Shipping a Gladiator across the country?

[glassjawkid32]

I reached out to some local dealers and they want a dealer mark up of around $6,000.00 to $17,000.00 above MSRP. I contacted Gupton in Tennessee and my question is... If i can get the 8% or so below invoice would it be possible to ship the gladiator to Southern California and still save money? I am new to the buying a new car game. I have been driving the same Jeep Cherokee since i graduated high school in 2004. She is still my daily driver by the way. I had a friend find a new Dodge truck on auto trader and ship it out here from Florida for i think $1,500.00 or so in shipping. What do you guys know about shipping a Gladiator that far? Sound like a bad idea or more expensive than i think? Any advice or opinions are welcome. Thanks

Contact Robtratchman at tuttle click irvine

Edit saw he reached out already but driving up there, doing paperwork, and driving back took less time then haggling with a dealership 15 minutes away from me.

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[1996XJ]

Thanks guys i ended up going with Gupton as he was still doing the 8 percent below invoice deal. I appreciate the help though because a lot of my local dealers are trying to rip people off bad.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Thanks guys i ended up going with Gupton as he was still doing the 8 percent below invoice deal. I appreciate the help though because a lot of my local dealers are trying to rip people off bad.

Technically its not ripping someone off if they agree to the terms? Many businesses have different business models and sometimes those methods have different cash flow requirements.

 

[1996XJ]

Technically its not ripping someone off if they agree to the terms? Many businesses have different business models and sometimes those methods have different cash flow requirements.

When toilet paper and water were almost impossible to find how would you feel if the vendors jacked the price up to like $200 for a pack of toilet paper? I mean technically we can agree to pay a ransom but that doesnt make it right or ethical. Even if some people can afford to get gauged and some people cant that doesnt make it right.

 

[sunrise089]

Technically its not ripping someone off if they agree to the terms? Many businesses have different business models and sometimes those methods have different cash flow requirements.

Agree except the bolded part. I feel that part is like me saying I should get to date models because I have different attractiveness requirements

But otherwise yeah, some places are high margin, others high volume, etc. Nothing wrong with that. What I don't like is dealers (seemingly more the MSRP or slight discounters; the $6k add-on folks usually don't even get asked) who BS that Gupton and friends are scams or impossible or whatever other nonsense they try to convince customers about.

 

[CrazyCooter]

When toilet paper and water were almost impossible to find how would you feel if the vendors jacked the price up to like $200 for a pack of toilet paper? I mean technically we can agree to pay a ransom but that doesnt make it right or ethical. Even if some people can afford to get gauged and some people cant that doesnt make it right.

Supply and demand in a free market? Don't need the product or can find it cheaper.....you can go down the road.

You won't see me paying inflated list on anything, but I also have everything I really need.

 

[1996XJ]

Agree except the bolded part. I feel that part is like me saying I should get to date models because I have different attractiveness requirements

But otherwise yeah, some places are high margin, others high volume, etc. Nothing wrong with that. What I don't like is dealers (seemingly more the MSRP or slight discounters; the $6k add-on folks usually don't even get asked) who BS that Gupton and friends are scams or impossible or whatever other nonsense they try to convince customers about.

This is why i called it a rip off. In my area 6k mark up was on the low side, 17k was the high side for the same truck within 20 miles of each other. People who can afford to throw away 6 or 17 thousand dollars thats cool lol.

 

[1996XJ]

Supply and demand in a free market? Don't need the product or can find it cheaper.....you can go down the road.

You won't see me paying inflated list on anything, but I also have everything I really need.

Thats literally what i did was go down the road instead of getting ripped off by clowns in suits.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Agree except the bolded part. I feel that part is like me saying I should get to date models because I have different attractiveness requirements

But otherwise yeah, some places are high margin, others high volume, etc. Nothing wrong with that. What I don't like is dealers (seemingly more the MSRP or slight discounters; the $6k add-on folks usually don't even get asked) who BS that Gupton and friends are scams or impossible or whatever other nonsense they try to convince customers about.

So what if a dealer is located in an area where the land, utilities, and insurance cost more? Then add in that higher cost of living requires higher pay for your employees?

Yes, the bs add ons and bait/switch games are just predatory sales tactics.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Thats literally what i did was go down the road instead of getting ripped off by clowns in suits.

If it doesn't sell, they will probably lower the price, but if it sold.....must have been worth it to somebody.

My local dealer didn't even want to entertain any current discounts, so I just bought from Rob.

Maybe my local dealer knows they will sell everything they have without lowering the price?

 

[1996XJ]

If it doesn't sell, they will probably lower the price, but if it sold.....must have been worth it to somebody.

My local dealer didn't even want to entertain any current discounts, so I just bought from Rob.

Maybe my local dealer knows they will sell everything they have without lowering the price?

For sure where i live in southern California someone will always have the money to buy at an inflated rate. But also there are a lot of people who cant. My point was to sell something for what is actually worth, not what you think you can get for it. Im in construction so its like me charging a little old lady to fix a leaking pipe that is destroying her house an arm and a leg instead of what it actually cost to fix and what i want per hour. Maybe im just putting to much thought into whats going on.

 

[CrazyCooter]

For sure where i live in southern California someone will always have the money to buy at an inflated rate. But also there are a lot of people who cant. My point was to sell something for what is actually worth, not what you think you can get for it. Im in construction so its like me charging a little old lady to fix a leaking pipe that is destroying her house an arm and a leg instead of what it actually cost to fix and what i want per hour. Maybe im just putting to much thought into whats going on.

Again, its supply and demand.

I'm booking 2 months out at my business. I no doubt *could* raise my labor rate $50hr and cut that back to 6 weeks or $100hr and cut that wait to 3-4 weeks? I'm already higher than most of the other businesses around me with a longer wait.......Yet people choose to wait and pay? My shit must be better than down the street? I choose to keep it reasonable so people don't think of me as a criminal when the demand gets back to normal levels.

Lots of people can't afford my services, but I'm not ripping anyone off since they approve every estimate before I start.

Difference here is were in theory dealing with the same product regardless of what location you sign the papers.

 

[sunrise089]

So what if a dealer is located in an area where the land, utilities, and insurance cost more?

My response would be 95% of standardized name-brand products (not services) are priced more or less uniform despite these differences in fixed costs across geographic areas. That's mainly because major cost differences reflect a higher revenue capacity at the location - at the extreme end a 5 acre dealership in Manhattan will cost way more but also move way more product than a 5 acre dealership in Barrow, AK (at equal merchandise price points).

Also a lot of those sort of claims are just hand-waiving by dealers - if we actually price out insurance, labor, and utility (!) differences and divide by normalized sales the per-vehicle markup wouldn't need to be anywhere close to $10k/vehicle. This is cousin to arguments against driving out of state to pick up a Jeep due to toll costs, where a $4 toll (yes, actual example) obviously does nothing meaningful to the actual net price calculus but does add an item to a list of reasons not to drive making it sound more substantial.

 

[1996XJ]

Again, its supply and demand.

I'm booking 2 months out at my business. I no doubt raise my labor rate $50hr and cut that back to 6 weeks or $100hr and cut that wait to 3-4 weeks? I'm already higher than most of the other businesses around me with a longer wait yet people wait and pay? My shit must be better than down the street?

Lots of people can't afford my services, but I'm not ripping anyone off since they approve every estimate before I start.

Difference here is were in theory dealing with the same product regardless of what location you sign the papers.

I am not trying to argue with your friend. But i would say you seem to be offering some sort of service that could very well be different from contractor to contractor. Therefore your higher price could be justified if you provide a better quality product or result. The car game is different. These gladiators i hope are all made to the same specs and quality yet, some people are asking huge price hikes and some people are not. I agree with you, if you are providing a higher quality product vs. some guy picked up at home depot, then your price is justifiable.

 

[sunrise089]

Maybe my local dealer knows they will sell everything they have without lowering the price?

Who the heck knows. The car business is weird and old school and is protected by statute re: online competition and by manufactures re: local geographic competition. So we don't have the same sort of discovery process which happens in less regulated, more competitive fields.

If I were speculating I'd guess such dealers were priced too high but not enormously so. My reasoning would be:

*In many instances owners don't directly set pricing. Much like an NFL GM mortgaging the future to preserve a job today, sales managers and even salesman can represent a moral hazard when they capture the full benefits of high prices (via higher commissions) but don't capture the costs (due to customers feeling betrayed) because they have the ability to just leave the dealership.

*Car salesmen are pretty risk-seeking versus the general population, and so may hold out a little longer than is economically optimal waiting for that purchase at marked-up asking price with the fat commission check.

*Car dealers seem to favor the status quo and (generally) view attempts to modernize their industry with skepticism and/or hostility. And us-vs-them mentality can then lead to higher prices as a weapon to 'get one over' on the consumers.

I choose to keep it reasonable so people don't think of me as a criminal when the demand gets back to normal levels.

This - this is what I'm referring to above in my first bullet. A sole proprietor needs to think, at least in part, about the long run (or he can also just price this way before they're a nice guy!), but a sales manager who isn't going to be there in a year doesn't really care about whether customers come back, his quarterly numbers will look great with max markup.

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