Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Vehicles

amazon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 258 posts

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#231

Post by gambiting »

hueving wrote: post #201
htedatsu wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than that ($500k) for 9 years. Sorry, will not reveal niche. Douche move, I know

Sorry, but an unverifiable income brag is effectively made up from the perspective of readers. "I just click ads all day and make $5k a week" is basically the same thing.

My dad was making fantastic money on ebay selling used items, but that was only because he had a cheap source of them - we have a company that sells second hand clothing, but the thing is, when you buy a truckload of second hand clothes, it comes with all sorts of crap that people give away to charities - watches, jewelery, shoes, toys, handbags, electronics, board games, books, etc etc etc. So we bought it for say(not a real value) $1/kg, but then my dad would put all of it on ebay. Thousands and thousands of items per month. Since we were buying per weight but selling individually, the profit on it was huge, and you wouldn't believe what sort of nonsense people would buy - old broken watch from a brand no one ever heard about for $5? Sold!

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#232

Post by creshal »

simonsarris wrote: post #4

Before you laugh that you'd never use this to buy a car, it may be worth taking the time to find your make/model and add it to your "Garage" on amazon. Amazon will then try to confirm or not if the cabin air filter you are about to buy is a correct fit for your car. Amazon tries to do the same thing with camera gear. At least, that's the theory. In practice you still need to do 100% of the due diligence or you'll end…

Amazon can't even tell me whether they're able to ship something to my country until the second-to-last page of the checkout process.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#233

Post by lmm »

pdwetz wrote: post #198
UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it doesn't make economic sense People repeat this a lot, but it isn't that cut and dry. People often ONLY include the direct cost of the two vehicles. They don't include the massively discounted loans on new vehicles (e.g. 0% APR), the warranties (e.g. 3-5 years bumper to bumper), sometimes better MPG (newer model, etc), cheaper insurance, skipping state inspection for the first three-five years, new tires & other…

Cheaper insurance? I don't follow the logic for that one. If you have an older car you don't need full coverage = less out of pocket.

I think they're talking about the reduced-price (or even free) insurance you often get as part of the deal when you buy a new car.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#234

Post by ollie87 »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #150
simonsarris wrote: post #4

Before you laugh that you'd never use this to buy a car, it may be worth taking the time to find your make/model and add it to your "Garage" on amazon. Amazon will then try to confirm or not if the cabin air filter you are about to buy is a correct fit for your car. Amazon tries to do the same thing with camera gear. At least, that's the theory. In practice you still need to do 100% of the due diligence or you'll end…

Super Cheap Auto, an Australian (and New Zealand) auto parts chain has something similar to this. You select your make, model, year, and engine, and it comes up with a list of parts that fit your vehicle, that can be filtered by use. They also offer free shipping. I got a new front bumper and apron for my truck for $200-odd shipped to my front door.

Euro Car Parts in the UK does this too.

Infact you can even put your vehicle registration number in and it'll do the work for you.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#235

Post by ghaff »

gambiting wrote: post #230
ejcx wrote: post #47

I think it would be great to buy a car from Amazon. The WYSISYG pricing is something missing from car buying. Negotiating a car price can be a lot of fun if you're a good negotiator, but people who aren't might love this. It also gives you a tool for negotiating if you DO plan to take the offer in to a local dealership.

Do manufacturers not advertise prices in the US? Right now I can go to UK site for Mercedes, or Audi, or any other manufacturer, click on a model, and the website will show me a price for a new car + pricing on all options. I know I can walk into any dealership and they will sell the car for that exact price. What am I missing here?

You're missing that a lot of people (here and elsewhere) want a fixed price but they want that fixed price to be what you'd get if you bargained down the price from MSRP.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#236

Post by criddell »

Agustus wrote: post #180
criddell wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried to buy a car via email. I picked out four different cars (a Kia Optima, a Honda Fit, a Toyota Prius, and a Subaru Outback) and emailed all the dealerships for those cars within a three hour drive. None of them would give me anything other than MSRP by email. Most of them called my phone within 15 minutes of me sending the email and all they wanted was for me to come in and talk to them. I eventually went to t…

They do. In all of their items they say: We will share your data with qualified partners.

Are car ownership records public? I was thinking it might be the financing that is public.

I was also thinking DMV records might be public.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#238

Post by goatforce5 »

criddell wrote: post #161
overcast wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. My last car (BMW) from seven years ago, I did entirely through email. Sent a handful of dealerships their cost sheet with the options I wanted, until I got the price I was looking for. Few months later when it was built and shipped from Germany, I drove my old car to the dealership, and drove off with the new one. Done. As an aside, I just ordered a mattress site unseen from an online only company, and it…

I tried to buy a car via email. I picked out four different cars (a Kia Optima, a Honda Fit, a Toyota Prius, and a Subaru Outback) and emailed all the dealerships for those cars within a three hour drive. None of them would give me anything other than MSRP by email. Most of them called my phone within 15 minutes of me sending the email and all they wanted was for me to come in and talk to them. I eventually went to t…

I used to get cold calls for after market warranties even when I didn't own a car.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#239

Post by lagadu »

overcast wrote: post #66
vvanders wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the only way to do new car shopping. Get the price + windows sticker in writing over email. Send it out to all the dealers in the nearby area and tell them they have your business if you can beat the deal. Repeat 2-3x, pick the lowest price dealer and be willing to walk out the door if anything funny comes up. Also quite a few dealerships are directly or indirectly part of a franchise so they won't compete wi…

Yes, when it comes to a lot of luxury European cars, cities typically only have a single dealership, and there isn't much wiggle room. Ended up with one back home 240 miles away. Picked it up my way home for Thanksgiving right off the thruway. Pulled into parents with the new ride :)

Can't you simply have the manufacturer send the car with your desired options to the dealer and you just pay them the MSRP listed for your configuration in the manufacturer's website? Any negotiation that happens is for a price reduction on that or for extra stuff. It's how it's done for new cars in Europe, if the dealer doesn't have stock (though it can require up to a couple months for the new car to get to the factory to the dealer). I did it just this year.
Post reply on HN