A
The old school part of me sarcastically says "oh, that's just great" while the new school side of me says "yep, we deserve every bit of bad press - we did this to ourselves"......how do we fix it?
A
The old school side of me sarcastically says "oh, that's just wonderful", while the new school side of me says "yep, we deserve that - we did it to ourselves"......how do we fix it?
W
I love this! Every part of me says this is great, because instead of looking at it as a bad thing, I see it as an opportunity to prove to my customers their not getting screwed. Or when they go in the other dealership, they can see they are getting screwed, and they'll come to me instead. It happens now without the iPhone technology.

Those who see this as a bad thing are not embracing the power and advantage this holds for the dealer. Customers want to feel like they're not getting screwed, and the internet helps them avoid that.

So the more confidence my customer has in me that I'm not screwing them, the more trust they have in me, and the more gross I make! Sounds opposite to what most people think, doesn't it?

Our new car internet grosses are now higher than non-internet grosses. And it boils down to one simple thing-- show the customer you're being honest, and most of them don't care that you're making a profit. As long as it's a fair one.

The other customers expect to get screwed, and that's why they chew you down so much.

<a href="http://ismnewsdaily.com/2008/02/05/2-5-2008-growing-sales-mobile-search-vehix-and-full-service-gas/" rel="nofollow">Gumiyo</a> is blazing even more trails with this mobile search option.

Maybe I'm crazy on this topic???
A
Prior to the iPhone, viewing "regular" web pages on a mobile/smart phone was problematic at best. As far as I know, cars.com was the only major automotive site to offer a mobile version (accessible on your computer at mobile.cars.com). I wonder what kind of usage they're getting and whether dealers have experienced customers going to the site while on the lot.

As a side note, I find it interesting that kbb would pay up to participate in an iPhone ad when they barely even purchase search terms.

B
I use the text option all the time from Cars.com when I can't reach a customer any other way, I also use it to push info to the sales floor.
I don't care if they search my prices, I have already priced them to market. (in my best badger voice) "We aim to please"
now if you will excuse me I have to go drink some more of my V-auto kool-aid!
B