New car prices just crossed $50,000 for the first time, incentives are creeping back, and credit’s still tight.
Against that backdrop, we used yesterday’s episode of Daily Dealer Live to ask a question that hits every showroom floor:
Does one price create a better business, or do dealers still need the flexibility to negotiate?
The one-price case: Jeff Miller, CEO of Mark Miller Subaru in Salt Lake City, switched to one price over a decade ago after finding that only 10–20% of buyers enjoy negotiating, even though nearly all dealers still do it.
Since then, he says sales remain strong, CSI is high, turnover is minimal, and front-end gross matches his Subaru 20 Group average.
And even though inventory has normalized, and grosses have compressed, Miller credits the model with higher close rates, rising from the high-20s to around 42%.
He also noted that product specialists aren’t paid on gross, trade values aren’t negotiated, and finance rates aren’t marked up.
According to him, that consistency has built long-term trust and kept margins steady, with F&I profits driven by products customers really want.
Bart Schlosser, GM of Tom Wood Lexus in Indiana, also runs a one-price store.
And he said the transition wasn’t easy.
As he explained on the show, turnover spiked early as veteran salespeople who loved negotiating moved on.
But over time, he says the team stabilized, transparency took root, and efficiency increased.
Of course, prices still adjust three to four times a week based on market data, but he said the no-haggling rule holds.
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The negotiation case: Also on the live panel, Matt Birckhead, dealer principal at Sir Walter Chevrolet in Raleigh, stressed that flexibility is still essential, especially when considering the 21 Chevy dealers in his market and the shoppers tracking real-time price drops online.
“The price online is the price that you're gonna pay, but we’re certainly not gonna lose a deal to the competition over a few hundred dollars,” he said.
His store leans on daily 8:30 huddles, trade walks, quick videos, and early F&I involvement.
The goal, he says, is transparency and speed without losing the human connection that separates good stores from great ones.
Mission over model: Tustin Ulrich, GM at Roper Kia, had a more neutral stance, suggesting that any model can work if the culture does.
That’s why his team holds daily all-hands meetings, reviews core values, and sets clear goals before every shift.
He says that focus has lifted volume nearly 30% year-over-year, even with one-third fewer staff.
Zooming out: Even with different strategies, all four guests agreed that credibility, not the exact pricing method, is what keeps customers coming back.
For one-price stores, that’s built through consistency. Offering the same number for everyone, fair trades, and, in Miller’s case, no rate markups.
For stores that still negotiate, it’s about being open. Showing the online price, looping in a manager early, and talking through changes instead of hiding them.
Big picture: Whichever way you run it, daily structure, clear communication, and a team that believes in the process are what customers actually feel when they walk in. And, to Birckhead’s point, that will be what AI echoes to customers shopping for the best dealers in their market.
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