Does regional Income determine prices?

I am noticing those who are paying MSRP and dealers who are holding at MSRP are in high income areas like the NE and California. While Deals seem to be happening in lower income regions...Is this something anyone else is noticing?

 

demand drives price, and some parts of the country have different laws about market adjustments. it's completely up to each dealership, but if i were them i would hold at sticker for as long as i could

 

Makes sense probably more due to population.. High population areas have more probable buyers so dealers can hold to MSRP. Here in MB there are about 34K people. So dealers won't necessarily sell every truck they end up getting for a longer time. They are more inclined to move stock at discounts which is why a smaller dealer 100 miles from here offered me the best price of invoice. My dealer is the largest dealer in the area and moves a lot of stock. Mine is likely the first truck they will move.

 

from what I can tell no. my dealer sells by volume at a best price formula. between the oil fields trucks and farmers buying a new truck every year, $50-$75k trucks are all over the place in town. one dealer had to rent a farmers field to hold inventory cause he didn't have enough room on his main lot.

needless to say, that lot of 100-200 trucks didn't sit there to long (2-3) months before they where all gone.

 

Here in Merced which is a small town of 256k people, there only 1 dealership of each manufacturer. I can tell you this these stealership won't budge on anything. Come here they will rape you on mrsp, invoice doesn't exist. Travel 30 minutes and you can bargain with pricing. On a side note our Toyota here barely gets any businesses in service and sells, I wonder how they are still open.

 

For my 2015, I worked 5 different dealerships within 100-mi radius using the Truecar service and internet. Saved me a few thousand dollars at a dealer nearly 2 hours drive away who was $1k below invoice. They do heavy volume and rely on the mfg holdback payouts from Toyota. Worth a couple hours research, a half day of driving, and a half tank of gas.

 

Best deals I have seen have been from Nor Cal (bay area) and Denver. Not low population areas. High volume dealers are more likely to have lower prices.

 

Sorry if a newb question but ... other than the initial drive is there any disadvantage to buying from someone 100 miles away? I ask because I've never bought a new car, so I'm ignorant. Do you have to take it to the same dealer for tuneups, oil changes, recalls, warrantee work, etc or can I buy from afar and then use a local dealer from that point forward as if I bought it local from the start?

 

You can buy from any dealer and give your local dealer the service. They get paid for warranty work, recalls, and oil changes. They will be glad to have your service if not the deal. I am paying my dealer $500 more than I was quoted from a dealer 100 miles away for "goodwill" If they try to change the deal when the truck arrives I have a reasonable back up they really can't lame me for.