QuestionQUESTION: I have one more question. Is the invoice price same for every car dealer or it can be different? If the invoice price can be different, what causes its difference, the area difference or what else? Why can the dealer have the different invoice price for the same vehicle?
ANSWER: All other things being equal, the invoice price on identical vehicles should be the same. Two things that come to mind that would cause differences are:
1) Dealer participatory advertising, which is what pays for the local advertising shared by various dealers ("see your Tri-State Area Toyota dealer today!"), can vary a little bit from one area to another.
2) Once a dealer has taken delivery of a vehicle, the factory cannot raise the price of it. So, if the dealer gets a 2008 in September, doesn't sell it, then gets another identical car the following April after three prices increases, then you'd be looking at two identical vehicles with different invoice prices.
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QUESTION: Since you said, gthe invoice price on identical vehicles should be the same,h why we still see the different invoice price online though the difference may be not too muchBWhere on earth have those online invoice prices come from, provide by the manufacturer, dealer?
ANSWER: I can't say for sure where the numbers come from, but I've always suspected that dealers provide the data for a fee to those sites that publish them. I don't believe there's anything in it for the manufacturers to provide such data.
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QUESTION: You said, “I don't believe there's anything in it for the manufacturers to provide such data.” Do you know where the user can see the data/invoice price that is provided by the manufacturers? Thank you for your answer.
AnswerAs I said before, when I sold Ford products I found that the invoice pricing provided by CarsDirect.com was extremely accurate. If they have accurate pricing on Ford products, I have no reason to believe that the pricing they have for other manufacturers is not also accurate. Why would manufacturers show the public their invoice pricing? What do they have to gain by doing that? Nothing. I have to assume that dealers provide the websites with the invoice pricing they get from their factories, and the websites pay the dealers for it. What you find online IS the invoice pricing from the manufacturers. I don't know why it varies.
I've provided all the information on this subject that I can. I'm truly sorry if you find them inadequate, but you're asking questions at this point I simply can't answer.
