PRICING AND SURCHARGES IN CAR WORLD
Bought some items over the last two days. Lemme See, a bag of coffee, a toner cartridge for a printer, a sandwich, a pair of shoes and a car.
With the coffee, the toner, the sandwich and the shoes, I rec'd documents (receipts in all cases, warranties in some cases). None of the places charged me a document fee.
The coffee came from South America, the sandwich parts came from all over the central US, the Toner came from Colorado and the Shoes were made in New York. Nobody charged me a "destination fee".
The Sandwich had to be built to my order. There was no "Dealer Preparation" Fee.
The car came from Kentucky, I believe. There was a fee for getting it to Quincy, Illinois. Unlike the Sandwich, the was a fee for the dealer getting the car fit for me to use.
As anybody who has ever bought or sold a car can tell you, there are some simple Secretary of State docs to be filled out. With all due respect to dealeship secretaries the world around (who, I'm sure, do other things requiring talent.) a reasonable moron could fill out these docs in under ten minutes and mail them to Springfield. Still, they charged me a document fee that, in part, paid for the time I had to sit and listen to the pitch for their extended service contract.
The whole process of car dealership relations is just simply made painful by Detroit custom and practice and certain requirements of federal law. My dealership did as much as it could to make the whole experience less unpleasant than it could have been. This is not a quarrel with any dealer, it's just to point out that we have a customer unfriendly system and it's no wonder car companies are in distress. Americans consider car shopping stressful and they're right.
posted by UMRBlog @ 07:45
10 comments
10 Comments:
well a car is not a sandwich in that way that sandwich is less likely to kill you then a car,
a car is a weapon, a dangerous one,
I think the more regulations there are on cars the better.
more than that, if a moran can fill the forms I would make it different, only responsible drivers should drive cars.
Sorry for bad English.
WOW! Such conspicuous consumption! Hope it isn't a gas guzzler! Do you wear your new shoes to drive it? I assume you have a rule against eating the sandwich in the new car. Or at least Lynn does.
Well, Foox,
I think you just trotted out a classic non-sequitur. Cars are dangerous so I should pay somebody to fill out my registration application?
Cars are more dangerous than sandwiches so I should pay a discrete, separate fee to get the car from assembly to the place where my dealer offers it for retail sale?
You're making an excellent argument for tougher licensing requirements, but Operators' licensing is not regulated at auto dealerships.
TYFCB.
It's hers so I can't eat in it and she can do any damn thing she wants in it (which is pretty much what she does anyhow, in her car, my car or the house). She gets a replacement car every 15 years, whether she needs it or not and I get new cross-trainers every fifteen years whether I need them or not.
Being the warm, wonderful human being that I am, I will share the coffee.
The sandwich has been recycled. She had no shot at that. She can share the toner.
TYFCB
"I get new cross-trainers every fifteen years whether"
Being as health conscious (no red meat) as you are, you only wear out the cross-trainers every 15 years??????
Anon 1528,
First of all, I do red meat once a month and at YD functions, so I'm not a total purist.
Seriously, I'm so quirky about shoe size and fit, I get my leather cross trainers retreaded two or three times before they crap out. I'm also semi-thrifty so I use joggers on the treadmill and for walks. I don't mind tossing them so much cuz you don't need a bank loan for them.
MSRP on my favorite crosstrainers is now $130.00. That's about five dozen premium golf balls! This GOP inflation on Chinese made goods is outrageous!
made in Kentucky...
HMMMM...
Did I miss the kind of car it is ?
Toyota builds there, but so does Mercedes......
So why didn't you simply get up and walk away from the car deal?
One thing about new cars, they make 'em everyday and you can get the identical thing at another dealership. Next time run, don't walk from that tiny office.
By the way, it appears you bought a foreign car made in a non-union plant. Shame on you. And don't give me that line it was made in America by American workers. Big dollars ($$$$) went home to Japan on your transaction. Shame on you!
2316,
First, I'm gonna venture to say that I've bought more new cars in my life than you. The drill is same everywhere except on dealership in Dallas and one in Springfield, IL (Unless you're A-Rod). So the question was, do this root canal with a local dealer or go out of town? I would just as soon a local investor makes the profit and a local employee gets the commission. You can think otherwise, that's my preference.
Now, I can't tell if your bitch is a "foreign" car or non-union. It's not a foreign car any more than a Jeep is a foreign car. I would have preferred to go with detroit iron but that wasn't feasible here. The person who will drive this car had requirements. The american-made Union dealership where I had bought my last ten new cars, couldn't meet them. The other major Detroit vendor couldn't meet them. So we bought an american-made car that met her needs. She was the consumer. Shame on Detroit for not meeting pretty basic consumer demand. Foreign capital's OK when it's partnered with Ford or Chrysler but it's not OK otherwise, is that the deal?
NIssan/Suzuki/Hundai, we could have a conversation but I'm not the least bit concerned about this decision. I'll compare histories of being supportive of organized labor with anybody around here. I see Brothers and Sisters driving foreign assembled trucks all the time. Talk to them. If your problem is with foreign capital, make sure you let local officials know we don't want any chinese plants here and for the State of Illinois to stop offering incentives to the Chinese folks who want to build tractors here.
Shame on that nasty old global economy.
"I pay for nothing at all but tires for 4 years."
tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk,
*shakes head and waves finger at Lootie*
I for one know better. See, while with your personal vehicle this may be the case, somewhere along the line you aquired an Irish Boss. Now along with that Irish Boss you also aquired a fine German SUV. (I know, I know, cargo space was needed to take Tinkerbell with her everywhere) You see The Fiery Redhead also owns the same german SUV and unfortunately "I" have to do maintenance on said vehicle.
Point well taken on the BMW but the Jeep is another case. And yes I agree Detroit is just not keeping up right now.
;)
p.s. couldn;t resist bustin your chops a bit buddy. LOL
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