Dennis Dillion Dodge

[minnow]

Got a quote for a new Ram to be factory ordered. Price was several thousand below anything the local guys gave. All sounds good until I get the order sheet to confirm the order. They say that the price quoted in "good today" but could cbange upon delivery depending on what rebates are in effect on that day. Price given me includes rebates in effect now. And of course they want a non-refundable deposit.
Sounds a little suspect to me given the local guys said the price is firm and can only go lower if the rebates go up when truck comes in. Last thing I want to do is fly across the country and find out upon arrival that "So Sorry, the rebates expired and here's the new (higher) price.
Anyone done business with Dillon or had this kind of buying experience ?

[Hank_McMauser]

We have just recently bought two RAM 1500 bighorns from Dennis Dillon. Of course we only had to drive 35 miles to get there. Bought my gray one January 10th, and my wife loved it so much she decided to trade in her Camry for a white one the 13th of February.

[minnow]

For what I wanted spec'd out, I doubt any dealer would of had it on the lot. I figure if I'm spending that kind of money, I really am not open to compromise on any option or color. As this will be my last truck, I wanted it just the way I wanted it. I wish I could of found it on a lot someplace. Might of garnared more competititve interests from the local's as they could of sold a truck this week instead of 8 weeks from now.

[SteveB]

I ended up going to Steve White in Newton, NC last August. They had the truck I wanted at the price that was palatable and I also got side steps and the picture frame at the agreed price. No adder. We made it a weekend road trip.
I just could not find what I wanted locally and even DS or DD didn't "appear" to have what I wanted. I checked, called and emailed both but they did not have any 5th prep trucks in my cheapskate price range (DS had none).
Used was just too expensive for the mileage. Not that used would be bad I just wanted ZERO miles (got 10) to start out. My old one had 215K and I got it in '05 with 160K. It was a good truck.

[hawkeye-08]

My brother found the rig he wanted on a dealer lot, captured the VIN and then sent email to 5 dealers asking them for their best price on that particular VIN. The dealer that had the truck was the highest price. He ended up saving over $5000 from another dealer that did a transfer. He asked the dealer he bought from what they thought of dealer that they got the truck from. Sales rep responded that they supply many of other dealers with trucks.. sort of like having just in time inventory..

[CampingN_C_]

minnow wrote:

CampingN.C. wrote:
... I found them hard to deal with...

I found all the local dealers hard to deal with. It was like pulling teeth to get them to come down a few hundred when they needed to come down thousands to get close to where I needed them to be. I would of thought with the number of Ram dealers within this area, competition for business would of been much better. And what's with the $800 "document fees" also known in the real world as ADF (additional dealer profit). I told one of them that I would be more than glad to sit at their desk and enter numbers on a bill of sale if I could save $800.

OK, I found Kernersville 'impossible' to deal with. The place I bought it from was 'hard' to deal with.
I fought them for around two weeks before I bought it for every detail of the deal, including the ridiculous DOC fee. It wasn't my most pleasant auto purchase by far, but at the end of the day I wasn't hanging out with the guy, he just had the truck I wanted.

[minnow]

CampingN.C. wrote:
... I found them hard to deal with...

I found all the local dealers hard to deal with. It was like pulling teeth to get them to come down a few hundred when they needed to come down thousands to get close to where I needed them to be. I would of thought with the number of Ram dealers within this area, competition for business would of been much better. And what's with the $800 "document fees" also known in the real world as ADF (additional dealer profit). I told one of them that I would be more than glad to sit at their desk and enter numbers on a bill of sale if I could save $800.

[CampingN_C_]

minnow wrote:
Kernersville was $2700 more than Dillion. And was the lowest of the local dealers. Maybe they would of been more competitive on a truck on the lot compared to orderering one. I don't know.

I'm not convinced Kernersville is doing quite the volume they want us to think, especially after riding over there a few weeks back. I found them hard to deal with. My buddy had a trade they said was $300 upside down on, yes $300.00!!
He walked because of it. Bad biz making such a big deal over a small amount of money, could've made it up somewhere else and look better on paper.
I paid approx $3K more for mine at a smaller dealer BUT, it was $3K more truck with it's options. Kernersville sells a pretty basic Tradesman with NO bells and whistles.
So all things equal mine was inline with them. Not all Tradesmans are created equal.

[minnow]

Kernersville was $2700 more than Dillion. And was the lowest of the local dealers. Maybe they would of been more competitive on a truck on the lot compared to orderering one. I don't know.

[NJRVer]

minnow wrote:
I spoke with someone at Kernersville and am awaiting a price. I'd really prefer to do this locally. Don't understand how one place can sell the same truck for thousands less and others won't even come close.

So how close was Kernersville??

[bucky]

FCA has a really crazy back side rebate to their dealers unless it's changed in the last year. It's based on sales against manufacturer set goals. The result is that the best deal will be at the dealer close to hitting a goal at the end of the month but needing another unit or 3 to hit it. If the reward is $70k they will darn near give you a truck to hit that goal. That $70k is a real number at a real store I worked at. It gets bigger with the high volume stores of course.

[rjstractor]

hawkeye-08 wrote:
Dave Smith in Kellogg has already built their brand. Now that they are part of the RJ auto group, likely the big discounts go away.... They are opening more dealerships, recently opened a Nissan dealership in Spokane Valley. We won't be needing a new rig for sometime, but will definitely look at Dillion when we do.

It's going to be really hard for them to keep up the volume that they do without the deep discounts. If I'm going to travel several hundred miles to buy a truck, I might as well go where I can get a really good deal.

[hawkeye-08]

Dave Smith in Kellogg has already built their brand. Now that they are part of the RJ auto group, likely the big discounts go away.... They are opening more dealerships, recently opened a Nissan dealership in Spokane Valley. We won't be needing a new rig for sometime, but will definitely look at Dillion when we do.

Dave Smith also lost a couple of top sales folks in the last couple of years (one died, the other moved back east).

[minnow]

I really, really wanted to do this locally (within a 100 miles) but no one wanted to move much. Smith was actually $6388 more than Dillion. And $3398 more than the best local price I could get here. Maybe Smith thought I was just a looky loo when I called out there and maybe I could of got them to come down more. But when the price difference was that much, I figured why bother. If they weren't serious about selling a truck then why should I be. Dillion's price was their first offer and I felt there was no need to try and get them down any further as they were the most reasonable by a long shot.
What I can't understand is why all the other's are so much higher (hence my concern for the bait and switch when I get out to Idaho and the purpose of this topic). I mean Dillion can't be buying trucks from Ram and cheaper than any other Ram dealer.

[The_Texan]

Caldwell itself may be a dumpy little town, BUT the best steakhouse in the TV area is there.

Meridian and Nampa are both nice towns and are much closer to Caldwell than anything in Boise. I am sure that Dennis Dillon has arrangements with a local motel for their customers to stay at a discount, so I would check with them first.

Good luck with the new truck and have a great trip.