remedyman

Think this day will ever come? Have had enough of big dealerships. Most of them interestingly, don't even know their product. Finally found my C7, new infact from a dealer who sells maybe 2-3 a year. The big boys need to close their doors.

Foosh

Good luck. It will require changing about 50 state laws. The dealership lobby is very strong.

Ask Tesla, because that's what they're trying to do.

fsvoboda

Probably the closest you could come is a Museum Delivery arranged through one of the big dealers for their discount.

At one point (long ago) I think it was possible to pick up cars at the factory and avoid the shipping charge, but now that charge is uniform whether the car is shipped across the continent or across town.

(I was helping my mother-in-law buy a Dodge minivan in Sterling Heights, Michigan a few years ago, and truckloads of Chrysler 200s were arriving from the factory, about a mile and a half away, within easy driving distance.)

Sox-Fan

This. Tesla is trying, but there are many states where the laws actually bar it from happening.

mschuyler

I don't understand your complaint. If the factory WAS the dealership, it would be a REALLY big dealership, and you would have ONE choice of "dealership." Today you have a choice. You found a "little" dealership that met your needs among many. Dealerships compete with each other and you get the advantage of that. Doesn't sound to me like you've thought this through. You don't like "big" dealerships so you want a bigger one? Doesn't make sense.

tcinla

Tesla fought that battle. The dealership cabal massed against them and took them to court saying that avoiding the dealership sales channel was illegal. I forget the details but a google search will reveal what happened.

Foosh

Mschuyler,

I agree with you.

I don't think dealing only w/ a manufacturer would necessarily be a good thing. Competition between both manufacturers and dealerships I think is far more beneficial to consumers.

CP

In major cities like Houston, most of the same car dealerships are owned by the same group: Autonation, Group 1, or Sonic. Prices between the dealerships that are members of the same group generally have the same price. Tough to negotiate when there isn't competition.

Foosh

Well, I can only see that getting worse, if you're buying directly from a manufacturer.

427Z0SX

Who will service your car if bought directly from GM? Tesla is struggling mightily with service (understaffed) and poor quality vehicles. I don't like the BS games that SOME dealership salesmen play, but it's easy to weed them out. The majority of the time, I have had no problems. I bought all my cars over via email/text. Only went in to sign.

mschuyler

Are you incapable of leaving Houston? In this Internet Age there is no reason you can't find a dealership beyond your little hovel. There is nothing preventing you from buying from any dealership in the nation. That's competition. But OP wants to shut down dealerships altogether and buy only from the factory. Where is the competition then? Like you said, tough to negotiate when all the dealerships go away an there's no one to negotiate with.

JerryU

Hmm, you come pretty close by looking on the Net for prices from folks like Kerbeck who sell at small margins. They can help arrange Courtesy Deliver and deal if you have a trade (albeit at wholesale price as most large dealers just sell to auctions etc.) They actually order cars and keep GM from having to deal with building what is not selling, inventory costs etc. In general dealers know the local market for cars and trucks and what folks are buying.

This issue many have is they don't want to deal with selling their existing car and want to trade! That brings in the local dealer and the salesman's pitch! Their skill is dealing with the price for the new car and what they will give for a trade! They juggle the two and some have great selling skills! They know that for many it's the monthly payment so deal with it versus prices! Those are the guys that do the best at selling for the bulk of the market.

Gear heads selling to gear heads is not the high volume sales! Most folks buying a car or truck don't care about hp, transmission options etc etc. Frankly prepared with a copy of Kerbeck prices and Blue book print out for the trade is a good way to get past some of the salesman BS! Frankly I will probably buy my planned GS from Kerbeck and if like my C6 not waste much time finding (or not finding) a Courtesy Delivery dealer and fly up and drive it the 600 miles home!

Would you expect GM to handle trades? Who would have their service folks trained as a Certified C7 mechanics? Who would buy the special repair tools as new models come out-the local repair shop-no way! When I bring my car for service to the local Chevy dealer, they are happy for my business as it's run as a separate profit center!

Just Say'n!

Corgidog1

I like the set up just the way it is-let the smart buyers pay less than the non savvy buyers.

viperz0677

They don't need to know the product, its a numbers game. The buyer should be the one educated on the car. There are more than enough resources online so do your research

sunsalem

Talk about something being UnAmerican!

IIRC, Tesla has to take each State to court.
Seems to me they always win, but it costs 'em $$$.

Exactly right, sir.

I always cut them down close to invoice; something my Grandpa taught me.
He bought a new pickup every 2 years.
That old skinflint would spend an entire year (every year too) visiting dealerships and basically fnck with their heads over the price (trade-in value, etc.)
He was a somewhat of a cruel basterd...
The old guys on the sales floor would see him coming and go "get coffee" while the rookies were forced to deal with the old monster.
I think they eventually just let him "win" to get rid of him.

Vetteman Jack

Having more than one dealership can result in a better price on the car.

Bill Dearborn

The biggest hassle with dealers in some states are the state mandated dealer documentation fees. They claim they are legally required to charge all Customers the same fee but will negotiate it away if you work hard enough. They have no need to charge you the fee if they move a portion of their price to the dealer doc fee space on the invoice. But what a PIA it its to get them to reduce their price by that $500 to 700 sharp stick in the Customer's eye. When I purchased the current car using the GMS Employee Discount price it was really tough. I was paying a set factory price that gave them a decent profit but they still wanted their damned $500. I almost walked even though I had driven 3 hours to get there.

Bill

jschindler

I don't agree with having laws to protect the dealers. It amazes me that the government should even be allowed to get in the middle of those decisions. HOWEVER, thinking that having the manufacturer be a dealer fails to understand why there are dealers to begin with. If they all start selling direct, they would have to hire thousands of sales people, set up hundreds of dealerships across the country (you don't want to have to have your car shipped to Detroit every time you have a problem with, do you?) etc. At the end of the day, they would be no better than the independent dealers.

And if you tell me that you only want manufacturers to do this for cars like the Corvette, then we have another discussion. The price of the car will go up substantially because the economies of establishing a network of dealers that only sells a handful of cars is not a very good business model.

pickleseimer

I put up with the whole dealership routine, but as an alternative I certainly wouldn't want to be negotiating with the Factory! Kind of reminds me of trying to negotiate a deal with the government.

Lately, I've found the dealership experience to be an improvement over what I recall from many years past. The high-pressure sales guy seems to be almost all but gone. The last 4 cars I've purchased at dealerships has been a satisfactory interaction with the salesman and the dealer. Two of those have been bought from the same salesperson, and I'd go back again when I'm ready. I've found it a pain to negotiate individual fees or items on a deal - instead I negotiate the OTD price only and am always ready to walk. There are too many others out there ready to deal if you just look around. If you only dealt with the factory, it would be a take-it-or-leave it deal - similar to the failed experiment Saturn was.

Davids65

Competition is what drives the price down! If you want to pay top dollar then get rid of the dealers. A few years ago I bought my son a WRX and the closest dealer to where I live told me the have a no haggle policy and they offer the best price they can and they don't negotiate. I have bought many cars in my day and I wasn't comfortable with this concept I always feel like there is still meat on the bone and I want to pay the least I can, I tried to get them to lower the price and they said no can do. They asked me if I wanted the car I said yes but I need to confirm the price by going to another dealer to make sure I'm getting the best deal they insisted this was the best deal around I told them if this is true I would be back. Needless to say I bought the car for $1500 less at another dealer less then 15 miles away. Take away the dealers you lose bargaining power! A month ago my mother was shopping for a C7 in Florida the best deal she could find down there for a base car seemed much to high so I bought it closer to me at Kerbeck and got a Grand Sport for the same price as she was going to pay for a base. If I have a vote I would want to keep dealers but to each his own!