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Cars are commodities, and should not be sold by salesman on commission. I'm not buying another car until mine falls apart.
If a customer walks in your door, you really need to sell them on your brand of car, at your dealership.
If the dealerships were manufacturer owned, perhaps the commission would be lower and service level higher.
The TrueCar homepage ( http://www.truecar.com/ ) looks like one of those generic 404/squatter page.
The auto industry is a very weird one. Entrenched in their own way, and I learned that it's a zero sum type game where the one willing to stoop the lowest will win. Going to a few "dealer workshops" I learned psychological tactics to make the customer feel like crap to get them to pay you more money and sign contracts that they would inevitably regret later. Eventually I realized that in the back it's really a financing industry (at least for new cars) and for used cars it's a zero sum, get the most you can scenario or bloodsucking buy here pay here deals.
After a significant amount of time and money, I was humbled at how much of an uphill battle it was to try to innovate in the industry. Have been watching CarWoo & TrueCar with a lot of interest (I'm a fan) since I can feel what they're up against. I'd like to know why CarWoo feels it's time to shut it down. Tesla has, IMHO, disrupted the new car market to some degree and the industry is dire need of change. Here's to hoping the folks at CarWoo go on to bigger and better things!
Cars are commodities, and should not be sold by salesman on commission. I'm not buying another car until mine falls apart.
Simply put, replace build car > sell car, with sell car > build car.
As it is, car salesmen are nothing more than order takers that generate a large commission and overhead; the customers come to you. They only still exist because of massive regulatory controls that have created a dealership cartel.
Auto makers would become significantly more profitable in this model as well, no more massive piles of inventory or huge mistakes in guessing which models will sell. This ancient, backwards model currently costs GM and Ford billions each year in lost profit, and costs consumers billions in unnecessary middle-man mark-up.
Cars are commodities, and should not be sold by salesman on commission. I'm not buying another car until mine falls apart.
The term "commodity" typically refers to products that feature little to no differentiation between each other. It means you could largely "throw a dart" to pick one, and you'd be no better or worse off than someone who does meticulous research.
That you say you won't buy another car until yours falls apart already suggests that perhaps you don't actually consider cars to be a commodity. Sure, you won't upgrade in order to get a faster or more luxurious car. But I'd imaging from your statement that reliability is probably important for you. Although you don't state it, if you frequently have family with you in the car, or even if you don't, there's a good chance safety is important as well. Cars from various manufacturers vary greatly in both these respects.
Not to mention that for other people, sportiness, luxuriousness, ruggedness, storage space, and other factors are important as well, and cars vary on those dimensions as well.
If the vehicle market qualifies as a commodity, so are the majority of markets of any sort, to the degree that the concept of a commodity adopts a useless definition.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well as the article said, try http://www.truecar.com/ I guess. Being in Canada, I was hoping that CarWoo would do well and eventually move up north. The car purchasing experience is terrible, and is very ready for a disruption.
I may be wrong but truecar doesn't remove the need to haggle?
Am I the only one that doesn't mind the car-buying process? All it takes is the fortitude to sit through a litany of maneuvers trying to convince you to agree on a price - when you've got zero obligation to consent. Sure - it takes time, which is a scare commodity for many - but for the amount of money generally being spent, I've got no problem pushing a salesperson to get the price to where I want it.
I have a fond memory of going with my roommate when he was buying a new car. He had a decent amount to give as a down payment. Armed with the knowledge of how much the dealer pays, he basically walked in, said he'd buy a certain car for a certain amount and not more and handed them his down payment check. The salesman took the offer to his manager. He returned with a counter offer. My roommate didn't budge. After thr…
Go in to a dealership, haggle a bit, and if you don't get the price you want, say "OK, I'm going to go out and do some more shopping... here's my card, give me a call if you change your mind". Apparently just the threat of walking away will sometimes prompt some movement, and if you do walk out, you'll sometimes get a call the next day with a better offer.
I think they key is that it's not a bluff; you actually have to be willing to get up, walk away, and go look at something else.
Hopefully something like CarWoo will exist the next time I need to buy a car, or the industry changes so drastically that we don't need to worry about haggling anymore.
Cars are commodities, and should not be sold by salesman on commission. I'm not buying another car until mine falls apart.
I was totally going to use them to buy a car next month! Are there any good alternatives? I can't handle anymore haggling and tricks.
Well as the article said, try http://www.truecar.com/ I guess. Being in Canada, I was hoping that CarWoo would do well and eventually move up north. The car purchasing experience is terrible, and is very ready for a disruption.