Showing posts with label to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label to. Show all posts
Good to Be Bad Jaguar plays up British bad boy side for football commercials
I just saw the first commercial with ben Kingsley on during the football game, but I cant find it online
Open Letter to Car Dealers 2012
I started in the retail car business in 1968, about 44 years ago, and I have seen a lot of changes in the way we dealers sell cars and the expectations of our customers. My remarks in this column are made sincerely and with a positive intent toward you and your customers. I am not trying to tell you how to run your business; I am suggesting a change that will reward both you and your customers.
Virtually every car dealer in Florida adds a charge to the price of the cars he sells, variously referred to as a “dealer fee”, “documentary fee”, “dealer prep fee”, etc. This extra charge is printed on your buyer’s orders and is programmed into your computers. This “fee” is capped in many states like California which limits it to $80, but in Florida, a dealer can charge any amount he wants…$5,000 or more if thought he could get away with it! You charge this fee to every customer and it ranges from a few hundred dollars to over $2,000. Florida law requires that you disclose in writing on the buyer’s order that this charge represents profit to the dealer. Florida law also requires that you include this fee in all advertised prices. You don’t always do this and you get around the law by limiting the number of advertised vehicles (as few as one). Recently you’ve begun marking up the fee you pay outside companies to do you tag and registration paperwork, electronic filing fee, and passing this along to your customer. Some dealers mark this $12 cost up as high as $500. Some dealers are also double charging for freight which the manufacturers always include in the price of the car.
The argument that I hear from most car dealers, when I raise this issue, is that the dealer fee is fully disclosed to the buyer on his buyer’s order. But, most car buyers are totally unaware that they are paying this. Who reads all of the voluminous paperwork associated with buying a car? The few who notice it assume it is an “official” fee like state sales tax or license and registration fee. Those few astute buyers who do question the fee are told that, by law, the dealership must charge this fee on every car, which is untrue. These astute buyers are also told that all other car dealers charge similar fees. This is almost true, but, as you know, my dealership does not.
The reason you charge this fee is simply to increase the cost of the car and your profit in such a manner that it is not noticed by your customer. This is just plain wrong. Dealers will admit this to me in private conversations and some will admit that they have considered eliminating the fee as I have, but are afraid of the drastic effect to their bottom line. By being able to count on an extra $999.95 in profit that the customer is not aware of or believes is an “official fee”, you can actually quote a price below cost and end up making a profit. Or, if the price you quote the customer does pay you a nice profit, you can increase that profit by several hundred dollars.
This “extra, unseen” profit is even better for you because you don’t pay your salesmen a commission on it. That’s being unfair to your employees as well as your customers. Because theoretically there is some liability exposure for removing the dealer fee for only sophisticated customers, you could just reduce the price by the amount of the dealer fee. Your salesmen often won’t permit this because he will lose his commission (typically 25%) on the decrease in his commissionable gross profit.
If you don’t know me, I should tell you that I don’t profess to be some “holier than thou” car dealer who was always perfect. Although, I never did anything illegal, when I look at some of my advertising and sales tactics 20+ years ago and more, I am not always proud. But, I have evolved as my customers have evolved. My customers’ expectations, level of education, and sophistication are much higher today. Your customers are no different. As I began treating my customers, and employees, better I discovered that they began treating me better. Yes, I used to charge a dealer fee ($495), and when I stopped charging it many years ago, it was scary. But I did it because I could no longer, in good conscience, mislead my customers. Just because everybody else was doing the same thing did not make it right.
Now here is the good news. My profit per car did drop by about the amount of the dealer fee when I stopped charging it. But, when my customers realized that I was now giving them a fair shake and quoting the complete out-the-door price with no “surprises” the word spread. My volume began to rise rapidly. Sure, I was making a few hundred dollars less per car, but I was selling a lot more cars! I was, and am, selling a lot of your former customers. My bottom line is far better than it was when I was charging a dealer fee. You can do the same!
Why am I writing this letter? I’m not going to tell you that I think of myself as the new Marshall that has come to “clean up Dodge”. In fact, I am well aware that this letter is to some extent self-serving. Lots of people will read this letter and come to the conclusion that they should buy a car from me, not you. And, I’m also aware that most dealers who read this will either get angry and ignore it or not have the courage to follow my lead. But maybe you will be the exception. If you have any interest in following my lead, call me anytime. I don’t have a secretary and I don’t screen any of my phone calls. I would love to chat with you about this.
Sincerely, Earl Stewart
car guy humor how to sell a high mileage Jeep
from the back page of Car and Driver... I think. It may be Road and Track... I didnt take notes
The Jaguar XK150 is a wonderful passport to 1950s Britain
This weeks automotive adventure was supposed to be all about driving an E-Type for the first time, but it isnt because it was actually its older brother which left a far greater impression. The setting is the stunning scenery of the New Forest, where as part of an assignment for Classic Car Weekly weve unleashed three big cats - an E-Type, an XK150 Roadster and a Daimler Double Six, which are all going under the hammer at the Barons Jaguar Heritage Auction this weekend - for a feature.
It is, on the face of it, a windswept moor on a ruddy cold April afternoon, but as soon as I thumbed the XKs starter button, heard that wonderful straight six burst into life and set off I was no longer in a hugely expensive, left hand drive car that isnt mine.
I was in the late 1950s, driving one of the worlds fastest and most beautiful sports cars through a bit of Britain unspoilt by speed cameras and people in Nissan Micras. A time when you could legally nail the XKs throttle and turn the countryside into a green blur as you darted along winding lanes between quaint villages full of smiling bobbies on bicycles. A time when people appreciated the XKs finely sculpted lines and the bark of its exhaust note. What the pictures from my first assignment of being a classic car scribe is just unbelievably cold the New Forest was, or that in the absence of Gatso cameras I had some 1950s-style hazards to contend with instead - whenever a cow or a pony decided to wander into the road I was glad it’s these particular Jags which popularized disc brakes!
But I didn’t care, because even with an E-Type and a V12-engined drawing room on wheels competing for my automotive affections it was the XK150 I fell just a little bit in love with. The view down the Jags bonnet as its curves flowed out into the countryside ahead is something Ill never forget.
In reality its 2013 of course, and we live in a very different Britain where the Golf BlueMotion we used as the camera car outdid the XK at just about everything. No prizes for guessing which one Im saving up for, though.
Read the full feature about the Jaguars and more from David Simister in the latest edition of Classic Car Weekly. If you have a motoring story for him call 01733 468847.
looks like fun and those buggys might be convertible to summer dunes racing or something for year round fun
A motoring idea youll warm to in this winter weather
Twas a cold and frosty morning when the thought struck me. Faced with needing to take a car rather than the bus into work, I unlocked the garage and started up a stone cold Mazda MX-5 which immediately fogged up the moment I dared to exhale breath while sat inside. I was one of the lucky ones; elsewhere, the good people of Southport were scraping the ice of their windscreens.
Heres the rub. Almost every car Ive driven on a cold morning, even shiny brand new ones, still require the efforts of some cheap de-icer before you can set off, and then a good few minutes before the icy chill of winter leaves the interior. Nor can you do the old trick of warming the car up while you sit indoors with a cuppa - not only is it illegal, but you might as well stick a sign on your pride ‘n joy with “STEAL ME” writ large all over it.
With the exception of a wonderful January weekend in Wales, when I donned gloves and a woolly hat so I could enjoy the crisp mountain air in the MX-5 with the roof down, driving first thing in the morning at this time of year is no fun. Unless of course, you run a recently-made Range Rover. A car which comes with a little gas heater and a time-adjustable thermostat, just like your house does.
In the same way Ive always wondered why houses arent fitted with electric windows, it perplexes me why proper thermostats which you can preset to come on when you want - which have been around for ages - dont come as standard on more cars. If you know youre going to setting off at eight every morning, wouldnt it be great to preset a proper heating system to come on fifteen minutes earlier, so your pride and joy is all toasty once you step inside and the engine isnt having to cough into life at minus four?
Dont get me wrong - theres all sorts of aftermarket preheating systems you can fit to your motor - but Im just amazed the car industry at large didnt cotton onto the whole winter-is-cold thing years ago.
Its one motoring gadget you wouldnt give a frosty reception.
What to Say and What Not to Say to Your Mechanic When Bringing Your Car for a Repair
Are you prone to automotive rip-offs? The fact is, auto repair shops and mechanics who have the habit of ripping their customers off choose their victims. They don’t actually prey on every customer that comes in. They only prey on people who show that they’re easy to deceive. And, they sometimes get their clue from the things that the customer says.
So, what are the things that you should say and should not say to your mechanic if you want to avoid an automotive rip-off?
What to tell your mechanic: A description of the symptoms you are experiencing in your vehicle.
If you’re having a problem in your drive, you should tell your mechanic in detail exactly what you are experiencing. Describe any noise that is evident, any vibration originating from somewhere in your car, etc. This will help the mechanic in the diagnosis.
What not to tell your mechanic: Your own assumption about what the problem might be.
Auto repair shops and mechanics on the lookout for a customer that they can rip off can use your assumption to tell you of a problem that does not actually exist and charge you for a repair that they don’t actually do. So, keep your assumptions to yourself and let the mechanic do his work.
What to tell your mechanic: A description of previous repairs done on the vehicle and past problems encountered, if any.
Information about any repair done or problem encountered in the past months will give your mechanic the whole picture and may just make the diagnosis faster and easier.
What not to tell your mechanic: That you’re not familiar with the part that is problematic.
This can raise the red flag among mechanics looking for a chance to trick their customers. They know that a clueless customer is easier to deceive, so telling them that you don’t have knowledge about your vehicle will greatly increase your likelihood to be ripped off.
How Long Will it Take To Charge an i3
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| The i3 will charge in about 3 hours on a standard level 2 supply. |
The size of the battery, the onboard charger and the supply provided will all work together to determine how long your EV will take to charge. The vast majority of the time most EV owners will charge their car they will do so on a 240V electric supply, so Ill focus on that here. One advantage "little battery" EVs like the i3 have is since they have a small battery, they will charge relatively quickly, provided they have robust onboard charging capabilities. The i3s standard 7.7kW charger will fully charge the battery in under three hours which is pretty good compared to the other EVs on the market. Only Tesla (9.6kW charging standard) and Renault (43kW Chameleon charger) offer an EV with a faster level 2 charging rate than the i3.
Miles Per Hour:
One way to condense the conversation about charging time is to simply say how many miles of range per hour of charging you get. The i3s small battery (18.8kWh usable) combined with its relatively fast onboard charger will allow you to gain about 30 miles of range for every hour you are plugged into a 240v 32 amp supply. This will be something I really welcome. My MINI-E could accept up to 12kWs and I would get about 30 miles per hour of charging. However after a recent BMW software tweak my ActiveE only gets about 15 miles of range per hour and it feels painfully slow, especially when I need to charge to get somewhere. I am so looking forward to getting back to charging at 30 miles per hour when I get my i3. Being able to charge quickly on a standard level 2 supply is really helpful and once youve been able to do so you dont want to go to a slower charging rate. The car becomes imminently more usable when you can charge it quickly so Im glad BMW is offering a pretty robust onboard charger. Now of course I wish it was a 9.6kW charger like Tesla uses, but thats just the part of me that is never satisfied speaking. In reality 7.7kWs is fine for a car with a 22kWh battery. It will charge twice as fast as my ActiveE and deliver about the same range, and that will really make the car much more versatile.
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