I was advised by a MINI salesperson that MINI do not negotiate on price for new cars - it was due to a change in policy. So all new MINI cars are sold at price displayed by system.
Has anyone had similar experience recently?
MINI - Fixed Price Only?
entropic on 30/05/2021 - 17:27
Last edited 30/05/2021 - 19:44 by 1 other user
Last edited 30/05/2021 - 19:44 by 1 other user
Comments
I think more and more dealers are moving to a fixed price regime and discounts will soon be a thing of the past
Two of the least trusted people: REA and Car salesman are charge of two of the most overpriced items with zero discounts.
Where have we gone so wrong in Australia?
You seem to forget the basics of business is to charge as much as you can for your product. If you aren’t selling at a fixed price, you discount. If all of your product is being purchased maybe you aren’t charging enough!
Business isn’t here to benefit the consumer as a priority.
Its a dealers/sellers market currently due to the shortage. Also I wouldn't recommend getting a Mini unless you know what you're getting yourself into or researched the brand/on going problems with Mini.
Even Honda is doing the same, starting next FY.
Ford tried to do it when Geoff Polites was boss. Dismal failure as FoMoCo couldn't afford to buy out the franchises. The corporate dealerships had massively reduced sales and the remaining franchisors stuck with the fixed prices but massively inflated trade-ins.
Honda might do a bit better.
Lol…just say to them… “no problem” and go and buy a car from a dealer that will negotiate.
but if thats likely due to fixed price everywhere policy then what’s the point?
To put it another way;
Don't buy any cars off manufacturers that have fixed price modeling.
If you want to pay full retail for a car, be my guest, but I think it's shit for manufacturers to say "the price is the price." for those of us who don't want to just accept what they say is the price.
On a jar of peanut butter, whatever, but on a significantly large purchase like a car, I want to get the absolute best deal I can for my money.
What if the fixed price is the best deal you can get? You only get a discount because their RRP is over priced because everyoneseems to think a discount on a car means they got a great deal. They’ve built a whole system around suckering us into thinking a discount is the only way to get a good price on a massively expensive depreciating consumer good.
@Euphemistic: It will never be "the best price". It will be the price dictated by the manufacturer. I doubt that Mini or Honda dropped their prices in lieu of moving to a fixed price model.
Competition is what brings about the best prices, not fixing them across the board. People are not going to buy a different brand because it's a better price, they want what they want and the competition is to shop around for a dealer that will give you a better price on what you want, not the best price on a substitute. (If you really want Bega peanut butter, you're not going to accept Homebrand, just because it's cheaper, but you should have the right to buy Bega from whomever sells it the cheapest.)
I welcome a more open and transparent pricing structure and it would be nice to go direct to a dealers website and get a bargain, but that isn't going to happen. The big, fat, high margin prices we see as RRP will be the new "fixed price", so there will be no discount. It almost sounds like collusion between dealers and manufacturers or the manufacturer just trying to get a larger slice of the margin pie.
I'm all for dealers having fixed prices and then just finding the dealer with the best price (same as I would my peanut butter), but I don't think manufacturers should dictate that price.
@pegaxs: You’re probably right. It won’t be a ‘best price’ but it’ll be what the market will bear. There is competition from other makes and models for people that want a car and have no specific brand allegiance. The manufacturer knows this and sets RRP based on what everyone else is selling at. If you want a particular special car, you’ll pay whatever it takes anyway.
Currently the manufacturer does set a price then we get stuck with the dealer markup on top. The markup pays for advertising, fancy showrooms and a whole host of other fluff we largely don’t need as well. We’ve just been trained that the markup from the dealer is flexible and to expect them to drop their margins.
Fix price may be better.
Obviously, some people who are great at haggling might lose out but it's fairer for those that aren't.
You might think that may mean car manufacturers can charge whatever they want but competition from other brands should help keep things reasonable.
Why is it better?
Takes the haggling out of the equation. You know you're paying the same price as everyone else. No need to research with different dealers.
But that is not better is it? It sounds like the worst possibility, just that the current market means every buyer is getting the shitty hand.
it is better for the most part, unless you are in the market for luxury brands that has huge markups, then u can be screwed. But like everything else, if you fox your price too high your sales will go down for other alternatives.
I’d say its a win for consumer.
Try this sort of sales rubbish on me and I'll walk, if more do this, the tactic will fail as a sales method!!
Unfortunately,most will go this way.So,if you ‘walk’,no new car 4 U!
the demand is all time highest for new cars, if you walk you will be the loser.
Fixed price seems to work for Tesla. It only fails because you’ve been trained to think getting a discount means you are good at negotiating. What it really means is that the RRP is priced to allow some form of discounting.
Honda is supposedly moving to a order online model too, fixed price
Walk away if you don’t like it. It would seem there are probably a bunch of other people willing to buy at their fixed price.
It’s the new way. Buying direct from the manufacturer at fixed price, like buying their stuff online. Remove all the dealership faffing around negotiating trying to sell useless additional warranty or accessories etc. the manufacturer benefits, the consumer gets a simpler experience.
Why do we have to negotiate on vehicles when near everything else you buy is a fixed price.
So people will feel good having paid $60k for a $90k Audi that's a one off special because he/she can negotiate.
Or people think they negotiated hard when the manufacturer/dealer has been sitting on a car they can’t move so they drop the price until some sucker buys it?
I dunno… I suppose it was a different world when I bought my Mini 3 years ago, but I haggled 15% off the RRP and had 5 years of servicing thrown in…. If they told me the price wasn't negotiable I probably would have went elsewhere tbh.
Seems obvious considering high demand, low supply market at the moment. Why are you after a Mini anyway?