Well we closed tonight on a Pontiac Vibe from Toyota of DSM. Maybe it helped that he was my neighbor, but my encounter with Toyota of DSM was excellent. I did find out however that Charles Gabus always owns Toyota of DSM. How can two companies owned by the same person be so different?
Charles Gabus Ford, the worst customer service ever !
- Thread starter cyfreddy
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Well we closed tonight on a Pontiac Vibe from Toyota of DSM. Maybe it helped that he was my neighbor, but my encounter with Toyota of DSM was excellent. I did find out however that Charles Gabus always owns Toyota of DSM. How can two companies owned by the same person be so different?
FYI - Gabus also owns Des Moines Mistubishi and KIA.
The guy is obviously rolling in the dough. How else do you think he can afford to give out those $80 checks on his birthday and "32-inch color TVs?"
The guy is obviously rolling in the dough. How else do you think he can afford to give out those $80 checks on his birthday and "32-inch color TVs?"
We are going to buy a Camry hybrid for our next vehicle. There is no way we would deal with Toyota of Des Moines. I have heard way too many bad things about Charles Gabus and his dealerships. I was also offered a job there (not sales) and I thought the whole thing was shady.
We bought a car at Toyota of DM maybe like 3-4 years ago and it was a very pleasant experience.
I bought my truck at Pat Clemons and only have bad things to say about them. I dealt with Barry, the idiot internet sales guy, and no I don't care if he were to see this. He dicked me around on price the whole time, unfortunately it was the only Hemi Sport truck around and that's what I wanted.
I bought my truck at Pat Clemons and only have bad things to say about them. I dealt with Barry, the idiot internet sales guy, and no I don't care if he were to see this. He dicked me around on price the whole time, unfortunately it was the only Hemi Sport truck around and that's what I wanted.
Trust me, they can't. Both vehicles we purchased were several thousand dollars off the lower end prices we were looking at with other dealers. They showed me their invoice price on one of them and it was $1,000 higher (unless they make up fake invoices which I doubt). He said they couldn't sell it for any lower than $1,000 over their invoice price which I was fine with...they need to make something or they wouldn't stay in business.
I have purchased my last two vehicles on ebay. I called the seller (dealer) on the last one and haggled over the phone. Both were good experiences.
Last vehicle at the dealer was Woodhouse in Blair, NE. When I was there they left all the keys in the vehicle and let you test drive without even telling them you were taking the car. They were a lot lower than the jerks at the old Jeep dealership in downtown DSM or at the much friendlier but high priced Granger Motors.
Last vehicle at the dealer was Woodhouse in Blair, NE. When I was there they left all the keys in the vehicle and let you test drive without even telling them you were taking the car. They were a lot lower than the jerks at the old Jeep dealership in downtown DSM or at the much friendlier but high priced Granger Motors.
Dealers will take a loss on a car if they need to meet their quota. They make money by volume. They can always haggle.
Many new cars can be had at or below invoice.
They make money by selling cars at less than they paid for as long as the sell a lot of them?? Sounds like a business I should get into!
This wasn't a new car.
I ditto the utter disdain for car shopping. I am actually ok at it and the key for me is the following -- I always ask if this is the best they can do, of course they say yes, I then walk out on them. Usually(not always) a day or two later the phone will ring and they try to sweeten the deal and I respond with "Obviously you lied to me and you were screwing me the first time" and hang up fairly politely. I then wait for the phone to ring from the sales manager and the deal gets sweeter usually blaming some new incentive or some reason that magically appeared over the last few days. I then buy. It can amount to some work if you are dealing with multiple deals.
Worked on the last three new cars for me. Twice at the same dealer because all the staff had changed over.
Worked on the last three new cars for me. Twice at the same dealer because all the staff had changed over.
- Jun 20, 2006
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You would think as a moderator you'd know better than to spout useless political crap in a thread that has nothing political in it.
Invoice is not a real reflection of the dealer cost of the car. There are often dealer incentives or volume kickbacks that can lower the cost by hundreds or thousands. This explains why some dealers will come in as much as several thousand different on a new car.
On used cars, the dealership assigns a value based on their cost of obtaining the vehicle (trade or auction) and their appraised value. The salesman knows this number and tries to maximize the sales price to capture the commission. There is often more money made on used cars than new by the dealership. There is more profit margin or more money to be made on the trade.
On used cars, the dealership assigns a value based on their cost of obtaining the vehicle (trade or auction) and their appraised value. The salesman knows this number and tries to maximize the sales price to capture the commission. There is often more money made on used cars than new by the dealership. There is more profit margin or more money to be made on the trade.
- Jun 20, 2006
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somewhere I saw a piece on the three buckets dealers try to make money.
1. price of car
2. price of trade-in
3. finance rate
the volume of all three are always the same... take some out of bucket 1 and they add (to their favor) into another bucket. so the 'sum' of all three buckets is the same no matter the deal.
Anyone else see that show/article?
-keep
1. price of car
2. price of trade-in
3. finance rate
the volume of all three are always the same... take some out of bucket 1 and they add (to their favor) into another bucket. so the 'sum' of all three buckets is the same no matter the deal.
Anyone else see that show/article?
-keep
Exactly. There's also so many more variables with used vehicles that they can screw you with. With a new vehicle, you have the invoice, and if you search, you can find the holdbacks so you know exactly what you're dealing with.
I'd say that's probably true. That's why they say not to tell them you have a trade in right off, only talk about the price of the car first. THEN bring up the trade in. And get your own financing, or at the very least know your credit forwards and backwards so they can't hassle you.
Charlie came from nothing and built his business from scratch. He's one tough cookie. I'm not defending the way they do business. Just saying he didn't get to where he is by rolling over on every deal.
There are bad apples at model dealers, but I've had good experiences at both Hummel's Nissan and Holmes Honda. Service has been good both places and the salesmen have been decent. They certainly start with a relatively high price, but don't throw fits when you try to negotiate and talk them down.
My keys to car buying are patience and not being afraid to say no and walk away. Much like other people have said, don't be afraid to wait them out. They'll likely change their tune.
The owners are different, but I liked Honda of Ames too back in the day. I tried to get them to undercut the Holmes price and they couldn't do it. Rather than throw a fit or tantrum, or BS me some other way, he calmly told me they just couldn't do that deal and thanked me for stopping by. Pretty cool.
My keys to car buying are patience and not being afraid to say no and walk away. Much like other people have said, don't be afraid to wait them out. They'll likely change their tune.
The owners are different, but I liked Honda of Ames too back in the day. I tried to get them to undercut the Holmes price and they couldn't do it. Rather than throw a fit or tantrum, or BS me some other way, he calmly told me they just couldn't do that deal and thanked me for stopping by. Pretty cool.
