Ever heard of this?
So my wife and I were looking for a new truck,which we were going to order, priced it out on Truecar, got 2 offers, went to the dealer and settled on the price, no problem there. We went on a Sunday, ...
Forum Discussion
TucsonJim wrote:
Dealerships make money two ways. The first is on the selling price of a vehicle. The higher they can take you, the more profit for them. The second is on the trade in. The lower they offer, the more profit.
I'd suggest that if you're going to purchase using a fixed price system like TrueCar, you sell your previous vehicle via a private party. Once you have the cash in hand, then you can proceed with the purchase.
Whenever you're dealing with a car dealer, you have to be willing to walk away from the deal. Another tactic is to pit two or more dealers against each other.
In general, new car sales doesn't make much profit at all, especially with the internet these days. The dealership makes profit in used cars, and they make money in add ons (aftermarket accessories) and warranties. The service department is also a source of income.
Realities are that if dealerships only sold new vehicles at 300 or 400 dollar profit per unit, they'd probably all go out of business.
