[poochee]

Originally Posted by valis

thank you. We did. We totally perpetuated the myth of Santa to the little one (hiding outside his door, jingling the bells, slamming the front door, basically getting him frothing at the mouth as this was his first 'real' taste of christmas), then turned him loose. Looked like a 3 foot tall wrapping paper tornado was localized near the tree. Quite fun indeed.

I can visualize that!

[valis]

Originally Posted by poochee

I can visualize that!

yes, it was quite amusing.....granted, we've probably sown the seeds of him getting up at 3 in the morning to see what Santa brings next year, but it was well worth it. Very fun indeed, and to be honest, I don't know who enjoyed it more.

[dotty999]

Originally Posted by valis

yes, it was quite amusing.....granted, we've probably sown the seeds of him getting up at 3 in the morning to see what Santa brings next year, but it was well worth it. Very fun indeed, and to be honest, I don't know who enjoyed it more.

dare I guess... you

[valis]

think it depends on who you ask....he got a spider man pup tent, and that is just heaven on earth for him....hides from the dog in there....plus the grandparents sent roughly a truckload of stuff, so he's in hog heaven.

And I am rapidly running out of storage space.

But yes, I had a pretty good time.

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by Wimpy369

The North American mfgs. have a holdback but neither of the imports that I have sold did so you are partilaly correct. In my case now the invoice that we show is what we paid for it. Take it or leave it.

See above.

The only reason you were able to buy it below cost was as you said. It was a new 2 year old car and they wanted it gone. It's rare but it does happen and you got lucky. But remember, you bought a two year old car so it depreciated that much before it left the lot so you gained nothing unless you planned to keep it until it died. The dealership wrote the loss off as a business expense.

Well, if the invoice was the true cost, then that's what it was. However, I audited a few car dealerships when I was an accountant, which is how I gained my "inside information". Like any product, there is quite a bit of "fluff" between what the buyer pays and what the actual cost of the item is to the retailer. I can't comment on your specific instance nor can I say that it hasn't changed in the years since I did my auditing, which was about 20 years ago or so.

[GoneForNow]

Originally Posted by Mulder

Well, if the invoice was the true cost, then that's what it was. However, I audited a few car dealerships when I was an accountant, which is how I gained my "inside information". Like any product, there is quite a bit of "fluff" between what the buyer pays and what the actual cost of the item is to the retailer. I can't comment on your specific instance nor can I say that it hasn't changed in the years since I did my auditing, which was about 20 years ago or so.

Can one up you on that, my father-in-law had car dealerships before he sold out and retired at 70. (Now he only works 40 hours a week. ) So I've seen and heard all the stories and how prices are determined. No big deal.

[Mulderator]

Hey Wimpy--is this accurate:

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/car4.htm

It says for example that a "10/97 Mercedes gave a $7500 incentive for 1997 SL500's! They gave $10000 for an SL600! Incentives are to the dealer, not you. If the dealer sells the SL500 at invoice, he makes $7500 profit from Mercedes!" That's more consistent with my understanding and I realize that the profit is less for non-luxury cars and perhaps your lot.

[~Candy~]

Well, I guess I threw this thread off topic

[Blackmirror]

Originally Posted by AcaCandy

Well, I guess I threw this thread off topic

lol are you going to give yourself a reprimand

[~Candy~]

Maybe I'll just ban myself






















*hmm, wonder if that works *

[Guyzer]

Originally Posted by Mulder

Hey Wimpy--is this accurate:

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/car4.htm


It says for example that a "10/97 Mercedes gave a $7500 incentive for 1997 SL500's! They gave $10000 for an SL600! Incentives are to the dealer, not you. If the dealer sells the SL500 at invoice, he makes $7500 profit from Mercedes!" That's more consistent with my understanding and I realize that the profit is less for non-luxury cars and perhaps your lot.

Yes and no.. It depends how sharp the customer is because he can use it as a tool to his advantage,

Regardless of what the car is sold at the dealer will get whatever amount the incentive is providing they followed the mfgs rules. It's how they use it that counts.

The incentive can be used by a dealer to his advantage if he's not being quite honest. I'll give you two examples from my standpoint.

First let me say this................
Most rebates / incentives benefit the cash buyer only because the deals are tied into a financing rate. In Canada you can pick and choose from two options... either low rate financing or the incentive. You can't have both. That said.............

- If a customer is a cash buyer and doesn't know about the incentive and the dealership neglects to tell him about it the dealership will reap the entire amount or what ever is left over from negotiating.

- If the customer is a finance buyer and a specific lender has to be used and for some reason he doesn't qualify the dealer would look for an alternate source. If the alternate lender takes the deal the dealership ultimately treats it as a cash deal and the same rules apply.

If a dealer sticks his neck out and scoops the cash thats left on the table it could come back to haunt them if the customer finds out. Our policy is to shoot straight from the getgo and we don't end up with a heatscore later. Besides, it helps to be able to close the deal many times because we have to dig into the profit to close the deal. ie: overpay the buyer for his trade.


btw I would love to work for a dealer that has that sort of markup on their product. In my business 2k on a new car would be considered high and those mainly kept for the high end luxury ver SUV. That said, anyone savy enough to be buying a vehicle with a very large markup is normally on the ball and is well aware of what incentives are available. Wealthy people don't buy our cars so the " smarts " just isn't there in most cases. It's a different matter with our SUVs, luxury model and vans.

I tell the owner of the co. I work for quite often that I dislike selling new cars an I do it only as a favor to him. He understands because it's the used side that puts a smile on our faces.

[MMJ]

Originally Posted by AcaCandy

Maybe I'll just ban myself






















*hmm, wonder if that works *

If things worsen here than I wouldn't be surprised.

[SouthParkXP101]

Originally Posted by AcaCandy

Maybe I'll just ban myself



















*hmm, wonder if that works *

try it

go for a permenant ban