Dealership Only Does Business Locally?

[grizzld]

I recently contacted a LR dealership in another state, about 200 miles away, regarding an LR4 on their website. It was a loaner/demo vehicle with 7,000 miles on it, and I told them I was interested in purchasing it and asked them a few questions.

The salesman that replied to my email immediately asked me where I was from (he noticed my area code) and told me since there was a dealer in my city, he wasn't allowed to sell me a vehicle. He never told me why they had that policy, but after a few emails, he told me his GM approved the sale since it wasn't a "new" vehicle.

This sounded extremely odd to me, so I didn't really follow up. It seems ridiculous and I suspect they just didn't want to deal with someone "online." I feel like they were just being lazy and preferred to sell the vehicle to someone locally who was willing to pay MSRP.

What's really troubling is the thought that I HAVE to use a certain dealership. I didn't really care for the service from my local dealership when I bought my LR3 a few years ago, and they only have 1-2 in stock at any given moment.

 

[CMGRover]

Odd....all my vehicles have come from dealers that weren't the closest to me. Money to them is money....

 

[Daniel Hull]

It's common. I ran into the same issue with several dealers when shopping around. I suppose they assume a sale out of market means less revenue for service and accessories, so when there is limited allocation they prefer to sell local.

 

[horns]

ditto

I've been told the same thing about not being able to sell a new vehicle to someone from another state. The vehicle supposedly has to be titled in the state it is purchased in (at least for the denovo purchase). They told me that this was something that LR dictates (not the dealer). They were encouraging me to have the local dealer do a car swap - however my local dealer's math doesn't add up correctly.
Not sure why land rover usa is trying to thwart their own sales, unless there are franchise territory agreements with the dealers.

 

[grizzld]

Here are a couple of the salesman's responses:

How close are you to your local dealer? I don't mean to put you through the ringer, if you're looking at a new vehicle, because of territory restrictions I wouldn't be able to sell you a vehicle.​

I know... it's bitter sweet! I hate it but love it at the same time. A demo is considered new, the territories are assigned by zip code, being only 5 minutes away I'm sure I wouldn't be able to sell you a new car.​

You would have to show a utility bill or something along those lines that would tie you to the address.​

I guess one of the main things that bothered me was that I felt he was giving me the runaround because they didn't want to sell me a LUX -- he kept pointing out that he could sell me a CPO Base but not the Loaner/Demo LUX.

 

[baobay]

Here are a couple of the salesman's responses:

How close are you to your local dealer? I don't mean to put you through the ringer, if you're looking at a new vehicle, because of territory restrictions I wouldn't be able to sell you a vehicle.​

I know... it's bitter sweet! I hate it but love it at the same time. A demo is considered new, the territories are assigned by zip code, being only 5 minutes away I'm sure I wouldn't be able to sell you a new car.​

You would have to show a utility bill or something along those lines that would tie you to the address.​

I guess one of the main things that bothered me was that I felt he was giving me the runaround because they didn't want to sell me a LUX -- he kept pointing out that he could sell me a CPO Base but not the Loaner/Demo LUX.

Strange!!! I wouldn't deal with them. Is there a different dealer you can deal with? If that is LRUSA policy, it is very strange and stupid!!!

 

[grizzld]

Strange!!! I wouldn't deal with them. Is there a different dealer you can deal with? If that is LRUSA policy, it is very strange and stupid!!!

Yes, I have a local dealership that I can deal with -- at the time, they only had 1 LR4 on the lot, and it was a Base. What's ironic is that I chose to contact the dealership above because they were recipients of a "Pride of Jaguar and Land Rover Pinnacle Club Retailer Excellence award." These awards are handed out by Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC. As stated on LR's website:

"Pride of Jaguar and Land Rover Pinnacle Club winners are retailers who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence and their respective brands. Evaluation was based on customer satisfaction, sales performance and staff training during the 2010 calendar year. Sixteen retailers per brand are chosen, totaling 32 award recipients."​

Here's a link: http://www.landrover.com/us/en/lr/about-land-rover/land-rover-news/land-rover-top-dealers/

 

[grizzld]

Strange!!! I wouldn't deal with them. Is there a different dealer you can deal with? If that is LRUSA policy, it is very strange and stupid!!!

Yes, there is a local dealer close to me, but at the time, they only had one LR4 on the lot. What's ironic is that I reached out to the other dealer because LRNA had them listed as a recipient of a Pride of Jaguar and Land Rover Pinnacle Club Retailer Excellence award.

Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC describes it this way:

Pride of Jaguar and Land Rover Pinnacle Club winners are retailers who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence and their respective brands. Evaluation was based on customer satisfaction, sales performance and staff training during the 2010 calendar year. Sixteen retailers per brand are chosen, totaling 32 award recipients.​

 

[baobay]

you may want to contact LRNA and find out what their policy is regarding sales accross state lines.

 

[crewcabrob]

I'm guessing that if you showed up at the dealer and made a deal, they wouldn't turn down your money.

I can kind of see the reasoning behind such a policy; it keeps larger dealerships from making deals that other Land rover dealers just can't make due to lower volumns. However, from the consumer side it really doesn't make a lot of sense. Who out there doesn't want to get the best deal on whatever they purchase.

I'm all for purchasing locally and I do support smaller businesses in my area; to a point. What I'm not willing to do is pay more than a certian percentage over a deal I can get else where. For a car purchase where the numbers are a lot larger, I'm willing to purchase out of my area if it makes sense and I can save thousands. I did this with my last car purchase. I worked with a dealer in Omaha, they would barely move on the MSRP/sticker price. 2 emails to a dealer in Denver and I could save $2250 on the EXACT same vehicle loaded with all the same options. Heck yeah I will drive the 500 miles to Denver from my home to get a new car and drive it back. For things like sporting goods, the dollar amount is much smaller. I'm willing to pay no more than 10% more for items purchased locally rather than going to the web or another vendor from another area. I love to purchase locally and about 85% of the time I do. I appreciate building the raport with a small business and having support if something doesn't look right. But if the numbers just don't add up to purchase locally, I'm happy heading for another destination.

Rob