werewolf

Hi all

I've been looking for a used RX / GX and all the dealers having been insisting on a no-haggle pricing

Is this the new normal or am I just getting a story?

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

i think they are still testing it

mmarshall

It's definitely becoming more popular. CarMax has been doing it that way for decades, with a lot of satisfied customers.

While opinions differ (we have had discussions on this subject before in Car Chat), and some people insist on haggling no matter what, I am convinced that, in most cases, unless you are dealing with an unreputable place that is selling junk, the advantages of no-haggle deals outweigh the disadvantages.

Mike728

For a car, no haggle means no deal to me.

implantgs4

The problem with "no haggle" pricing is that the dealer always adds a $700-$900 "dealer fee" to the price, that's also non-negotiable. So their "1 price" is really BS.

LexBob2

Speaking of no haggle pricing. Does anyone know how Lexus Plus fixed pricing is doing? You don't hear much about it these days.

I looked it up and there are 12 dealers in this program. If I remember correctly there were something like 13 initially. This makes me wonder if the concept isn't gaining any support from dealerships.

Toys4RJill

Down to 12 now

Johnhav430

No question they have to figure out ways to maintain their margins or they'll be extinct in 10 yrs., no haggling would clearly work to their favor. Think about it, some businesses can do that. amazon say. They can cancel your membership whenever they want (so can many cos.), and they do.

LexBob2

I mentioned that there were now 12 in my original post. It looks like this program is really stagnant now. It seems like a risky model in competitive markets where there are multiple dealers.

mmarshall

I agree that the processing fee is probably a rip-off, but in one sense, it's irrelevant, because you are going to be facing that fee regardless of whether it is a no-dicker deal or not. The best way around it is usually just to buy from a shop that charges a lower fee....the GM shop I deal with, for example, charges a processing fee that is a couple of hundred dollars lower than what is typically found in other local shops in Northern Virginia's. D.C. suburbs. I saw only one shop in this area that was ever willing to discount the fee.....they cut it in half for my late mother, decades ago, when she bought a new Plymouth, partly because she and I were repeat customers and we knew the owner. That shop is no longer in business...it more or less died when the owner retired.

You can also save by buying in a state that limits or outlaws that fee. Maryland, for example, right across the Potomac river places a strict $299 limit on the fee, which is half or less what the unregulated Virginia dealerships charge. The downside to that, though, is if you live in VA and buy in MD, you still have to pay VA sales-tax if you are going to register it there, and you will also have to get a VA State Safety Inspection (at your expense) before you can register it in VA. MD dealerships, of course, cannot do VA safety inspections.

spwolf

It is big change for both dealers and customers... Toyota New Zealand started no haggle policies few months ago and dropped their MSRP significantly and still their sales tanked considerably across the country.

mjeds

it's a joke.. they call no haggle pricing and tell you the price is set by corporate (2 dealerships told me this) and meets very strict requirements to remain competitive, which is the line of B.S. I got this past weekend looking at a 2015 LS460 Crafted Line.

however if this was the case, why did 2 dealerships both with exactly the same car 2015 LS460 RWD Crafted Line, have them priced differently by $5,000, one had 21,990 miles, the other 22,250 both CPO. Newport Beach Lexus $47,900. Cerritos Lexus $52,300 EXACTLY THE SAME CAR, SAME OPTIONS, ETC.

why again did they tell me trade in on my RCF is determined by Corp (both said this), and Cerritos offered me $36,800 and Newport offered me $40,400? HMMMM


the whole thing is a scam IMO, just another bunch of BS dealerships are using to get over on unsuspecting customers.

werewolf

Hi Marshall

I'm going to be in your neck of the woods in August. I'd like to pick up a used RX350 for my mother when I'm there -- are there any dealers you trust or would recommend. I've found the pricing to be pretty uniform

Thanks

mmarshall

Part of that will depend on whether you want to get it at a Lexus dealership. I know some Lexus salespeople in the area, but have not dealt much with their service departments since I owned my IS300 a number of years ago. I get superlative service from my GM Service-Advisor at the Buick/Chevy/GMC shop I now use....better, IMO, than when I was with Lexus. Their Used-Car department sells all kinds of brands, but we'll have to wait and see if they have any used RXs in stock when you get here.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

so newport $47,900 - trade $36,800 = $11,100
and cerritos $52,300 - trade $40,400 = $11,900

so the deals are really very similar.

(edit: oops, i got the trade value backwards from the post)

agree there!