Discount Protection

[Threadcutter]

I think we need to be careful not to take our (coveted) online pricing and go into our local stealer and attempt to "beat him up with it" for a better price. The stealers are mercenaries............if they get flogged by customers waving discounted online pricing quotes at them, guess what they're going to do? They'll turn right around, get a hold of Lexus corporate and scream !Removed! murder! The end result?.........The online guys get pressured by Lexus to shut it down & we lose the only (semi) reasonably priced alternative we had to the stealers. If you had a Lexus dealership & corporate told you to "knock it off" in terms of discount online sales, you'd have to be absolutely the dumbest kid in third grade class not to fold up like a cheap chair and honor corporate's "wishes". Remember, the online guys are taking a risk by discounting & we are the beneficiaries of their risk taking. Let's protect them a little and not go rubbing other stealers noses in it.

If we don't police ourselves just a little, they will win, we will lose. I will only go to the stealer if I just absolutely cannot wait for delivery from an online order. The last thing I will mention to a stealer is the fact that I buy 90% of my parts online. Yes, they absolutely p*ss me off because they charge 25 to 40% above retail, but it's actually getting easier to not deal with them at all because they are stocking fewer parts these days. If I've got to wait, then I'm buying from an online discounter (and yes, waiting). Oh, and just for giggles sometime, ask your local stealer a technical question about the parts you're buying from him. I have, and I have never seen anyone get so stupid, so fast. It's appalling. There is no "value add" with them, only excessive markup. The best way to get back at them is to not buy anything from them. Just don't make a point of telling them. Keep in mind that the stealer(s) are the home of the $150 oil change. I've got to go back and re-read that post........I'm still having a hard time believing that I actually read that......

Anyway, my Christmas wish is that you don't go waving an online quote under the nose of "Bruno the parts Squid" at your local stealer. You're just hurting yourself and the rest of us.

[djspawn00]

Would Toyota actually come down on the online parts dealers? I mean they pay the same cost price as dealers if not more... I would hope that the corporate goons would realize that customer satisfaction is what keeps them in business not the $40 they made off of a winshield wiper blade from a stealership.

[Gryphon]

Absolutely Toyota could protect it's full-price dealers. Try to find Harley Davidson OEM parts discounted online. I have failed to date.

Tom

[nc211]

I agree with Thread in the fact that we should not be abusing the pricing difference our online guys offer against our full retail parts counter. However, if the online dealership is paying what all the other dealerships have to pay to buy the parts from Toyota, then I don't see where Toyota could legally force any dealership to adjust their own profit margins on the parts. I would think it would be a violation of free trade agreements. It's no different if the dealership on the east side of town will sell me a new Camry for $20k and the dealership on the west side of town will only sell me the exact same car for $21k. It's free trade competition. If anything I would think it would send the signal to the dealerships to reevaluate their pricing, as they're a bit out of market, market being defined as best price break to the end user. In my opinion, Toyota should be happier with the online dealerships, because they're probably moving more inventory, and if Toyota gets their nut, then it's really an argument between dealership's business models. One decides to trim out the overhead required to run the parts counter and pass that along to the internet guy, that's just business.

BUT, to constantly abuse the dealership's parts desk with your online printout is a bad idea, because you have to take into consideration the mark up pays the staff, and keeps the lights on. Does the parts counter guy need to be driving a new Lexus and living in a 4,000 SqFt house? I answer that with my choice to buy online most of the time. In addition, I would not recommend trying to negotiate the price difference if you're a newbie to the dealership. I've negotiated against the online guys, but I've also dumped my fair share of profits into the repair shop, and they agreed. I did this with my drive shaft. They wanted like $1,200 bucks for it, I told them I could get it online for the $800's, they agreed. But, that repair also had their labor in there as well. Was not a cheap repair.

[Threadcutter]

Absolutely Toyota could protect it's full-price dealers. Try to find Harley Davidson OEM parts discounted online. I have failed to date.

Tom

Anybody here fly fish?...............

Ever try to find a deal on a Sage Rod, Abel reel, Rio fly line, or Simms waders..........good luck. I've got a couple of friends that own shops and they've told me point blank that they'll lose the line if they're caught discounting. They've gone on to tell me that they also jeopardize their other lines because no manufacturer will tolerate a shop that discounts. Pretty Draconian, huh?............But it's real.

Regardless of so-called "anti-trust laws", a dealer will be dead before he hits the floor if he gets sideways with the manufacturer. For the most part, the manufacturer takes the stance of "so, sue me"..........

The manufacturer also knows that there are numerous other parties standing in line to take on a dealership if it comes available. The owner of a stealership has invested a huge amount of money in getting it going and by God, he's going to see to it that it pays off. The whole auto market screams for anti-trust enforcement, but guess what? It ain't happenin' any time soon.

Besides, if any of you were fortunate enough to own a Lexus dealership, would you discount? Particularly if it could cost you everything? Would you discount if you didn't have to? Would you discount to increase your parts business maybe 5%? If it were me, I wouldn't.

Remember, we are all a very small minority in the grand scheme of Lexus business. By definition of who we are, we don't line the pockets of the stealership's service shops. We typically don't buy new. There are "some" CPO type of sales, but we are a small percentage of the stealership's overall business.

[SW03ES]

I also agree, if only to be fair to online dealers who get their business by providing us good pricing.

[sha4000]

I hear you but there are way too many online OEM parts dealers to really worry about it IMO. I remember going to lexus of manhattan to get t IV fluid and the guy told me $10 and change, I then called bayridge lexus and they said $4 and change but when i got there the other sales person said $9. I ended up getting it for $4 but how can they justify a 100% mark up? thats just greed

[EAGLE33]

You forgetting about out of state business practice and state laws. All the different state dealerships will have different parts pricing. I live in Cali and getting part from Sewell lexus cost me cheaper, just because its TX price plus I don't pay tax on it, plus many online retailer will give you brake on shipping out of state. There is no way I can find cheaper price in my State or beat my local Stealer with it. So what are you really talking about???

[djspawn00]

Back to the OP, why would you go to a lexus dealership waving around a printout from another lexus part retailer? I would hope people had something better to do with their time. I like the lexus dealer I visit, Rallye Lexus in Glen Cove, Long Island. I agree that parts from them are overpriced but I don't go there for parts I go to the dealership for outstanding customer service. They even let me return parts without hassle knowing that I got it elsewhere for cheaper. They know competition exist and trust me they have no shortage of customers in face of discount online retailers, what they lack in price comparison they make up for in customer service... and free coffee and bagels.

[blake918]

Remember, the online guys are taking a risk by discounting & we are the beneficiaries of their risk taking. Let's protect them a little and not go rubbing other stealers noses in it.

I think they've already noticed this and have started to shut it down. I was taken aback when I called my local Toyota dealer the other day to have them give me a price on a p/s air valve that was only $5 more than Park Place's. That's just one incident, but lately, I've noticed their prices jumping up across the board.

[dole2000]

I always assumed that if I wanted the better price of the net, I had to put up with waiting. If I wanted the part right away, I would pay the right away price. Just like a hotel, if you want the best rate you have to book on-line.

Some people are jerks and I don't think there is much you can do about those people.