Lowes Home Improvement ~ Other: My letter to LOWES.. Ladies please read..

[mshopper]

DH is lucky to work for a dealership that values families. They encourage their salespeople to leave early or alter their schedules to attend events that are imortant to their families, such as ball games, band concerts, field trips, etc. DH has chaperoned more field trips over the years than I have, and I'm a SAHM!! This dealership really understands the importance of their employees being able to stay involved with family activities. DH has worked at places that didn't, and he never stayed long.

[Shopz2Much]

mshopper & kurlisola - just wondering if you live in vastly different types of neighborhoods. It's been my experience that the salesmen in smaller areas tend to be fairer in the pricing since chances are they WILL run into you at the grocery store, church, etc. Whereas in larger communities they have a greater sense of being anonymous and just 'go for the kill'. Just curious.

I bought a car for my Mom 2 years ago (yes, world's greatest daughter, thank you very much...) and I dug my heels in and would not budge on the price or the financing (Toyota had a promotion with 0% apr for good credit, they tried to say I wasn't eligible, I had a COPY of my credit report & score with me) and I had a check for 1/2 of the car in my purse. I put the check on the finance guys desk and made it QUITE clear that I would/could easily rip it up and walk down the street to Honda. He finally caved.

kurlisola - All that said, I would LOVE to talk to you some more about the ins & outs since I will probably be buying a new car in the next year or two! I want to give them a fair & reasonable profit, but I don't want to entirely pay for their kid's new braces.

[kurlisola]

I live (and worked) in Hampton Roads Virginia...which encompasses: Norfolk, Newport News, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Poquosin. I also worked up in Richmond (capital). So you are definately right, I live in a big, don't know your name, type atmosphere. It might very well be different in a small town.

The cost of living is much higher in my area...then say Longview Texas. So its possible that their profit margins are lower there. The price that the dealership pays to the manufacturer for a new vehicle, is the same anywhere in the country (except maybe CA that has some unique emission laws & I think needs modified equipment). Differences in price of new cars might be the holdback (money withheld from the dealership & then repaid in the form of bonuses...kind of a way to keep the average consumer from knowing what the dealership really paid for the car. Plus there are other types of incentives that might be regional.

New vehicles make little money for the dealership. Its the add ons (aftermarket); used vehicles and service/parts that are big money makers for the dealerships. The used vehicles especially because some people are so eager to trade in for a new vehicle, they forget or don't care about the value of their trade in. So, a dealership might acquire a trade in for $4800, and then resell it for $6500. Add to that an extended warranty (because people that buy used cars are especially leery of possible repair bills), and thats another hefty bit of profit (especially if the dealership is owner or part owner of the aftermarket products-lol!). And then don't forget the financing. The higher % interest you pay in financing, generally the better the dealer profit. If some smart consumer gets a 0% loan, the dealership might just get $50 from Ford Motor Credit. But, some young, right out of college, kids pays 16%? The dealership could easily be walking away with another $1-$2k profit in the form of kickbacks from the finance company. And lets look at other add ones/aftermarket. As I recall, we charged $300 for undercoating & we were only billed $25 for the service/warranty. Another tidy profit.

Some basic things I learned?

1) Never (or with careful consideration) trade in your vehicle. You'll usually come out ahead if you sell it yourself.

2) Unless you qualify for very low financing 0-3%, then get your financing from your bank or credit union.

3) Never buy a used car from a dealership. Ever. With a bit of patience, you will find a better deal from a private seller.

4) If you are interested in a specific model, then go talk directly to a couple mechanics who work exclusively on that model. Ask what problems tend to go wrong. If you find that Escorts tend to need a new transmission at 90,000miles then take that into account if you are looking at a used one with 50k miles.

5) Know the invoice price of the new vehicle you are interested in. Know as many of the hidden credits or kickbacks that you can.

6) Allow time to find a good deal & be ready to walk.

In my case, after I walked on that deal with my Kia, I contacted several other Kia dealerships by internet. Found an internet sales person I trusted. Explained my background & what I was looking for & that I was willing to wait for a good deal. And then I waited...dropping him a line every couple of weeks. 3 months later, last day of the month, he calls & has the Sedona I wanted (wrong color, but you can't win them all-lol) & said I could have it if we could do a deal that day. It had just got on the lot & was still covered by the shipping materials. He needed an extra sale that month (probably a sales contest) & he know I was a sure thing for the right price. Plus it was a slow time of the year (October). So, we drove 50 miles after dh got off from work & I got it for $4000 less than sticker price. It was fully loaded, with sunroof & leather interior & ABS brakes. I estimated that the dealership made just about $600-$700 profit on the sale & I thought that was fair. I wouldn't want to begrudge them a profit:-)

[mshopper]

Originally Posted by Shopz2Much mshopper & kurlisola - just wondering if you live in vastly different types of neighborhoods. It's been my experience that the salesmen in smaller areas tend to be fairer in the pricing since chances are they WILL run into you at the grocery store, church, etc. Whereas in larger communities they have a greater sense of being anonymous and just 'go for the kill'. Just curious.

Big city here, also. I have to say, though, that DH really doesn't determine the prices on the cars he sells...that's management's job. He makes the same amount of money on each car, no matter what price it sells for. He does earn additional money for the "extras" that Kurlisola spoke about, but it really doesn't amount to much.

[OKnow]

On a recent trip to Lowe's, I ran into a "little lady" that was bragging about getting a big discount with contractors at her home by wearing a tight fitting mini skirt. She wore the same outfit to Lowes and got a big discount there too! It's the American way.

O Know

[shelleyf]

[quote=OKnow;1404457]On a recent trip to Lowe's, I ran into a "little lady" that was bragging about getting a big discount with contractors at her home by wearing a tight fitting mini skirt. She wore the same outfit to Lowes and got a big discount there too! It's the American way.

How sad is that? Practically prostituting oneself to save money. No thank you, that is awful.

[enginerd]

LOL - I had to laugh at the letter because I run into this attitude quite often. I am a professional engineer with a master's degree and I work mostly in a man's world. I remember one time specifically when I was sent to a job at a pharmaceutical company with a (male) student intern. It was noisy at the facility so we had to stand very close to facility representative to hear what he was saying. All day he would walk to up my intern and start discussing technical specifics and I would have to run over and try to catch up on what was being said - very frustrating and I could have very easily missed an important detail for the job. Another time I had to attend a neighborhood meeting on road maintenance in place of my husband because he was out of town at the time. They were discussing replacing concrete they were trying to figure out how much concrete they were going to need and what it was going to cost. I told them they were calculating incorrectly and cost was going to be much higher than they were figuring but nobody paid attention. Of course when they got the estimate they were shocked by how much higher it was they they had expected.

[OKnow]

Shelley,
The woman at Lowes appeared to be rather proud of her accomplishment...not to mention her smokin' bod...and it worked!

[OKnow]

Yo enginerd,
"they were shocked by how much higher it was they they expected."
Good thing you weren't writing a paper for them!

[scentednights2002]

OK maybe I'm unusual but to be honest, this happens fairly often in my area. I'm in a small, rural Vermont town that seems to be filled with good old boys who assume that most men do the home repairs and most women clean them.

Personally, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I would have smiled sweetly and said "I'm so glad I found someone to help me with this. My husband wrote down exactly what he wanted me to get for him but I just never can find anything in hardware stores."

Works just fine... they walk you to the item & put it in your hand & I go home and install the thing myself.