Thread: Do Car Dealerships Talk

does anyone know for a fact if VW do the same CRM thing

I doubt as I know a bloke who owns 4 Audi dealerships. That being said , they may share knowledge between the common ownership ones, although I doubt it.
What you have to be careful of , is that you leave nothing in the trade in car that hints at the deal you have been previously offered, as when the dealership takes the car for appraisel they will search it.
You can of course use this system , by entering some false data on a brochure and leaving it somewhere like the gloebox.
I have been a shopper for Ford on several occasions.
Regards Philip A

It would pay to ring Subaru Bairnsdale for a price. They are independantly owned and at least can give you a comparison price to the city dealerships.

The city ones are owned/controlled by Inchcape I believe. Also have VW, Kia, Mitsubishi...

Rob

Originally Posted by land864

It is my understanding that as all Subaru dealerships are now owned by Subaru , when you speak to one , you speak to all

I don't think so.

We bought ours from Tom Kerr Subaru (in Sydney) - I don't think it's owned by Inchscape. We'd bought our previous two Foresters from Penrith Subaru (Inchscape) and one came from Parramatta Subaru (Inchscape).

yeah they talk allright.....I sold cars in darwin and you get to know all the other dealers and salemen and often they will ring you and tell they are looking for a certain type of car for customer, so you help each other and yes you normally dont cut others out of a deal.....sometimes they want your trade in....or you need to "shop" it for better price.
thats how it was, I dont think it would have changed

If there was an offical policy of notifying all dealers in a network of offers made then the ACCC would be looking at them if servos cant do it the car dealers shouldnt, so try a different dealer and see what happens

Originally Posted by THE BOOGER

If there was an offical policy of notifying all dealers in a network of offers made then the ACCC would be looking at them if servos cant do it the car dealers shouldnt, so try a different dealer and see what happens

Ditto,
It simply wouldn't be worth the multi million $$ fines the ACCC would seek through the courts & Subaru would be well aware, plus, individuals can be prosecuted, up to $250,000 & thats just a salesman, let alone a director or Sales Manager.
It would come under the banner of restrictive trades practice or retail price maintenance.
Don't forget that there is also a "informer" clause that the initial party that notifies ACCC can get off practically scott free, so if you were Subaru, would you risk the possibility??

If the dealerships are under common ownership there is nothing illegal about maintaining a common price across those dealerships.

If the dealerships are not under common ownership it is a different story.

If all of the delaerships for one brand are owned by the manufacturer you might (stress might) be able to make a case for a restrictive trade practice.
My guess is the ruling would be you are free to look at a similar vehicle from a different brand so competition is maintained.

FYI it happens that I am the regional sales channel manager for two brands of product (that do basically the same thing) coming from one company.
Direct and reseller sales, not cars.

As another way of tackling this, you could try a professional broker and see what they come up with.

All good info. Thanks Guys.

I officially retract my previous assertion in regard to Subaru Dealers sharing buyer Intel. Info on here then may suggests otherwise.

Pete G