Why wouldn't a dealer?

[blinkwatt]

Why wouldn't a dealer price match on a $1k order? Sunset would have sold me the RoW kit for $922 so I called the local dealership,Niello Porsche, to see if they would price match. I figured if I can order it through the local dealership I can save on shipping. I called Niello and got ahold of the parts department and asked them if they would price match and they said it depends on the price I was told. Then I let Nick at the Parts counter know that I can get it for $922 and he hesitated,I could tell that he was thinking about it because his response was, "uuuuhhhhh,(typing on his PC)nnnnnnoooooo.". Why wouldn't the dealer match it,they still make money?

[CJ_Boxster]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

Why wouldn't a dealer price match on a $1k order? Sunset would have sold me the RoW kit for $922 so I called the local dealership,Niello Porsche, to see if they would price match. I figured if I can order it through the local dealership I can save on shipping. I called Niello and got ahold of the parts department and asked them if they would price match and they said it depends on the price I was told. Then I let Nick at the Parts counter know that I can get it for $922 and he hesitated,I could tell that he was thinking about it because his response was, "uuuuhhhhh,(typing on his PC)nnnnnnoooooo.". Why wouldn't the dealer match it,they still make money?

Cause Sunset is the bargin OEM parts counter for Porsche, no other Porsche Dealerships sell as cheap as they do.

Good job, Blink! Call a few more local guys, and see if they will price match. Have you tried Sun Coast Porsche?

You can also call back to Sunset and say, "$922 is your price...is this your best possible price?". And stop talking. Wait for thier repsonse. Silence can be golden. If they say "$922 is my best price", ask if they can split shipping with you.

Don't forget a local guy will charge you sales tax. Sunset won't.

Good luck.

[drburton]

Suncoast also has very good pricing. I did the same thing with my local dealer and they were willing to match. Although I decided not to buy the part (front air splitter).

[Adam]

Originally Posted by CJ_Boxster

Cause Sunset is the bargin OEM parts counter for Porsche, no other Porsche Dealerships sell as cheap as they do.

Exactly, Sunset and Suncoast basically sell parts at wholesale to standard retail customers. Margins on genuine Porsche parts are not all that great believe it or not, so I'm not surprised they didn't match.

[John V]

They probably sell the RoW kit as a loss-leader to get you to buy other parts from them, and it probably works.

My local dealer won't price-match with Sunset either. So I order from Sunset, and Ric has always taken care of me.

[RandallNeighbour]

Oddly enough, if you walked into the front door of Sunset and asked for a price on that same part you'd be amazed at how much more it would cost you.

Sunset does not offer those wholesale prices to retail walk-up customers for some reason. I'm sure it has something to do with non-compete agreements with other local dealerships on local business.

This may be why you can't get anyone local to price match for you. Just a guess.

Now if you walked into any Pcar dealership owned by Sonic (both dealerships in Houston are owned by Sonic), you may find they charge 3 times what Sunset charges for a part... astronomically priced OVER full retail. This conglomerate loves to rape its customers.

Sunset rocks. I buy a lot from them and the shipping is always reasonable.

I remember reading a website that said theyd give you a discount over their adverstised price (sunset). It was some guy who had lots of pictures of his car and did the install. had the aerokit and everything, Id look for that site if i were you, could save you some more.

[ddb]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Now if you walked into any Pcar dealership owned by Sonic (both dealerships in Houston are owned by Sonic), you may find they charge 3 times what Sunset charges for a part... astronomically priced OVER full retail. This conglomerate loves to rape its customers.

I had no idea Sonic had Porsche stores in their menagerie. They are based here in Charlotte. The corporation is run by one O. Bruton Smith. This is the same guy who owns a good portion of the race tracks used on the NASCAR circuit such as Charlotte, Bristol, Las Vegas, Sears Point, etc. He's an interesting guy (and billionaire). It isn't uncommon to see him sitting in his small office in his flagship dealership in Charlotte (Town and Country Ford) off of the showroom floor. From what I've read, he has a nicer office upstairs in the same building as well as a corporate headquarters a mile away where the car dealerships and race tracks are run.

Here in charlotte, our Porsche dealership is run by another mega dealership owner and race team impresario, Hendrick Automotive / Hendrick Motorsports. I tend to buy less expensive or immediately needed parts from them. I've gotten to know the parts guys and they look after me as best they can. When you factor in the shipping savings (as well as having to pay taxes) they are surprisingly competitive on a lot of parts.

ddb

[Ronzi]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

Why wouldn't a dealer price match on a $1k order? ... Why wouldn't the dealer match it,they still make money?

Depending on their costing/accounting procedures, they may not be making money at the quoted price.
Businesses that want to compete in the internet sales market may cost products sold that way very differently than the same part sold across the counter in their parts dept. Such as not including the cost of the vehicle inventory floor plan, overhead for the salesman sitting on his butt in the showroom, the lot boy keeping the cars clean, etc.
While all dealers probably pay Porsche the same price for the parts, it's the way they handle the additional costs of doing business that can determine whether they can offer internet customers X% discount and still "make money".
Randall's comment that Sunset charges more for the same part to a walk-up customer than they do to an internet customer indicates to me that this is exactly what they do.

[Brucelee]

Clearly not all dealers have the same pricing strategies on parts. They also don't on the selling price of their cars.

Where is the problem or mystery?

If they DID all have the same prices, folks would be yelling for the FTC.

I just bought a Harley here in SOCAL.

Everyone knows that Harley dealers don't deal right?

Wrong. Some do, esp. if you have enough of them bidding against each other.

I LOVE capitalism.

BTW-Some HD dealers did not budge on MSRP.