below Edmunds recommended price and also got the window tint and spray in bedliner so we are happy with the deal.
 

DucRider

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Without the dealership model, you pay MSRP with no negotiation possible, and likely no local inventory to choose from (order and wait weeks or months for delivery).
Both the manufacturer direct and franchised dealer models have their strengths and weaknesses. Pick your poison.
 

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Coast2Coast

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While I didn't go through with a purchase, a local Toyota dealership was offering $500 over their invoice, not MSRP, for any Toyota except TRD models. Costco pricing works in some places with some dealers, but not everywhere.
 

Jehorton

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Well here it is... it didn't need to be so difficult.... But mom and dad are happy...
IMG_4870.jpg
Great choice! Love my f150
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