Jason, I agree with you on the mark-up helping to kill the GTO........no question about it and it upsets GM when this happens.

To some of you.....
Unfortunately, we are prohibited BY FEDERAL LAW in telling a dealer at what price he can sell a car or truck --other than we put the MSRP on the Monroney Label. (by the way ...five bonus points if someone can tell me what a Monroney Label is and when it went into effect...)

.......(used to be when I was in the field as a District Manager, I'd take a dealer out in the used car lot and threaten him with becoming "the world's smallest chevy dealer" if he pulled the "market adjustment" and didn't knock it off. I was crazy to do so......and I'd never do it today.......because it could be recorded and I'd be cooked..........

As to "Employee Pricing" /No haggle pricing for everyone? I'm not an attorney, but I am quite certain that the Justice Department would salivate if we attempted to do it permanently....it's called price fixing. You might note that from time to time, your local dealer association has promotions on, say, "Lease a TrailBlazer for about $299 a month" ...."Leave the checkbook at home"......there is a time limit as to how long you can actually do this for before it is looked upon as price collusion........

Believe me, life would be much easier in this industry if cars were sold like most other goods in a department store. (Didja ever go into Wal-Mart and look at, say a TV for $299 and tell 'em........'hey...I'll give you $250???) I don't see it happening.........

In my opinion? If you see "Market Adjustment" on the window, walk out.....to me, there are a lot of other dealers around that won't resort to this practice.

 

+1

 

Time will prove GMS for everyone to be one of the biggest mistakes in GM history.

 

I suppose Ford and DCX will now crash and burn just like GM, correct?

 

In Louisville Nielhuffman Nissan and the Kia store (Kia and Huyndai) are also doing 'employee pricing.'

Since I don't think these are national programs we don't know if the prices are true or not.

 

The Monroney sticker is just another name for the window sticker, or the vanity sticker. It lists options on the car it is affixed to and the price for them and the car.

It was developed by Senator Monroney in 1958 to prevent discrepancies between prices being quoted for cars and the price that was actually being charged.

http://www.nwccc.net/garage/window_stickers.html

 

Scott,
I realize you could never do fixed pricing unless you got the dealer network to agree and not sue GM's tail off. I assume that if Saturn does it, it COULD be done GM-wide if dealers agreed? You bring up the Justice Department, which makes me think that I may be wrong?

The whole GTO debacle still makes me angry. GM had $5,000 rebates on those at FYE04 to get rid of those cars...they didn't need to do that if dealers hadn't tried to scalp the first several thousand customers that walked through the door!!! That's what kills me...

 

Dingdingding! We have a winner!!!! You spelled the name correctly, attributed it to the Senator.........and yes, the law was passed in 1958!

I'm most impressed!!!!

 

I know I'm so ignorant here that it hurts, but my idea has always been to make the pricing dictates to the dealers "voluntary".

Kinda like the 55mph speed limit was "voluntary" for the states... sure, you could decide to leave your speed limits at 75mph if you were Montana or Wyoming... but then the Feds would cut your highway funding.

So, technically, it was "voluntary."

Now, the question would be whether or not GM could do the same thing with the dealers. Keep GMS for all running, but make the program "voluntary."

If the dealer doesn't like it, he/she can choose not to participate.

Legally speaking, I do not know the ins and outs, but I'd be willing to bet the Justice Department wouldn't pursue that one too aggressively. They're busy right now with other things anyway, and GM has a pretty powerful lobby of it's own.

Just my thoughts.

Gotta get pricing control out of the hands of dealers on an individual basis. Saturn, who hasn't sold an exciting car since... well... since God was a Private First Class... has made serious hay out of the no-haggle practice. As much as I like Chevrolets and Cadillacs, there is a HUGE amount to be said for Saturn. I've nearly bought a few of them, simply because of the dealer practices.

Combine Saturn's dealership experience with Chevrolet's products and you've got a killer combination that hits the imports right where it hurts.

 

Wow! You are amazing. You really showed that salesman. Can I have your autograph?

 

Unless a customer's displeasure is made known in no uncertain terms to the salesman, the message never gets to management... which is why I tell clerks at those stores who want my phone number or address when I buy a CD or toilet paper that it's:

"None of your business, do you want to sell this CD or no?"

Furthermore, if a salesperson, who's RESPONSIBILITY it is to make the case for this stupid upcharge, can't take the heat, he/she needs to find another line of work.

 

Few in the Northeast? If you go to Gold Coast, they have about 15 of them!! I have seen at leat 6 running around town. I have not checked for market adjustment, but some dealers are just nuts.

 

How does Saturn get around this??

 

Saturn can still sell at whatever price it chooses to.
No haggle is truely only an illusion.

 

Sure...send me your fax #. I'll get it right out to you Anyone else want it? I'm at work so the fax is right there. See Kevin, I can be accomodating!

Pacer,
Right there with ya...and that's the point. If no one complains, nothing ever changes. Truly cultured people like Kevin seem to be above us, eh?