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Originally Posted by aphall
Things that are as common sense as floor mats should be included with a car. You don't think that your car needs floor mats and that it is common for EVERYONE to use them?
And regarding getting a car at invoice, like someone said above, the dealers are not buying these cars at the price stated "at invoice". Beyond the "invoice" price, there are several dealer kickbacks and incentives that they get. That's common knowledge.
I'm not saying I'm a guy that thinks I should pay nothing over invoice. Dealers need to make a profit and I understand that too. Afterall, they don't have to sell me the car as much as I don't have to buy from them.
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I completely agree that floormats should be included - the fact of the matter is they are not. The decision to include something or not is BMW of North Americas decision, not the dealers.
You guys state that there are "several dealer kickbacks and incentives that they get." Find one dealer who says that. You say you do business with Crevier, call Don Crevier and ask him. I love how you say it is "common knowledge". Edmunds.com is always very good about listing holdback and other dealer incentives, and see what they say about BMW's. We buy it for the invoice price, TO THE PENNY. That is what invoice is - the only incentive a dealership CAN get is if at the end of the year they have a high CSI rating (requiring you guys to give them good survey scores) they get a bonus. I can assure you it is not enough to cover cost of floor mats in every car sold. As far as think we are making $5k - $6k on a base 325i, you are so far off it is not even funny. Go check out edmunds.com, they have all the dealer cost info, let me know what you find.
At my dealership we do buy mats for every customer, but we are fortunate enough to have customers that allow us to make a little bit of money. When you state you are buying cars at $200 over invoice, I want you to know how you expect them to buy you $120 mats?!?!?!?! I dont know what business you are in, but I am certain your customers allow you to make a margin.
You talk about how service and all that stuff makes money, to the dealership that is a seperate entity. New car sales, used car sales, CPO sales, parts, service, they are all essentially different organizations running under one entity. They all have there own budgets, costs, and profits. You are correct though in that service is what keeps these dealerships going. The sales department does not make enough money to pay the bills, let alone cover payroll and someone a little bit of money. Service and parts is where its at, and used car sales do well also. Just think, would invest $50k (the cost of a car) and let it sit there for 3 - 4 months to earn $200 - $300 on that $50k? The dealerships own all these cars, and that takes a lot of money. If they don't own the cars, they have a flooring line and pay interest on it as well. If the car business is so lucrative, whey aren't you all dealers. You seem to know everything about it.