Dealerships will list unicorns with certain combinations opf features because they know people look for them. When you inquire, the car "just sold. However, we do have plenty of cars you didn't ask for....blah blah blah." So a lot of supposed unicorns are actually bait.
Last time I bought a new car, I took European delivery. I sent identical emails to several dealers nationwide stating that I wanted their bear OTD price for a 2016 BMW etc, with this, that & the other packages, options & color. Most responded. Some were auto responses with messages along the lines of "Come see our new BMWs" & others were serious. I didn't hear from the dealer 2nd closest to me at all until I waited on a customer at the drivethru window & noticed he was driving a demo from that dealer. I told him I'd been disappointed with lack of response from his dealership. He gave me his card & personal email & we took it from there. That salesman offered me the best OTD price but couldn't get a allocation for when I could go to Germany. Ended up doing he deal with a W. Palm Beach dealer, almost entirely by email.
I still get an occasional email from some of those dealers inviting me to "Come see our new BMWs".
I've put a deposit on the Tesla SUV that's coming out one of these years. I may buy it for the spouse. We may see how the Tesla sales model works.
And another thing- I believe dealers make a lot of $ in the service dept. My son was BMW tech for a few years making $20-25/hour & working the flat rate system somewhat to his advantage & the labor rates to the consumer were $130/hr IIRC.
In reply to M2Pilot:
There's more to it than face value. You also have to consider that on the flat rate system if it takes the tech 3 hrs to do a job and it only pays 2.5 he just lost a half hour. That is usually the case with any warranty repair, and it keeps getting worse. Most techs only get paid whatever the manufacturer thinks is necessary to replace a part. They dont pay for the time it took to diagnose the problem, doing the paperwork that the manufacturer requires, or any time it takes to get whatever part you need. Yes there is $$ made in the service department but not as much as you would initially think.
The update is that I received one phone call from a dealer in response to my e-mail, one text that went dead after a few back and forth messages, and one who has promised to get me a price within a few days. It's a Ford Part with a Ford Part # and a Ford install time quoted right there in the little computer. Should take 3 minutes to look it up and give me an estimate, but "about a week" is the best estimate on time I can get so far.
I could have the part in my hand in less time than it takes to get a dealer to return a message, I just don't want to handle the install myself.
Based on the response, I think you have to conclude either the dealers don't actually want that work, or if they do, they have incorrectly determined that you aren't actually going to give them that work, so you are now a lower priority. I can't think of another explanation. I've also been in both situations. It sucks. The only third option I've seen is a provider doesn't want to do the work, but for an absurd price will do it (I had a landscape example for that last one).
What is the install time?
Say it's 5 hrs (I have no idea just picked a number) I'm sure the labor rate is in the neighborhood $100/hr. That would be $500 labor plus your part price. Maybe hit the dealer with a more direct question. "Will you install this for $xx?"
I"m almost sure the dealers have (incorrectly) assumed you're just price shopping. I give quotes out all day never to see the actual work. They will concentrate on the cars that are at the shop already before they worry about contacting you for a job they see as a "maybe".
My social theory is that "many don't." That is, if you don't answer your customer's inquiries, eventually they'll stop calling and the business goes under. I suppose the business could be so successful, the missed contacts don't concern them, but it should.
I left a local vendor an email question, heard nothing, then forgot all about it. 3 effing months later I get this strange phone message and eventually realized it was him "calling me back." Too little and definitely too late.
I do have to agree with the above comment though, that seen from the other side of the counter, people are completely wishy-washy and flakey. Probably 99% of them aren't going to show, are just price shopping, and just wasting your time. Yeah I get it, but to ignore that other 1% becomes very costly if that same 1% is your bread and butter.
Since this is now a rant I'll add one more. A retail site shows a product. Shows it as in-stock. You order the product. They take your money, then a day or so later you get an email saying it's back-ordered and that it'll be several weeks late. They know full well many people won't order something if they listed it as out of stock, but not doing so is on the edge of misrepresentation. I realize that sometimes they just sold the last one, but in this day and age of computerized inventory control, this sort of situation seems very unlikely. I make a point of always cancelling such orders just on principle.
appliance_racer wrote: What is the install time? Say it's 5 hrs (I have no idea just picked a number) I'm sure the labor rate is in the neighborhood $100/hr. That would be $500 labor plus your part price. Maybe hit the dealer with a more direct question. "Will you install this for $xx?"
When I was at Saturn, close to 20 years ago, the labor rate was something like $85 initially and went to something like $150. Higher labor jobs made the rate crank up for some reason I forgot.
The VW/Audi/etc dealerships around here are in the vicinity of $175-200/hour. IIRC we're at $91-130/hr and we're on the low end of indies.
kb58 wrote: I make a point of always cancelling such orders just on principle.
Me too. I am in favor negative reinforcement of consumer-unfriendly practices.
Maybe I'm just old school, but when I want to find something out or am really interested, I pick up the phone and CALL the shop.
I definitely get the information I want at that point and I get it right away. Something about calling seems to tell the party on the other end that you're serious...
pinchvalve wrote: I have been to the NAFTA Show many times. I have seen the money that dealership spend on web platforms and marketing and advertising...all to get people to contact their dealerships. They send out endless mailers and e-mails, enticing you to come to them for service. They have chat buttons and SUBMIT buttons on their websites, all to make it easy to reach out to them. It's all a waste. Every time I have used any of these devices, it has gone into a black hole. I have never received a response from an e-mail inquiry or form submission. The phone is the only thing they know how to use apparently. This week, I am looking to put an LSD into the FiST and since it is a Ford Part# and they know they car, I figure they might be a good place to get the work done. I ask for a price quote from my local dealer...nothing. I reach out to the #1 rated dealer in the area...nothing. I reach out to three other area dealers...nothing. (I also reach out to several area car shops, but got no replies from them either. ) So I have to wonder why companies put money into lead-generating activities, only to ignore the leads? Hey Pittsburgh, I have money and want to spend it...anyone interested out there?
Supply and demand.
Lead generation is really easy for you to create, so they get inundated with leads. You're interested in an aging or profitable vehicle? You'll probably get a call back. Same for the service dept.
You proposed something that's going to tie up their bay for an entire day, and generate very little profit.
I think if I wanted the dealer to install a ford part in my ford car, I would pick a day and show up at the service department and see about scheduling a time to install it. That should get their wheels turning
Only one local dealer (Moon Township Ford) actually got back to me with an answer in timely manner. So kudos to them! The cost is a bit higher than I hoped, more hours required than I expected. Not sure that a LSD is worth $3k at this point. The eLSD is not bad for 40sec. autocross runs, it certainly won't overheat the brakes. Putting half that amount into coil-overs might get me enough negative camber to keep the wheels panted. UGH, I hate these decisions!
Try Gillece Transmissions on route 51. They should be able to do it. I've head of a good transmission guy in Canonsburg but I don't remember his name. He's installed several LSDs for Ancas over the years.
Yeah, I have seen most of the situations discussed above.
I did not see an answer to: "Do you have any Techs that are skilled at installing a differential?" I am guessing that there is very little demand for Dealership Techs that can do that work.
When I put an LSD in my AutoX car, I asked the local AutoX wizard where he had his diff/trans work done, and took the job there. (Thanks Chris!)
The recommended shop did the work for 50% the initial estimate.
Rog
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