I was needing a new car and after some research the Scion tC hopped into the front. But with Scion's no-haggle pricing, but the multiple Scion dealers in my area... i came up with a question..

What's the point of multiple dealers? If they'll all quote you the same price, there's no way to use one dealer's price against another's. And would Scion give a certain dealer a car over another dealer that's just 10 miles away? Maybe I'm missing something.....

 

Service, obviously. Some dealers suck, others are better.

 

This is like asking why they would have two gamestores in the same city if they have the same prices. Competition is a good thing. It keeps the dealers knowing that if they don't treat you right you'll just go to their competitors.

 

True... but I'm more wondering if one of the "gamestores" will have the "game" in stock quicker than the other. I've gotten a few quotes, but they're basically just print outs from scion.com. So, the price is pretty much a moot point in the bargaining sense.

I can deal with semi-crappy service if it means I'll get my car faster. Like will one dealer get priority over another? I guess it's a more complicated question and could deal with queues and supply/demand formulas..... so... I guess I'll just have to experience it first hand. But thanks for the response...

 

That's true the reason for multiple dealers is service and also location. I would hate to drive all the way accross town to the one and only scion dealer, but with multiple dealers you have a choice of location and service, and also that gives you more chances of finding one faster just like you said.

 

Convience, just like having Starbucks' across the street from each other....

The socicalist in us all believes the logical sense, yes, why the hell would we have multiple scion dealerships within say a 20 mile radius; as opposed to one super scion dealership. But since Scions are a subdivision of Toyota Dealership's, and most dealerships are owned and operated differently, it just happens...

Saturn's are supposed to have no haggle pricing as well, and there's a bunch of those within a 10-20 mile radius.

Monopolies are bad....

 

Actually I think you are right...and Any dealer in here can jump in and tell me whether im wrong or right but I think this is how it works:

Each Dealer gets a certain Allocation of cars depeding in a few factors: size of dealer, monthly sales and in Scion's case their selling etiquette (s/p) (What I mean by this is that I believe almost every dealer gets inspected by scion to see whether they are selling the cars the correct way and to see the paperwork and stuff)

If dealer A sold more Scion's the dealer B the month before, dealer A I believe will get a bigger allocation, also remember that the number of cars and colors and features vary from dealer to dealer....So if you are looking for a Camo XB 5sp, delear A might have it but dealer B may not....See what I am saying???

Hopefully this helps..and again any participating dealer please tell me whether I am right or wrong... :D :D :D

 

Ok, that's cool. That's the kind of stuff I was wondering and it makes sense... but it seems to encourage the whole.. rich getting richer.. kind of stuff, but I guess that's just the way business is.

I'm going to start looking in the San Antonio, Texas area. Set up test drives, speak with salespeople, the whole shebang. Fun times...[/quote]

 

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Good Luck and let us know what you get. Also a tip you might want to know when you go buying is to ask what their "Documents Fee" is? There are dealers that charge somewhere from 250 to 100..this fee will vary...

You might also want to take a look at this post...it might help you in ure purchase:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22155

 

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I wouldnt say it has anything to do with "the rich getting richer". It's more a case of the dealership that is on the ball and takes care of its customers better than other dealers gets more cars to take care of even more customers.
I drive 5 minutes out of my way every morning to get a cup of coffee. I normally pass about 10 coffee shops every day on my way to work, but I go out of my way for the place that makes it the best and treats me nicely. See my point?

 

The thing with "service" is that I feel like I'm fairly easy to please. I don't need a lot of face time. I don't need to be impressed with the facilities and selection. I mean, as long as people have that common courtesy then I'm fine. The only thing that is a factor to me since price isn't really different between dealers is how quickly I can get the car that I want in the configuguration I want. And I suppose the after-purchase experience makes a slight difference and that's why I posted on the regional board about dealers to see what people's experiences are.

The thing about finding a good/bad dealer is that I don't feel like it'd make much of a difference in MY future buying experiences. Say the dealer was great. Realistically, I would probably buy from them again after my current car died, but chance of me still being in the area to purchase from them is slim. Also I wouldn't blame the dealer for a car that became unreliable after a few years(that's the manufacturer's fault ), but that would keep me from buying a car from the dealership. Say, I had a bad experience. I wouldn't want to deal with them every again. So, in both cases I don't really think it'd make a difference because the end result is the same for the most part. I get the car and I don't buy from the dealer ever again, but I suppose this whole paragraph is beside the point. I guess the biggest "domino effect" thing is how other people describe their buying experience to others in the market. For example, my friend bought a Scion xB from a local dealer and I didn't really care where he got it until now. I asked him about what dealer he went through, how it was, and all that. He had only positive things to say, and he gave me a starting point. Now, since I'm easy to please, this place will probably be able to do it for me (plus my friend gets 50 bucks for referring me and that's one thing that no one would get if I went somewhere else).

I guess I could go along with the coffee analogy, but then again I look at it like.. Well, the gravity of the purchase (cup of coffee as opposed to a car, though those cups of coffee add up..) and the frequency of the purchase (every day as opposed to once every 4-? years, hopefully) makes it a little difficult to associate it with one another, though the point is well-made.

I'm new to purchasing a vehicle and I know that once it gets close to getting an item, I usually get hasty and make poor decisions. Signing my military contract comes to mind... but anyway, thanks for all the help. I suppose more of this is a live and learn experience. It's always good to get feedback from those more knowledgeable than yourself.

 

Good Luck and let us know what you get. Also a tip you might want to know when you go buying is to ask what their "Documents Fee" is? There are dealers that charge somewhere from 250 to 100..this fee will vary...

You might also want to take a look at this post...it might help you in ure purchase:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22155[/quote]

The doc fee here in San Antonio is $50...at least where I bought my car (Red McCombs Scion).

- Desi

 

Document fees allow shady dealers to advertise one price in bold print and then charge the customer a higher price that is usually buried in the paperwork. The amount is a number plucked out of the air by the dealer, so the fee will vary from dealer to dealer.

Salesmen will often try to convince you that document fees are like government taxes, which they are not. Every penny goes to the dealer's profit. Fees have been so abused that some states have limited the fees by law. Creative dealers in these states use this regulation to legitimize their practices and to imply that the state somehow is responsible for the fees.

According to the "Scion rules" all fees are supposed to be disclosed to the customer up front, but my experience at three of four dealers did not bear this out. One salesman even said "no" when asked directly whether a document fee was charged and then tried to slip it into the purchase paperwork.

Some dealers don't charge junk fees. It pays to seek them out.

George