While not surprising, still disappointing.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

By Mack Hogan (remember him?)

People going to get their Broncos they had ordered and being greeted with a $10,000 markup after their wait. I was watching a Chevy Suburban video where a dealer in Jersey was marking up new Suburbans by $2,500-$5,000 and the comments were pretty outraged. That's a 5-9% markup on a Chevy SUV. Now imaging ordering a little (BUT BIG!) 2-door Bronco with a few options for $35k, and then being told you need to pay 28% more.

They know they can turn them around to the next warm body if the original customer walks. But maybe they should have notified them earlier, or mitigated that price hike in a more palatable manner. I get it: there's less to sell. Things cost more. Supply and demand blah blah. From the consumer standpoint, if I ordered a new car spec'd to my whim, waited 18 months where I did NOT buy another car because I thought mine was coming, only to later have the rug pulled out of from me at the end... Too close to bait and switch for my taste.

[CB]

@dr-zoidberg Yeah, that's bogus. If there's one thing Tesla has done right, it's that dealers aren't needed in the market. Isn't the point of capitalism to, y'know, encourage innovation and give people the most bang for the buck so they buy from you?

Comrades.

[flatisflat]

@cb Nope, the point of capitalism is to win. Which means to monopolize wherever possible, and escaping regulatory pushback via a labourious legal battle whittling away at the gray area of law for decades.

[bluemazda2]

@dr-zoidberg Fun fact: I got the first reservation for a Bronco from my local Ford dealership (one of the biggest in FL) the moment they opened and the next day I got a call and learned they decided on a $25k markup for a $40k Big Bend V6 2-Door. Fast forward to last week, I went to go test drive a Mustang before I settled on a 330i and learned they’re marked up $30-40k over sticker. Absolute fucking insanity.

[facw]

@dr-zoidberg So glad we have dealers to protect us from the big mean manufacturers...

[CB]

@flatisflat said in While not surprising, still disappointing.:

@cb Nope, the point of capitalism is to win. Which means to monopolize wherever possible, and escaping regulatory pushback via a labourious legal battle whittling away at the gray area of law for decades.

Dammit, I figured I got something wrong in there somewhere.

[beefchips]

@dr-zoidberg when you order you don't sign a contract with a price listed? If the dealer and customer agreed to the price the dealer has to honor it. If not, the dealer can do what they want I guess, even if it's scummy.

[Manwich]

@dr-zoidberg said in While not surprising, still disappointing.:

They know they can turn them around to the next warm body if the original customer walks.

Not if there's a signed contract with the agreed-to price specified.

[functionoverfashion]

Nah, f*** that noise.

You might have heard me talking about my new Honda Trail 125. My wife put a deposit on one in April. Go ahead and call some dealers and see if you can get one right now. I'll wait here.
.
.
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Right, they're impossible to find, because supply and demand. I spent months looking for one, and finally when I found one, it wasn't a penny over list. And of the few dealers who would even talk price with me, none said they would upcharge or markup beyond sticker. Most places have long wait lists and no inventory, but they weren't going to charge extra.

So yeah... f- that when dealers decide to markup vehicles just because supply and demand. I'm not a fan.

[AkioOhtori]

@dr-zoidberg But I thought the dealers were here to protect us from the big mean car companies!?

Oh shoot @facw beat me to it haha

[Snuze]

@bluemazda2 Curious, how much were they marking up Mustangs?

[orneryduck]

@bluemazda2 said in While not surprising, still disappointing.:

@dr-zoidberg Fun fact: I got the first reservation for a Bronco from my local Ford dealership (one of the biggest in FL) the moment they opened and the next day I got a call and learned they decided on a $25k markup for a $40k Big Bend V6 2-Door. Fast forward to last week, I went to go test drive a Mustang before I settled on a 330i and learned they’re marked up $30-40k over sticker. Absolute fucking insanity.

Dude, what dealer is that!?

Jarrett-Gordon Ford is decent (if they have what you want in stock). I’ve noticed smaller markets have dealers that are less ‘shitty’. All of Orlando’s Subaru dealers were scum, picked a small dealer in North Florida and got the car for less than any other dealer quoted.

[Snuze]

@functionoverfashion I may or may not be back in the market for another car, and in my perusing it seems like a lot of these outrageous markups are happening in major metropolitan markets. I suspect its because there is a large captive market, and these support large dealer groups (that arguably need to make more profit per car since their volume has declined so drastically). The small time dealers out in the sticks seem to be honoring MSRP.

@beefchips It seems like it varies by dealership, but usually you don't. The reason is that manufacturers change incentive packages month to month, and they are usually based on taking delivery of the vehicle in that month. So if the manufacturer is offering $1500 cash back this month, and 0% financing next month, but you don't know exactly when the car is coming, how can the price be negotiated, if that makes sense?

[sn4cktimes]

@dr-zoidberg hell's no. I'd tell them to go fuck themselves, return my deposit and leave. I could wait until later, much later if need be.

[beefchips]

@snuze said in While not surprising, still disappointing.:

if the manufacturer is offering $1500 cash back this month, and 0% financing next month, but you don't know exactly when the car is coming, how can the price be negotiated, if that makes sense?

I guess if you're going to try to take advantage of a manufacturer incentive then that could throw a spanner in the works. But then again that just begs the question why is the incentive not part of the contract? The manufacturer could honor it if they chose to set things up that way. Maybe they just don't choose to honor it for orders? Seems weird.

[bluemazda2]

@snuze $3k for EcoBoost and GT, $30k for GT500

[bluemazda2]

@orneryduck I can point fingers at every one in Broward County for that, including the Autonation one I went to.

[orneryduck]

@bluemazda2 said in While not surprising, still disappointing.:

@orneryduck I can point fingers at every one in Broward County for that, including the Autonation one I went to.

Oh toward Miami way, yikes. Maybe worth checking West-coast, toward Naples/Bonita?

[Snuze]

@beefchips The manufacturer could do whatever they want, and I'm sure it also varies some from brand to brand. But the norm seems to be that the manufacturer will apply whatever incentives are available at time of delivery vs. time of order. I suspect it had something to do with maintaining consistent production rates - imagine if they offered a particularly lucrative incentive one month and lots of people rushed to dealerships then to order cars to lock in that incentive, that would affect their production rates and sales. It also keeps things at a sort of parity because it becomes like a lottery - some people might get lucky and land a smoking deal, others will not and basically pay MSRP.

All that said, Ford has been making overtures that they would like to move towards a custom order model. Dealers will stock less inventory and they won't offer much if any discount on in stock cars, but will start offering guaranteed incentives on custom orders.

[bluemazda2]

@orneryduck I ended up going for a BMW Individual 330i M Sport, so I won’t be needing to deal with all those slimy fucks.

[Mr.Ontop]

@dr-zoidberg A co-worker had the same thing happen to him with his pre-ordered Corvette. It pissed him off so much he had them refund his down payment bought a Porsche instead.

[A Former User]

@dr-zoidberg
That's insane. They aren't allowed to do that over here.
They may be less inclined to give or offer a discount but there are so many ways over here to buy cars, at the dealership, direct from manufacturer, via an agent.
But even amongst those there are a multitude of online ways to save on by a new car.
One I like is you list the make, model, engine, etc... plus any options you want and dealerships compete with each other to offer you the best price and best deal, they have 24-48 hours to send quotes.

[Chariotoflove]

@dr-zoidberg
I didn’t know they could do that. I thought when you ordered a car, that the deal was locked in. What’s the point of ordering a car when you still have to bargain for it when it arrives?

[Chariotoflove]

@beefchips
Seems to me the policy could screw the dealer in a buyer’s market. Order a car without a contracted price, then lowball the dealer when it arrives and leverage the fact that he would have to keep a custom optioned car in his lot when he thought he had a sale in his pocket.

Not a good way to do business, it seems to me.

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

@dr-zoidberg
Down here, that sort of behaviour is pretty much illegal.