Upside Down On Your Car Loan

I'm angry with the auto industry!  Not with the vehicles but with this specific selling practice:  Burying old loan balance into a 'new' loan.  This practice is used when a customer has an outstanding balance on a vehicle loan and wants to purchase a new vehicle.  It's called being 'Upside Down'.  Both the customer and Dealer/Finance company are at fault in this crazy transaction:  The customer for not paying off one vehicle before purchasing a new one;  The Dealer/finance company for actually writing the loan agreement!  The end result is that the customer pays way more and for a longer period of time!  

Here's a real example:  An associate just buried $20,000 into a new vehicle lease on a new vehicle that had a capital cost of $50,000.  Total indebtedness:  $70,000 on a vehicle worth $50,000!  She has the same monthly payments as before due to a longer lease term.  But hey...she got floor mats and an extended warranty thrown in for 'Free'!

This should be criminal!  It breaks one cardinal rule of sales:  There is no customer benefit.  I can already hear the howls of protest:  'But the customer wanted it and she gets to drive a shiny new vehicle'.  No comment!

Come one people...put on your big boy pants!  Don't buy something you can't afford especially when it depreciates faster than you can pay it!

If you are upside down, here's how to get out from under it:  Facts about underwater car loans.

Until next time...

Mobile Marketing for Auto Dealers

Mobile, mobile, mobile...

Mobile marketing for auto dealers is top-of-mind with Dealer Principals today.  In most meetings, there's a moment when we all pull out our smartphones and try to replicate a search experience. I often move from laptop to smartphone to demonstrate a particular shopper experience.  On the front lines, the Sales Consultants interact with the mobile shopper every day:  On the lot all the way through negotiation to closing the deal.  

 

Are you ready? 

Chris M Morales

chris.morales@bell.net

@ChrisMoralesTO

647 393 3855
 

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

Buying a Car Online

I love shopping for a new car online.  OK, maybe it's because I love cars...always have...but I can spend literally hours on automotive manufacturer web sites building and configuring my perfect new car.  I'll also spend time looking at a Dealer's inventory to see what they have in-stock that comes closest to matching what I want.  Once I've decided, it's off to the Dealership to test drive.

If that sounds like a typical consumer experience then I'm part of the increasing trend in the automobile buying journey.  And it's a growing trend as online usage grows broader and deeper.  I wonder what the process of buying a new car will be like when the Internet of Things connects me directly with the Connected Car?

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Chris M Morales

MarCommTO

chris.morales@bell.net

647 393 3855

Linkedin:  Chris M Morales 

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization