Club Discount?

[Huck]

Q) When is a 'club' discount, not a discount?
A) When the price you are starting with, minus the discount, is still higher than a non-discounted price, OTD.

I'm assuming that I'm posting this review in the appropriate section. We have a discount that is offered to us by several vendors on this board. One vendor has been publishing this discount for about the last six months or so, all over this board. For this reason, I've given them the opportunity to win/gain my business. Another reason for my interest in shoping with them is that I'm now living close by.

This review is based off of only two experiences, trying to buy parts from Airpark Jeep/Chrysler.

1) I ordered some factory filled paint cans (I've used both Space Age and the Sherwin-Williams store off of Bell and the factory cans just look better). I had previously purchase four cans of the paint at another dealer, in town and used them up. When I placed the order with Airpark, I informed them of my affiliation with the AZVJC. The, well-in-that-case, price I was quoted was about $.80 a can higher. No biggie, as the money/time I would have spent driving back to my normal dealer would have cost me more than the higher price. The cans were ordered and picked up, at the higher price.

I really wasn't overly concerned about the higher 'discounted' price, because I knew that their price breaks varied between products.

2) Yesterday, I needed to replace my 'shorted-out' TPS. I called Airpark for a price/availability quote. I, again, informed them of my affiliation with the club and was quoted 'member discounted' price. They did not have the part in stock and I asked who else, in the valley, had it in stock. They give me a list of 3 dealers. I thanked them and off to dialing, I went. One of the affore mentioned dealers, is the one I used to always get my parts at. I called them and they quoted me a cheaper price, over the phone and with no mention of any club affiliation. My out-the-door price, was less than my discounted, pre-tax quote from Airpark.

After this second time around the pricing circle game, I figured I would post up my experience. I learned at least two things from this experience. The dealers (both, actually) were cheaper than Carquest or Napa, for this part. It still pays to shop around, even when you are getting a 'club discounted' price.

[Tony_T]

Sometimes you will save money buying elsewhere. But a discounted price for somebody may not always be the cheapest price in town as they could have obtained them from different parts of town.

In my opinion I would rather do business with a company that puts an effort into helping our Jeep Community.

Airpark has been great to me and a lot of members of this forum especially through their participation here. However there are always going to be some bad expeirences in no matter what kind of business youre in. Youre asking them to give you a dicount, the least you could do is thank them for the chance and not bad mouth anybody because you shopped them and then went elsewhere.

[xFallen]

Q) When is a 'club' discount, not a discount?
A) When the price you are starting with, minus the discount, is still higher than a non-discounted price, OTD.

I'm assuming that I'm posting this review in the appropriate section. We have a discount that is offered to us by several vendors on this board. One vendor has been publishing this discount for about the last six months or so, all over this board. For this reason, I've given them the opportunity to win/gain my business. Another reason for my interest in shoping with them is that I'm now living close by.

This review is based off of only two experiences, trying to buy parts from Airpark Jeep/Chrysler.

1) I ordered some factory filled paint cans (I've used both Space Age and the Sherwin-Williams store off of Bell and the factory cans just look better). I had previously purchase four cans of the paint at another dealer, in town and used them up. When I placed the order with Airpark, I informed them of my affiliation with the AZVJC. The, well-in-that-case, price I was quoted was about $.80 a can higher. No biggie, as the money/time I would have spent driving back to my normal dealer would have cost me more than the higher price. The cans were ordered and picked up, at the higher price.

I really wasn't overly concerned about the higher 'discounted' price, because I knew that their price breaks varied between products.

2) Yesterday, I needed to replace my 'shorted-out' TPS. I called Airpark for a price/availability quote. I, again, informed them of my affiliation with the club and was quoted 'member discounted' price. They did not have the part in stock and I asked who else, in the valley, had it in stock. They give me a list of 3 dealers. I thanked them and off to dialing, I went. One of the affore mentioned dealers, is the one I used to always get my parts at. I called them and they quoted me a cheaper price, over the phone and with no mention of any club affiliation. My out-the-door price, was less than my discounted, pre-tax quote from Airpark.

After this second time around the pricing circle game, I figured I would post up my experience. I learned at least two things from this experience. The dealers (both, actually) were cheaper than Carquest or Napa, for this part. It still pays to shop around, even when you are getting a 'club discounted' price.

When I raised this issue numerous months ago, one of the Airpark representatives who was attempting to argue the point was either too clueless to understand this fact, simply ignored it, or didn't even have all the facts themselves. Or maybe worse, I don't have any way of knowing since that person has a very poor command of the written language. I was shot down by a few of the sheep in the fan club so I dropped it. This gouging has been raised by others a few times but mostly it goes silent.

The only way to get a good price in the parts department there based on several first hand experiences of my own over the past few years, is to confront them with true MSRP and comparative price quotes from competitive local dealerships, or to get a business discount. I do not have a legitimate reason to get a business discount at this time and dont't like to burden friends with my requests who can get that price unless it is really worth it. I'd rather just go to a reputable delaership in the first place. I am not interested in doing any business with them.

My upcoming Dodge CTD purchase will be made from a dealer that is less interested in price gouging and more interested in service. I live only minutes from this joint too.

4 Wheelers Supply has or can get most of the Jeep parts I personally have needed and the other DC dealers do not seem to charge MSRP+ prices (dealer plus pricing as it is sometimes called in the industry).

This seems to be a Scottsdale thing, by the way. The same thing happened at the Ford dealership just up the road on Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. When I called the guy on it we argued a bit, I told him he could put the parts back on the shelf, then he gave me the FULL RETAIL price after claiming it was a discount. I eventually just laughed it off and paid. He didn't enjoy the fact that he got called on the gouging. I won't go back there any more either. They have the right to make a reasonable profit, no question. I would have happily paid full retail and then gone back for future purchases.

If someone or some company wants to charge me more than the going rate, at least be honest about it, but don't tell me what amount to lies (either intentional or out of ignorance) and expect me or any educated customer to be happy about it.


Barry

[xFallen]

Sometimes you will save money buying elsewhere. But a discounted price for somebody may not always be the cheapest price in town as they could have obtained them from different parts of town.

In my opinion I would rather do business with a company that puts an effort into helping our Jeep Community.

Airpark has been great to me and a lot of members of this forum especially through their participation here. However there are always going to be some bad expeirences in no matter what kind of business youre in. Youre asking them to give you a dicount, the least you could do is thank them for the chance and not bad mouth anybody because you shopped them and then went elsewhere.

Clearly if there was more value people wouldn't complain. I will not accept telling the truth as bad-mouthing. Too bad. This "bad-mouthing" spin was put on the previous thread about this practice. Huck's message was a recounting of his experience.

If the dealer in question wants a different tune they can change their practices. Clearly it is worth it to them to lose a few customers. That's a business choice they made. That's fine. It must be working for them. It won't work for me, so I make a choice to go elsewhere. I also choose to share the experiences as do others. That's the way service-oriented systems work.

Other dealerships support the Jeep and four wheel drive community also. Because they offer fair and reasonable pricing, they get my business. Pretty simple.

Be reputable and don't gouge, or suffer the conequences. That's life.


Barry

[mbuckner]

I never ask anyone about the discount until they quote the price .... then I ask how much with the discount .......

And you should still shop around if you are after the lost cost ...

Mike

[Cave Gimp]

Last week I had a positive experience at Airpark with a rear main seal. I got ~25% MSRP with a mention of the club. When I destryoed that seal during install I ended up going to Superstition Springs because they were closer. They charged me MSRP++. When I confronted them with my recipt from Airpark showing a lower list price, and the lower price I paid they still wouldn't budge. I won't go back to Superstition Springs because of that.

I'm sure a lot of it depends on who you talk to at the parts counter and what mood they are in. I have found that there are several dealers that sell parts online at 25% off MSRP. Do an internet search for MOPAR and TRADEMOTION and several sites should come up. The will give the list price and then the discount price. Armed with this information you should be able to get a fair price from the dealer.

I agree that is sucks. I was pretty mad when I ended up paying 50% more for the same part I bought the day before from a different dealer.

[Huck]

I never ask anyone about the discount until they quote the price .... then I ask how much with the discount .......

And you should still shop around if you are after the lost cost ...

Mike

Yeppers, that was how it was done, on both accounts, in my thread. What I didn't mention, in the first thread, was that when Jamie picked up the paint order, she was charged a much higher priced, than the price I was quoted. This was resolved, efficiently, by Airpark, but did require a separate trip to the dealership. With both scenarios I asked for the price and then what it was with the club discount.

Tony,
I fail to see how I was bad mouthing anyone or hurting a group that gives so much to our community. You have a right to your opinion. You can go through my post history and you'll see a common theme of Airpark's pricing, long before they ever sponsored the forum. I'm glad you've been taken care of, so well, by them. I really wasn't 'shopping them'. I was giving them a chance to gain my business. I needed a part, yesterday to keep my heap on the road. I got quotes from the local autoparts stores that I trust. Carquest needed to order one and Napa only had it in stock at their main store. Both were selling it for 45-47 bucks. I called Airpark, as it was closer and they may have it in stock. When I was quoted 32.50 for the part, I was sold. However, when they said it needed to be ordered, I had to ask if anyone else had it, in town (I needed the heap fixed yesterday-cause my Harleys are only so much fun to ride in the rain). I only called another dealership becasue Airpark didn't have the part (I would have never called anyone else, if they had the part and I would have never known that I could have gotten it cheaper elsewhere). When I called Bill Luke (the same dealer I had bought my paint from last June), they had the part and quoted me a price that was cheaper than my discounted price offered by Airpark. I made no mention of any club affiliations or any bartering for a cheaper price. I was sold. I fired up a bike and picked up my part.

As I rode over to Bill Luke, I started thinking about my last two experiences with Airpark. I felt that I owed it to 'my community' to report back my experiences. I felt that people should have an accurate accounting of the facts for their own decision making. I fought the urge to post, because I didn't want to spend my time defending why I posted up anything that wasn't a raving review. I was torn as to post up the 'vendor's name' or not. I read Joe's Thread, prior to posting a thing. I kept my post in line with his recommendations. Please realize, that I never posted a thing up about the paint pricing, as I thought it was a one-time dealio. Well after the second time, I saw a pattern and posted up the facts of two transactions. I did not put up a 'thumbs down' or 'frowny face' or any biased opinions. I posted up a question.

And that question remains, Tony: If you are discounting an inflated price to a price that is above average, is it still a discount? Are you, as a club member, actually benefitting from making a purchase, in this scenario? With the answers to those questions, you can decide where take your business.

Huck

[danno]

Funny thing is you will find that this occurs at many stores. About a year ago one of the local news companies did a study of the pricing of several commodity items such as diapers, food items, etc. and came out with an interesting result.

They shopped for the same item at the same retail store chain but at different locations in the valley. The results would surprise you... In some cases there were significant differences in pricing for the same items at the same chain but at different stores.

The two chains that they performed the study on were Target and Wal Mart. Interestingly, you would think that stores in North Scottsdale were charging more than stores in South Phoenix or in generally poorer neighborhoods. But interestingly enough, it was the opposite. The North Scottsdale stores were the cheapest of the study.

This seems to be somewhat consistent with the pricing experiences at Jeep dealers in the Valley. The list prices are not decided by the factory, but rather they are decided by the dealer, so they are going to be different. What may be a true discount from the list price of one dealer, may still be above the list price of another dealer.

Since I live near Airpark, I tend to get most of my parts from them, as it is the most conveinient for me. They have indicated as part of their club discount that they would be willing to match pricing of other dealers in the valley when their discounted price is still higher, and I have used this before. For the smaller items which are under 4 bucks or so, I don't really bother, but for things more than that, I can make a few phone calls, get the cheapest price, and then go to Airpark. If their discount is cheaper, I buy it. If it is not, I let them know that so-and-so dealership sells it at XXX price, and every time they have agreed to also sell it at that price.

I like Airpark, and although I have never bought a vehicle from them, I appreciate that they are trying to have a relationship with Jeep owners such as me. Perhaps they didn't in the past, but they are working on it now. One good example... I had an airbag warning light come on. In order to diagnose, I needed to use the Factory Scanning device to plug into the computer... (OBDII scanners would not work). When I called several dealers and asked them if they would just do a quick scan to tell me what was wrong, they said that there was a 100 dollar fee for that.

When I talked with the service rep at Airpark who has a relationship with AZVJC (dang it, I cant remember his name just now), he went back, grabbed the scanner and plugged it in for no charge. 10 seconds later, I knew that I needed a new airbag deactivation switch. 4 dollars later from the parts department and my issue was solved. In this case they saved me 100 bucks.

I will continue to go back there for that reason. They may not always have the best prices in town, but they are willing to work with me on it.

[ThumpAZ]

Barry, if you're looking at a CTD, I would highly reccomend Ed Moses on FLW. I didn't end up buying from them as I just didn't have the money for new after all. But they never got mad, didn't hound me with calls later... only one or two to see if I'd purchased and if there was anything they might have done that made me not buy. Not high pressure at all. Coming from a former car salesman, that says a LOT.
There was a salesman there that was not too long out of retiring from the military, I would say find him there.
Seriously, I never got the "What's it gonna take to get you into that truck today" junk. This was during employee pricing, they took money off of that and were inflating the heck out of my trade value. Basically, I would have come out VERY nice in the truck (06 Mega Cab, CTD, Auto, SLT Sport).
Oddly enough, though, the CTD truck I did end up buying, used of course, was originally purchased and fully serviced at Ed Moses. The PO of my truck had nothing but nice things to say about his experience as well.
I know this is sort of a hijack, but I'm also recounting personal experience at a dealer in that area that sort of goes against the perceived norm of the region.

[xFallen]

Glenn,

That is good to hear, just like any positive experience about any dealer, including ones where others may not hold positive impressions. Different people go after different things. For me, it is no pressure sales, fair prices and no BS service. I detest the stereotypical car salesman. Actually, there's no stereotype about it. They are just plain typical. You know the ones.

Thanks for the tip.


Barry

[OlneyJeeps]

Funny thing is you will find that this occurs at many stores. About a year ago one of the local news companies did a study of the pricing of several commodity items such as diapers, food items, etc. and came out with an interesting result.

They shopped for the same item at the same retail store chain but at different locations in the valley. The results would surprise you... In some cases there were significant differences in pricing for the same items at the same chain but at different stores.

The two chains that they performed the study on were Target and Wal Mart. Interestingly, you would think that stores in North Scottsdale were charging more than stores in South Phoenix or in generally poorer neighborhoods. But interestingly enough, it was the opposite. The North Scottsdale stores were the cheapest of the study.

This seems to be somewhat consistent with the pricing experiences at Jeep dealers in the Valley. The list prices are not decided by the factory, but rather they are decided by the dealer, so they are going to be different. What may be a true discount from the list price of one dealer, may still be above the list price of another dealer.

Since I live near Airpark, I tend to get most of my parts from them, as it is the most conveinient for me. They have indicated as part of their club discount that they would be willing to match pricing of other dealers in the valley when their discounted price is still higher, and I have used this before. For the smaller items which are under 4 bucks or so, I don't really bother, but for things more than that, I can make a few phone calls, get the cheapest price, and then go to Airpark. If their discount is cheaper, I buy it. If it is not, I let them know that so-and-so dealership sells it at XXX price, and every time they have agreed to also sell it at that price.

I like Airpark, and although I have never bought a vehicle from them, I appreciate that they are trying to have a relationship with Jeep owners such as me. Perhaps they didn't in the past, but they are working on it now. One good example... I had an airbag warning light come on. In order to diagnose, I needed to use the Factory Scanning device to plug into the computer... (OBDII scanners would not work). When I called several dealers and asked them if they would just do a quick scan to tell me what was wrong, they said that there was a 100 dollar fee for that.

When I talked with the service rep at Airpark who has a relationship with AZVJC (dang it, I cant remember his name just now), he went back, grabbed the scanner and plugged it in for no charge. 10 seconds later, I knew that I needed a new airbag deactivation switch. 4 dollars later from the parts department and my issue was solved. In this case they saved me 100 bucks.

I will continue to go back there for that reason. They may not always have the best prices in town, but they are willing to work with me on it.

I think the key to Danno's experience is paralell with experience with other shops (ie. Discount Tire): a relationship. When you get to know counter people (and they get to know you as a consistant shopper ), you build a relationship.... what you plant is what you sew. As a sales person (whether it be at the counter of 4Wheelers or as an insurance agent), there is no question that how a customer/client treated me had an effect on discount.

Act as a scammer, you will get scammed.... act as a loyal customer and you will most often (not always... sales people have bad days too...suck it up, pay the bill with a smile and wait patiently for the return) be treated as a royal customer.

[Tony_T]

No worries Huck, whatever works for ya.

I dont believe in inflated prices either. However, when you look at it, what has become a "so called Discount" often times is not really what someone would say is a deal.

As far as the stereotypical salesman goes:
Its a sales thing, you just wouldent understand. If youre livelyhood depended on selling units and making a profit, you would be the same. Its a system that works. It sucks, but it works. Of course theres a lot of turnover, if you dont sell cars and make money, you either starve out of the business or get fired.

I wish anybody that said that was forced to try it for a few days and see the torture that salespersonell were subject to. I agree some places have horrible sales practices, but some are honest and treat everybody with respect. The key is patience and sometimes you just have to tell them what it is you want to pay, come to an agreement and make deal.

[SavageSun4x4]

As far as the stereotypical salesman goes:
Its a sales thing, you just wouldent understand. If youre livelyhood depended on selling units and making a profit, you would be the same.

I disagree big time on that.

Most dealers employ folks that are NOT sales people or at least cannot sell a new/used auto. In fact few of them could sell weekend shore leave to a seaman after 6 mos of sea duty.

Good friend of mine was making over $100k per year selling Chevy's back in the 60's from a small dealer in Arlington, Texas [Steakly Chev IIRC]. He wrote several books about selling cars and went into the teaching/marketing business for auto dealers.

Ever notice how much sales personnel turn over there is at auto dealers? Ask Jason how LONG he has been at Airpark...3 mo, 6 mo? If you see a sales person at a dealer for much more than 3 mo then most likely he is selling cars or he wouldn't be there, either he or the dealer would suggest another line of work somewhere else.:eek:

It takes a unique talent to sell and that is in spades for autos.

Good buddy of mine was dating a girl that was from Vietnam. Never sure why because she was neither very attractive nor was she of the typical Asian stature. And in her case she didn't even have a HS education as she dropped out of HS here to do something else...what ever that might have been. But Brian was in love with her and he asked another good friend of ours who was the sales manager of the Porsche dealer in Dallas.

He said he would give her 30 days to show something or she was gone.

Brian runs out and buys her mucho clothes from a good store to get her out of jeans n stuff. The gal had never had a job other than fast food and those didn't seem to last long due to here rough mastery of English.

She made well over $100k her first year and broke $200k her second:eek: :confused: Dumped Brian and moved in with one of her customers:confused: :eek: But that gal could sell new and used Porsches in one of the highest volume Porsche dealerships in the US.

And this is what dealers are looking for, that 1 in 100 or 1000 that can sell cars.

[xFallen]

I think the key to Danno's experience is paralell with experience with other shops (ie. Discount Tire): a relationship. When you get to know counter people (and they get to know you as a consistant shopper ), you build a relationship.... what you plant is what you sew. As a sales person (whether it be at the counter of 4Wheelers or as an insurance agent), there is no question that how a customer/client treated me had an effect on discount.

Act as a scammer, you will get scammed.... act as a loyal customer and you will most often (not always... sales people have bad days too...suck it up, pay the bill with a smile and wait patiently for the return) be treated as a royal customer.

Yes. It is indeed black and white like that in this case. Simple. Huck, you scammer. It is all your fault.

Not....

Good lord. Relationships can be important, no question. THat is not what this is about.

MSRP means MSRP. It has one meaning. A discount from MSRP should be easy to calculate andbe, well golly gee whiz, below MSRP not above MSRP.

You're totally missing the point of this thread.

[xFallen]

No worries Huck, whatever works for ya.

I dont believe in inflated prices either. However, when you look at it, what has become a "so called Discount" often times is not really what someone would say is a deal.

As far as the stereotypical salesman goes:
Its a sales thing, you just wouldent understand. If youre livelyhood depended on selling units and making a profit, you would be the same. Its a system that works. It sucks, but it works. Of course theres a lot of turnover, if you dont sell cars and make money, you either starve out of the business or get fired.

I wish anybody that said that was forced to try it for a few days and see the torture that salespersonell were subject to. I agree some places have horrible sales practices, but some are honest and treat everybody with respect. The key is patience and sometimes you just have to tell them what it is you want to pay, come to an agreement and make deal.

Nonsense, and a cop out. You just shat upon many reputable and good salespeople out there in addition to a number of other things I am sure you wouldn't understand either, but whatever. Just keep telling yourself whatever you neeed, I suppose. Whatever gets you through the night. It makes no difference to me.

Again, great examples of why my considerable Jeep and related purchases go elsewhere.

[Renob]

No worries Huck, whatever works for ya.

I dont believe in inflated prices either. However, when you look at it, what has become a "so called Discount" often times is not really what someone would say is a deal.

As far as the stereotypical salesman goes:
Its a sales thing, you just wouldent understand. If youre livelyhood depended on selling units and making a profit, you would be the same. Its a system that works. It sucks, but it works. Of course theres a lot of turnover, if you dont sell cars and make money, you either starve out of the business or get fired.

I wish anybody that said that was forced to try it for a few days and see the torture that salespersonell were subject to. I agree some places have horrible sales practices, but some are honest and treat everybody with respect. The key is patience and sometimes you just have to tell them what it is you want to pay, come to an agreement and make deal.I did not force anyone to go into sales, so try peddling that crap elsewhere.

[PMFG!ItsaGP]

I did not force anyone to go into sales, so try peddling that crap elsewhere.

There was that one guy. Remember? You hit him in the shins with a leaf rake until he agreed to be a candy bar sales "associate".

[Renob]

There was that one guy. Remember? You hit him in the shins with a leaf rake until he agreed to be a candy bar sales "associate".Oh yes I forgot about that..........well then, here (http://frogstar.soylentgeek.com/wav/wanda.wav).

[danno]

I am not sure if I have ever seen the term MSRP used for parts. I though the key terms were List, Jobber and Cost. List would probably be equivalent to MSRP BUT it would really be DSRP... Since the dealer sets the list price, and the jobber price.

[AZLugz]

Never been to Airpark but I have bought two Jeeps at Superstition Springs Chrysler and have had great luck with them, Bill didn't push in the slightest, I would bring the wrangler in and just kinda look at the commander, he would BS for a few and I would go my my way, I went back for an oil change and we talked a bit more, told him I liked it but wasn't sure I could afford to do it now, he said no prob look me up when you are ready or if you just have questions, went away came back weeks later and bought it from him. He NEVER even hinted at a push, answered my questions and only discussed the promo deals when I brought it up. As for Parts, they have always been the same or better when I have picked up stuff as i call to check prices several places.

[SavageSun4x4]

I have bought almost all my parts at Airpark and it seems their prices are better than other dealers.

I do know I bought a part from another dealer for $440 and it was supposed to have been a good deal and better than Airpark would have given me. About a day later Jason announced the AZVJC discount. So I checked and my price was $357 for the same part. Of course by that time it was too late as I had already done the install:(

I like Danno, live close to Airpark even if I could save a few bucks then it becomes a "drive" to do it.

So I will buy my parts at Airpark and depend on Jason to make sure we are getting a good deal. Thanks Jason.:)

[Huck]

Don,
Your post surprises me. I've seen several of your posts over the past year regarding Airpark, its service and its pricing. I'm not debating your postion, at all. I just find it funny, relying on a front of the house salesman to guarantee parts counter pricing.

My two incidents, were just two isolated incidents. Two phone calls to Airpark for pricing and both times, prices, with our discount, were higher than Bill Luke's pricing with no discount. With me living close to Airpark these days and with my lil ol Harley fetish, purchasing my parts at Airpark should be a no-brainer.

These two incidents of higher than average pricing, even after a club discount, got me to second guess their pricing. It is not a no-brainer for me, any longer.

Thanks to all who have replied. I do appreciate hearing about your experiences, both good and bad. This was a simple recollection of my experiences.

[Jdemonto@Airpark Jeep Sales]

Don,
Your post surprises me. I've seen several of your posts over the past year regarding Airpark, its service and its pricing. I'm not debating your postion, at all. I just find it funny, relying on a front of the house salesman to guarantee parts counter pricing.

My two incidents, were just two isolated incidents. Two phone calls to Airpark for pricing and both times, prices, with our discount, were higher than Bill Luke's pricing with no discount. With me living close to Airpark these days and with my lil ol Harley fetish, purchasing my parts at Airpark should be a no-brainer.

These two incidents of higher than average pricing, even after a club discount, got me to second guess their pricing. It is not a no-brainer for me, any longer.

Thanks to all who have replied. I do appreciate hearing about your experiences, both good and bad. This was a simple recollection of my experiences.

To most I'm a friend, I just happen to sell for a living!!!

Jason

[danno]

Two phone calls to Airpark for pricing and both times, prices, with our discount, were higher than Bill Luke's pricing with no discount.

Huck,

Did you let Airpark know about the price difference? This happened to me twice. Both times, I let them know and they said that they would match the other dealer's price. This saved me the extra drive just by dropping a few dimes.

[Huck]

No, Danno, I didn't for the second one. For the paint, I said that it was cheaper at Bill Luke, but that I was OK with going ahead on the order (since the time/drive would have cost more than I was saving). For the TPS sensor, Airpark didn't have it. I was actually very happy with Airpark's price quote, as it was cheaper than CarQuest and Napa. I didn't know that I could find it cheaper, until I called a dealer that had it in stock. I needed to have a roof over my head for the rain on Friday and Bill Luke got my business because they had the part. The fact that it was cheaper than my discounted price, was both great and disappointing, that's all.

I didn't realize that Airpark offered price matching, until reading your posts. I also didn't realize that even with my club discount, I need to shop around for the cheapest price and then come back to Airpark for them to price match. I'm very aware of jobber pricing and how it relates to OTC sales, pricing. I thought Airpark was getting our business due to great pricing on parts, sales and good service for our vehicles.

I admit that I was naive to the game and will look towards Airpark to give me a quote, after I've already gotten other quotes. Lessoned learned.:)

[SavageSun4x4]

Don,
Your post surprises me. I've seen several of your posts over the past year regarding Airpark, its service and its pricing. I'm not debating your postion, at all. I just find it funny, relying on a front of the house salesman to guarantee parts counter pricing.


Thanks for bringing it up. I am far from a "flip-flopper".

I never had any issues with Airpark parts dept and I have never had any issues with Jason or any salesperson up there. However I did have issues with the service dept.

That said, I did the only thing I could and that was to not purchase a new vehicle from them.

As for looking to Jason to "guarantee" parts counter pricing, that I cannot do, but I do look to him to see that the AZVJC is being done right overall. Jason cannot guarantee anything but in fact that is more in his favor than anything else.

[Jdemonto@Airpark Jeep Sales]

No, Danno, I didn't for the second one. For the paint, I said that it was cheaper at Bill Luke, but that I was OK with going ahead on the order (since the time/drive would have cost more than I was saving). For the TPS sensor, Airpark didn't have it. I was actually very happy with Airpark's price quote, as it was cheaper than CarQuest and Napa. I didn't know that I could find it cheaper, until I called a dealer that had it in stock. I needed to have a roof over my head for the rain on Friday and Bill Luke got my business because they had the part. The fact that it was cheaper than my discounted price, was both great and disappointing, that's all.

I didn't realize that Airpark offered price matching, until reading your posts. I also didn't realize that even with my club discount, I need to shop around for the cheapest price and then come back to Airpark for them to price match. I'm very aware of jobber pricing and how it relates to OTC sales, pricing. I thought Airpark was getting our business due to great pricing on parts, sales and good service for our vehicles.

I admit that I was naive to the game and will look towards Airpark to give me a quote, after I've already gotten other quotes. Lessoned learned.:)

I talked to travis in parts and he said that we do price match like Don and danno said. I would say 99% of the time our azvjc price is lower, there can be a time where it is not and I do encourage our customers to shop around for the best deal and we will 99% match that deal, Thanks to all the posters for your understanding.

Jason

[Parts@Airpark Jeep]

Airparks parts pricing for Jeep Club members is 25% off Jeeps published list price. Accessories, which have a much shorter markup margin, we sell at 10% over our cost. Assuming we and other dealers look up the same part when members call for a quote, we should be at least as cheap as any dealer in town.

My experience in the past with Carquest, NAPA, AutoZone and Checker’s has been that they were generally cheaper. Today I find that not to be the case. On most items the dealer can compete on price.

Of course there are always exceptions. For example: Once a member wanted us to pick up a part from another dealer instead of ordering from out of town. The other dealer charges us a 15% premium to do that. We have to pass that along or end up selling for less than it cost us.

On all items we are certainly willing to take a look at price matching.

Like anywhere else, we do have employees coming and going. There is a lot to learn. They may not have been told about our Jeep Club pricing. You can always ask for Jason or me when calling. Please be sure to mention the club.

I am sorry for any issues in the past and wish to continue to build relationships in the future. Thank you for your posts. Sometimes we need to be told when we are doing something wrong. We also like to hear the good stuff. I am sure there a lot of members that never post that have gotten great deals on discounts, free freight, closeout items, take off tires, take off wheels, free help with service, copies of parts books, photos of parts via email and the list goes on.

Thanks for reading this long winded post. And thank you for your business.
Jim
Airpark Parts Department