by scotstrong » Tue Feb 04, 2003 1:28 pm
In the larger markets it is more difficult to get a number of dealers to agree on any kind of "blanket" percentage to all other dealers of same manufacturer. The dealers with the big inventories have much less to gain selling to smaller dealers at say cost plus 10% as opposed to the little dealer buying from the big dealers at the same cost plus 10%. Who has the investment in inventory and who doesn't? It makes sense for the smaller dealers to have a mutual agreement with each other. The bigger guys in northern ohio are at cost plus 15%, but must be justifed by adequate sales. If you are cherry-picking the big guy when he's the only one that has it, do you have the right to expect the same break as the guy who calls them first for most everything? If the manufacturer, such as GM, will pay in most warranty instances up to the difference between dealer cost and trade price if you pick up a part to facilitate a same-day repair, wouldn't it make more sense to sell to each other at that trade price to help recoup some of the gross that they have taken away in the form of discounts? Then the other problem you run into is are you going to expect another dealer to sell to you at two different prices depending on whether or not it is for a warranty repair?