Cleveland

You think a 1-3% profit keeps dealers in business and a place to service your vehicle?

If you have any education and at least a little class you would agree that the economy doesnt survive well on that.

-Dan

3Mach1

Cleveland, its my understanding that a typical Ford dealership makes more on service than they do selling the cars and trucks. I dont know what it takes to run a profitble dealership. I could care less about service at a dealership of anykind. I promise you they are not going to change oil in one of my cars. Warentee matters is all that concerns me and sometimes you have to hit several dealerships to get something fixed which is a shame.

If a guy came in and had his ducks in a row and all the dealer had to do was push paper and order a car and make 1K whats wrong with that? Not enough? Its called supply and demand. The more demand there is the more greedy the dealers will be. I cant really blame them if the suckers are lined up at the door. Im not going to be one of them though. Cars get sold at invoice or below everyday so it can be done or nobody would be doing it. Im not buying into the hype of the poor Ford dealer going broke.

Webba

Well it has been my personal experience that the Ford dealers in my area cant wipe their a*s never mind service a vehicle right. So if your dealer is similar, which from what I hear on here most are, then they have themselves to blame.

The Reverend

I am sure that the sale of ONE Mustang is not what keeps dealers in business. I also have been told that the Service department is what supply the dealer the profit.

Off topic: My 02 Windstar had A/C problems. So I ordered a new compressor from Ford and tried to install it myself. Well, I could not get the clutch off, so I had it towed to Ford. They installed my compressor all right. 40 additional parts, including a $250 clutch, when Autozone had a compressor with clutch for $250. I was taken for $2500 and learned that Ford charged over $100 per hour for labor and 200% markup on parts. Twice I dropped off my Van at the scheduled appointment times to later find out that evening that the partd did not come in yet.

Back to the topic:
If any saleman can sell a product at $1k profit, I would think that he did good.

05fordgt

Michael, I highly doubt that Ford will allow any plans on the Shelby GT. If its like any other short run vehicle, all plan deals won't be eligble.

And about the holdback? On a $30,000 Mustang, its actually less that that. About $800-$850. You may think that is a nice profit, but remember, if the car is there for several months, there's interest on each vehicle on the lot (cars are financed though a bank, as they aren't paid in full when bought from the factory). With the finance charge, which after a few months, can add up to several hundred $$, ON EACH VEHICLE! Also, for the person selling the car (be it a good salesperson or bad salesperson) if they sell the car AT INVOICE, they don't see $0.01 penny of that holdback. That goes to the dealer.

Don't get me wrong. I have mark-ups, AMD's, ADP's, whatever you want to call them. But a dealership is a business, and a business makes money or it has to close. I don't hear anyone complaining how much money realitors make when they sell a house, or how much electronics stores make per year for selling HDTV's for retail.

MilStang

This is true. Not all salesmen/dealerships are out to ream everyone. Like Jeff said, look at the mark up on electronics and realty. Many of us have seen how much cheaper electronics are on the internet and yet I guarantee that most of us just go into Best Buy and buy a TV there instead of saving the money. Why is that? Do we like the human interface rather than a computer or is it that we actually like to see the goods before buying. Yes, you can sometimes get a vehicle online for cheaper but I can tell you I will still go to a dealership to buy a car. I want to talk to someone, ask questions, see the vehicle etc. Now this does not mean I am going to bend over and make it easier on them, but I don't expect them to sell the car to me at $100 more than it costs them.

I am not going to pay a stupid amount over MSRP either, but I can tell you I don't expect the Shelby GT to drop fast either. I am hoping it won't get into the craze like the GT500 is in right now. However, I am not holding my breath either. I think most of the salesmen on here are genuine car nuts that want us to be able to get in a car as reasonable as possible, but I don't expect them to fall on their swords for us as well. They have families and habits they have to keep up just like all of us.

3Mach1

+1

I havent spent 30K on electronics lately and dont plan too. I have bought and sold several properties and never used a realitor going either direction. People are under a false impression that these people have to be involved and nothing is further from the truth. Its not that big of a deal. Trust me.

Most salesmen dont know jack about what they sell. There are exceptions and I would expect to find them on boards like these. I respect them but I wont give them any more money than the guy that doesnt have a clue. Either way, its frustrating for the buyer.

The way I approach buying is to check several dealerships and ask for their best price. Its a one time shot. No call backs ect..... If I feel like they are all too high, Ill just wait it out and try back in 3 or 4 months. Im not going to waste their time and they are not going to waste mine. Nothing is worse than sitting half a day in a dealership with a saleman trying to wear you down. I have done some waiting one time and never will again. Is this part of the sales training process? If it is, somebody needs to rethink it. It doesnt work on all of us.

Webba

I am sure if you go to the HDTV and house enthusiasts there will be people b*tching about high prices
Now just to clarify my position I have never once said dealers shouldnt make $$ on cars. I have no problem paying more for something from a dealer who is going to take care of me. When I have bought new vehicles I call my dealer and get a price. I will look online and have an idea of what it should be for reference. But Im not going to call a bunch of places. When we take a vehicle in for service I always tell them it is here for an oil change or whatever the reason and while it is here go over this thing and let me know what it needs and fix it. I dont go cheap. Nothing p*sses me off more than when I get the vehicle back and they say everything is great and the issue is fixed and 2 days later it is screwed up. Or something else that was noticable is found by us. Drives me nuts. Then I have to send 2 employees down to drop a vehicle off again.

Sharp

They offer plans on the GT500 so why can't they on this one and Yes my dealer sold one of his GT500s A-Plan to a good customer. (Unfortunately it wasn't me.)

05fordgt

I stand corrected then Terry.

AKBOSSMAN

I could have a performance GM if I wanted but it has a limited appeal to my Side !!!!!!