Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
I've become a bit more... irritated with some service people. Its like they don't realize I can go online and see what the exact part they're quoting me costs. My local ford dealer just about doubles every part price. Then they act surprised when I say I'll order it online. I've said before I don't mind paying some one for good work, but don't try to rip me off on the parts price that I can easily find now.
Do you know why the parts prices are inflated? Or is that not every dealer that does this?
Gotta (not) love matrix pricing.
Why do they do it? Because they can. Captive service customers have no choice. Most counter buyers have no clue.
Service and parts contribute bigly to the dealership's bottom line.
While it can be a hassle, there are plenty of dealers willing to sell parts online all day long at 15-25% off true factory MSRP, which provides some idea of what the margins are. But, that's tempered by not offering the same pricing to local customers.
OEMs can pull out the "dealerships are independent businesses" line to brush off any complaints, but as franchisees, that's not completely true. However, they're not going to go there, rock the boat, and get into MAP, min or max, so it's business as usual.
For many DIYers, that has rendered local dealer counters as last resorts or urgent-only options. Any planned, or routine items come from elsewhere.
There is something to be said about supporting local businesses even if they many are owned by mega dealer groups now, and nobody is going to deny anyone trying to make a reasonable profit, but "reasonable" means different things to different people, and some of the markups are pretty outrageous and drive buyers elsewhere. The free market in play.
All that said, a good parts guy can be invaluable.
If they know their stuff, and how the system works, they can be big hassle, if not life savers.
And, given the wiggle room in pricing, they can give you a break on that as well.
So be nice to them, and hope that the ones who have been around for ages aren't replaced by green newbies who don't know their stuff, may not care, and won't stick around long just to collect a paycheck.