Disappointed in Peterbilt Dealers and Prices

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4239742]Truth be known, I don't know how a dealer, or ANY business can make it nowadays. [/QUOTE]

On this topic, you would be absolutely amazed how little profit there is in selling semitrucks. I'm talking typically less than $5,000-$10,000 per truck we sell. That doesn't include all of the hours the sales person puts into making the deal, speccing it and finalizing it and all of the employees hands it touches before the customer pays and leaves with the keys - I'm talking just the on-paper price.

Then the outrageous things we have to do for every person who buys a truck from us because they feel like we owe it to them because they bought our truck..It's unbelievable. When all is said and done, our main source of income is selling parts and service work.

 

Belials, is there any reason why the price needs to be that high? If it costs the dealer $500.00 I understand charging $600.00-$700.00, but why does it cost the dealer $500.00? I thought parts made overseas were supposed to be cheaper.

 

Who necessarily says they're made overseas? Sure, some of them are, but not all. Paccar sells the parts to us, the dealer. The price they sell it to us is our cost, so if Paccar is charging us $500 for the part, they're charging us X markup on what THEY paid the manufacturer to supply them.

See, Paccar is just a massive distributor (and well, now, Engine manufacturer). All of these vendors sell parts to Paccar, and because they are so huge and can buy parts in such large quantities, they get HUGE discounts. Then they can turn around and sell those parts to dealers for a profit, which the dealers then have to turn around and sell to customers for a profit.

Some parts are made overseas in China and other location. Some of them are actually really good (and others are junk). Usually the pricing is WAY cheaper, but it's ultimately determined by what we are charged.

Larger dealerships will likely be able to offer better prices, because they're usually able to buy more quantities from Paccar, so Paccar will offer a bigger discount. Smaller dealerships will have to buy less quantities and will pay higher prices, meaning they'll charge more.

(Note: When I say "dealerships", I mean "groups", as in, JX Peterbilt, Rush Peterbilt, etc)

 

Why can't the dealer buy the parts from the manufacture and only buy the trucks from Paccar?

 

Because we get better prices from Paccar, or free shipping from Paccar, with quicker ship times, or a set next-day air cost & almost guaranteed shipping. That's the way their agreements are worked out. Paccar has done a really good job of getting a grip on the market.

Even if we COULD order from the vendor, those other variables are incredibly dynamic. The shipping cost will vary, the TIMES they ship will vary, the transit times will vary. Right now, Paccar charges us one set amount no matter what we order next day air. If the part weighs 2 pounds or 100 pounds, it costs the same. As long as we place the order by a certain time and they have it in stock at one of their PDCs, it is guaranteed that we will have it by the next morning (providing something does not happen in transit, like UPS loses it, or weather conditions, etc).

So I can't say whether or not Paccar is good or bad - typically if they don't have something in their PDCs, it is a really obscure item. Other times, we order something that even the vendor does not keep in stock, because one of the Paccar PDCs has a stockpile of them.

So I'd say it is probably a 50/50 split on being good and bad. It offers a consistency across the board. If they weren't around, MAYBE we could get parts for cheaper directly from the vendor, but who knows how the shipping would work. I can't predict that.

 

Thanks for all the info bro. You've cleared up a lot.

 

You're very welcome. Glad I can offer an inside-perspective. I know sometimes it is frustrating as a customer, and hopefully knowing a bit more about the "whys" and "hows" makes it less of a frustration.

 

You want frustrating, at least you aren't a Freightliner dealer. I've had the worst luck when dealing with Freightliner.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4239822]You want frustrating, at least you aren't a Freightliner dealer. I've had the worst luck when dealing with Freightliner.[/QUOTE]

I have heard a lot of terrible things about Freightliner and International. Granted, it all depends on each individual dealer. I know we typically go out of our way as a dealership more than they do. Can't say all Pete dealerships do.

 

Subscribing for obvious reasons...