Car Dealers Offers Buy One, Get One Free Car

Archish · 2nd April 2009, 17:13

Buy one get one free!' No it's not a pair of shoes or a bag of chips - it's a car. Yes, you read that right - buy one car, get one free. The deal is spreading across the country. "We've heard about the buy-one-get-one-free ads in Florida, Ohio and Texas," said Richard Arca, a senior analyst at Edmunds.com. Arca has not heard about these deals in New York yet, though he said he would not be surprised if we see more of them.

Such a great deal begs the question: is it just a marketing gimmick?
"The first thing people think when they come in is 'It's a fake ad. It's a normal car dealer ad. It's a gimmick.' But it's not," said Ali Ahmed, a Dodge dealer in Miami who offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal. He's not lying: the deal is not necessarily a marketing gimmick. Dealers are desperate to sell cars as the auto industry gets smacked with slumping sales. "There is nothing they can do but sell them. They need to get these cars off the lot. They need to mitigate their losses," said Arca. Here's why a dealer might offer a two-for-one deal: once the 2009 model comes out, the value of a 2008 model will keep dropping significantly. Thus, if a dealer hasn't sold the 2008 model, he's going to have to slash the price anyway. That factor, combined with a possible manufacturer's cash incentive when the dealer sells the car, might make the two-for-one deal a break-even or a bit lucrative for a dealership. "Sometimes they are better off doing a two-for-one deal now than waiting a month when they'll have a harder time selling an older model," Arca said.

No auto dealers that The Daily News spoke to in New York were offering two-for-one deals. In fact, most seemed suprised by the deal.
"That's nuts. How do they get away with that? Does the car have four wheels and a motor," said Angel Manjarrex, manager of City World Ford Lincoln Mercury in New York.

The auto industry is seeing a rough future ahead of it. GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota and Nissan all saw sales drop more than 30 percent this year. That's a lot of cars sitting on the lot.

Source :
Buy 1 get 1 free! Car dealerships, desperate for sales, offer deep discounts on autos

Atlblkz06 · 2nd April 2009, 18:54

This isn't really a new trick. Kia had this years ago when they were offering the Kia Rio (cheapest <10k car) when you bought the Kia Spectra. And later they had the same Rio free with the Sedona minivan.

The Rio the give you is an ABSOLUTE base model with manual windows and NO AC! Its pretty much a useless car in my opinion.

There are several rules that go with it as well - and of course your bargaining power is severely restricted by the deal. I just think its another trick but for some who could really use 2 cars, it may be awesome.

predatorwheelz · 2nd April 2009, 18:56

This is not that surprising. It has happened even in India. When Daewoo folded up internationally, the Matiz was still a very popular car in India. Most dealers had stocked up large quantities in the country. There came a situation when the Kolkata dealer was folding up, and was offering "Buy one, get one" deals on the Matiz cars in stock.

Samir Taheer · 2nd April 2009, 20:11

Hmmmm this has been going on for almost a year now. First in the US and in the Uk since the last 8-9 mths. Subaru, Dodge and Kia all did it here in the UK. The rest of the companies were offering to pay for insurance, road tax. Theres loads of other threads floating about, on this same subject.

Nitin · 3rd April 2009, 00:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer

Subaru, Dodge and Kia all did it here in the UK.

Subaru too? Wow..I didn't know that. (Yeah,but after that they did to the Imprezza & the Forrester, I wouldn't be surprised!)

FlyingSpur · 3rd April 2009, 12:12

Someone please do it in India. A hatch free with a +sedan or something. Maybe in a month or two Skoda will have to offload their unsold Fabias along with the bigger cars because of the current situation the forum ahs put them in !!

SAHIR.KITTUR · 3rd April 2009, 13:10

Hope to see such an stunt here in India. Maybe it will be like " Buy a Safari & get a Nano free "
I had herd something like this back in 2008, Buy 8 tata 2613 trucks & get a Safari for free.

m_upreti · 3rd April 2009, 13:23

It is more likely to be buy a dozen Nanos and get a Safari free

.

On a srious note, the way parking situation goes in our big cities parking is costlir than some of the hatches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAHIR.KITTUR

Hope to see such an stunt here in India. Maybe it will be like " Buy a Safari & get a Nano free "
I had herd something like this back in 2008, Buy 8 tata 2613 trucks & get a Safari for free.

Samir Taheer · 3rd April 2009, 16:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nitin

Subaru too? Wow..I didn't know that. (Yeah,but after that they did to the Imprezza & the Forrester, I wouldn't be surprised!)

Subaru had that ugly Tribeca, which they had deals on. Plus i think they were giving 0% finance deals. Dodge had a 'Buy one Nitro get the 2nd one free' deal. Cant remember the others. I think there was a rumour that Landrover had a deal in the USA, where you would buy a rangerover and get a freelander free.

loving_alaap · 3rd April 2009, 19:16

How many companies are having such deals. (i am not able to open the link in work place).

I dream of Honda / Merce / BMW / Audi having such deals in India!!!!!

2nd April 2009, 17:13	#1
Archish BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 319 Thanked: 108 Times	Car Dealers Offers Buy One, Get One Free Car Buy one get one free!' No it's not a pair of shoes or a bag of chips - it's a car. Yes, you read that right - buy one car, get one free. The deal is spreading across the country. "We've heard about the buy-one-get-one-free ads in Florida, Ohio and Texas," said Richard Arca, a senior analyst at Edmunds.com. Arca has not heard about these deals in New York yet, though he said he would not be surprised if we see more of them. Such a great deal begs the question: is it just a marketing gimmick? "The first thing people think when they come in is 'It's a fake ad. It's a normal car dealer ad. It's a gimmick.' But it's not," said Ali Ahmed, a Dodge dealer in Miami who offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal. He's not lying: the deal is not necessarily a marketing gimmick. Dealers are desperate to sell cars as the auto industry gets smacked with slumping sales. "There is nothing they can do but sell them. They need to get these cars off the lot. They need to mitigate their losses," said Arca. Here's why a dealer might offer a two-for-one deal: once the 2009 model comes out, the value of a 2008 model will keep dropping significantly. Thus, if a dealer hasn't sold the 2008 model, he's going to have to slash the price anyway. That factor, combined with a possible manufacturer's cash incentive when the dealer sells the car, might make the two-for-one deal a break-even or a bit lucrative for a dealership. "Sometimes they are better off doing a two-for-one deal now than waiting a month when they'll have a harder time selling an older model," Arca said. No auto dealers that The Daily News spoke to in New York were offering two-for-one deals. In fact, most seemed suprised by the deal. "That's nuts. How do they get away with that? Does the car have four wheels and a motor," said Angel Manjarrex, manager of City World Ford Lincoln Mercury in New York. The auto industry is seeing a rough future ahead of it. GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota and Nissan all saw sales drop more than 30 percent this year. That's a lot of cars sitting on the lot. Source : Buy 1 get 1 free! Car dealerships, desperate for sales, offer deep discounts on autos
	() Thanks

2nd April 2009, 18:54	#2
Atlblkz06 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Atlanta Posts: 164 Thanked: 20 Times	This isn't really a new trick. Kia had this years ago when they were offering the Kia Rio (cheapest <10k car) when you bought the Kia Spectra. And later they had the same Rio free with the Sedona minivan. The Rio the give you is an ABSOLUTE base model with manual windows and NO AC! Its pretty much a useless car in my opinion. There are several rules that go with it as well - and of course your bargaining power is severely restricted by the deal. I just think its another trick but for some who could really use 2 cars, it may be awesome.
	() Thanks

2nd April 2009, 18:56	#3
predatorwheelz Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Delhi/Kolkata Posts: 1,720 Thanked: 1,971 Times View My Garage	This is not that surprising. It has happened even in India. When Daewoo folded up internationally, the Matiz was still a very popular car in India. Most dealers had stocked up large quantities in the country. There came a situation when the Kolkata dealer was folding up, and was offering "Buy one, get one" deals on the Matiz cars in stock.
	() Thanks

2nd April 2009, 20:11	#4
Samir Taheer BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: London & Pune Posts: 459 Thanked: 278 Times	Hmmmm this has been going on for almost a year now. First in the US and in the Uk since the last 8-9 mths. Subaru, Dodge and Kia all did it here in the UK. The rest of the companies were offering to pay for insurance, road tax. Theres loads of other threads floating about, on this same subject.
	() Thanks

3rd April 2009, 12:12	#6
FlyingSpur Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 3,934 Thanked: 1,422 Times View My Garage	Someone please do it in India. A hatch free with a +sedan or something. Maybe in a month or two Skoda will have to offload their unsold Fabias along with the bigger cars because of the current situation the forum ahs put them in !!
	() Thanks

3rd April 2009, 13:10	#7
SAHIR.KITTUR BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Belgaum / Doha Posts: 298 Thanked: 113 Times View My Garage	Hope to see such an stunt here in India. Maybe it will be like " Buy a Safari & get a Nano free " I had herd something like this back in 2008, Buy 8 tata 2613 trucks & get a Safari for free.
	() Thanks

3rd April 2009, 19:16	#10
loving_alaap BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 808 Thanked: 9 Times	How many companies are having such deals. (i am not able to open the link in work place). I dream of Honda / Merce / BMW / Audi having such deals in India!!!!!
	() Thanks