Ridiculous idea from Lexus

[raytseng]

Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel
Originally Posted By: horse123
You don't generally haggle over luxury cars, they cost what they cost, get over it.


You have a connection with a luxury car manufacturer or dealership I take it?

Don't really agree with horse either, people who have money can be as cheap and thrifty and sharks out for a deal perhaps even more so than those lower on the economic scale.

It's well known that rich people often are the cheapest tippers.

They're not new-rich like pro athletes who throw money around popping bottles, and making it rain . That's how you end up broke.

But it's more common that people who do buy a luxury car don't want to do the haggle themselves, so pay a service to do the haggling for them.

What a Luxury car provides is that at this price of vehicle, there is enough money on the table to support using the buying service, as well as even paying an extra $500 to ship the vehicle from miles away.


As for the deal itself, I'm not sure how successful it's going to be, not because of the concept, but because it's only going out as a pilot with only 12 dealers are doing no-haggle.

If ANY other dealers still are haggling, then there is a hole in the ship, and it's a race to the lowest price from the hagglers.

 

[gman2304]

My son has sold Lexus cars for 12 years. He says the ones with the fat wallets are the worst for haggling.

 

[01rangerxl]

I could be very wrong, but I think this would work better on the Scion end of the spectrum than the Lexus end of the spectrum.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: horse123
You don't generally haggle over luxury cars, they cost what they cost, get over it.

I violated your rules.

I bought 1994 LS400 online in November 1993 for $3500 below MSRP, I was the first online customer of that Lexus dealer. I didn't set foot in the dealer until after we agreed on price.

Six years later I bought 2000 E430 online again for $2000 below MSRP, and again I only set foot in the dealer to pickup the car after we agreed on price.

Same for Honda S2000 and other cars, I only set foot in the dealer after we agreed on price, negotiate by phone or online is easier. I told the sale person that was the price I was willing to pay, take it or I buy something else or from other dealer.

 

[AdRock]

We have a couple dealers here in town that do no haggle pricing and were doing it before any Saturn dealers here ever existed. However, if I remember correctly they are pretty decent in their pricing. The last time I helped someone look at cars it was about a 50/50 chance that you could talk another dealer into matching or going lower. It usually depended on the vehicle line you were looking at. So it can be a successful business model if done correctly.

As far as luxury cars go, from what I've heard from people that can afford them, it depends on the brand and price point.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: gman2304
My son has sold Lexus cars for 12 years. He says the ones with the fat wallets are the worst for haggling.


They didn't get fat wallets by giving away money!

 

[Gabe]

It isn't just the price of the car. Interest rates, dealer accessories, trade in, rebates, and payment terms still make a huge difference.

I view this as a step in the right direction.

 

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Lexus is experimenting with no haggle car and parts pricing and dealers will be expected to let customers walk away if they won't go along with it. I think a LOT of customers will walk away.......


Glad to hear they let them walk away! What'd they do before, wack them in the knees with a nightstick? hee-hee
Good article. Makes you think. One reason the "will-haggle" model has worked well over the years is that they know if they take up all your time, you might just relent and buy their car, taking time away from driving to another dealership. Now you can be in and out of any given Lexus dealership, take some notes, and move on to dealerships where they take you hostage inside.

 

[ecotourist]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: gman2304
My son has sold Lexus cars for 12 years. He says the ones with the fat wallets are the worst for haggling.

They didn't get fat wallets by giving away money!

Or by buying a new Lexus either. The Millionaire Next Door talks about the difference between people who look rich ("big hat, no cattle") and people who actually have a lot of money. It's a great read that I'd recommend to anyone.

 

[Ramblejam]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: horse123
You don't generally haggle over luxury cars, they cost what they cost, get over it.


When was the last time you bought a luxury car? Just curious.


+1

 

[Bill_G]

Originally Posted By: CKN
Isn't CarMax one of the biggest sellers of used cars in the country with this business model? It certainly looks like it's working for them!


It works for CarMax because generally, they have total control over what they pay for their inventory which is essentially all pre-owned vehicles. Experienced car sales folks say they make more commission selling used vehicles because of the larger gross. I'm not sure Lexus dealers will be able to pull this off because the price of their new car inventory is determined by Lexus. I'm not sure that I'd like to be one of the test dealers on this experiment.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Currently only 1 car brand has no haggle price is Tesla. They don't have franchised dealers, they have sale office/showroom only and no car to sell only taking order. Customers can order online or in showroom for exactly the same price.

With low volume of few thousands cars a month it may be okay, but when they start to sell up to 30-40K cars a month in the year 2020 and after I don't know how they will be able to handle it.

 

[newtoncd8]

I don't know how it will work for Lexus; however, in the Denver area, Schomp dealerships have a "one-price" business philosophy - no haggling.

They sell BMW, Honda and Mini and certainly seem to be very successful. Granted, this is a small sample size versus rolling this out across all of the USA, but if nothing else, they have proven it can work with the right approach.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: gman2304
My son has sold Lexus cars for 12 years. He says the ones with the fat wallets are the worst for haggling.


HaHa this to a freaking T. My father-in-law is a closet 25 millionaire or so. Drives a beater $500 truck every day during the week and like a $80K dollar Lexus on the weekends. He takes 6 months to buy his Lexus cars every time he wants a new Lexus. Goes from dealer A, to dealer B, to dealer C and over again. Tries to negotiate at 50% off MSRP. Obviously, they balk at the idea of 50% off and tell him not even close. Than he goes to the next dealership and starts again, and again, and again, until eventually he gets the car at dealer invoice pricing, 6 months later.

It's actually quite comical to hear him bad mouth these dealers that are "trying to rip him off". I told him again and again that that is the old way of negotiating and I could negotiate the same deal in 45 minutes via the internet, but he never listens.

 

[Andrew1972]

It may work for people out there who want to finance and live the luxury life. Its a common theme my wife/I see is that people who clearly don't have money tend to spend more of it or finance it. Maybe Lexus is taking trying to take advantage of this subset of folks.

Our vehicle net worth is about $10,000 between two of them(10yrs old+) because we refuse to finance like idiots new/used vehicles and pay cash.

 

[surfstar]

I for sure, thought this thread was about

 

[horse123]

Originally Posted By: surfstar
I for sure, thought this thread was about



No one cares about that video anymore. Magnets have existed for a very long time.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: ecotourist
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: gman2304
My son has sold Lexus cars for 12 years. He says the ones with the fat wallets are the worst for haggling.

They didn't get fat wallets by giving away money!

Or by buying a new Lexus either. The Millionaire Next Door talks about the difference between people who look rich ("big hat, no cattle") and people who actually have a lot of money. It's a great read that I'd recommend to anyone.


That will greatly depend on the person though, it isn't really a "rule" unless we accept that it is one with a massive number of exceptions. I grew up with a cottage on Rosseau, our neighbours were multi billionaires, they drove whatever the heck they wanted, LOL! Which included a new Porsche and new Sea-doo XP's every couple of years. There were plenty of extremely wealthy folks on the lake that drove very nice cars.

I think it also depends on how somebody views/likes cars. Somebody who isn't a "car person" with a fair chunk of money isn't as likely to spend money on a "nice car" whereas somebody who loves cars would.

This of course excludes the person leasing the BMW/Benz/Audi just to "look the part" which I believe is the type of person you are narrowing in on however

 

[Doog]

according to a report by the Detroit Free Press.



Which is funded by GM/Ford.......next story please

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: gman2304
My son has sold Lexus cars for 12 years. He says the ones with the fat wallets are the worst for haggling.


HaHa this to a freaking T. My father-in-law is a closet 25 millionaire or so. Drives a beater $500 truck every day during the week and like a $80K dollar Lexus on the weekends. He takes 6 months to buy his Lexus cars every time he wants a new Lexus. Goes from dealer A, to dealer B, to dealer C and over again. Tries to negotiate at 50% off MSRP. Obviously, they balk at the idea of 50% off and tell him not even close. Than he goes to the next dealership and starts again, and again, and again, until eventually he gets the car at dealer invoice pricing, 6 months later.

It's actually quite comical to hear him bad mouth these dealers that are "trying to rip him off". I told him again and again that that is the old way of negotiating and I could negotiate the same deal in 45 minutes via the internet, but he never listens.


It's his hobby....he loves the art of the deal.