I understand your point of view and respect it. I am not talking about the difference in car prices between areas where the cost of doing business is high versus the cost being low. If a dealer wants to consistently charge $10000 over MSRP because he's selling out of downtown manhattan I have absolutely no problem with that. Presumably the wages earned by customers in that area will be in line with those markups as well. But the moment he drops the price to MSRP and still stays in business I call it price gouging. We all know the laws of supply and demand. The key point here is *excessive* markup (which granted is a subjective thing). Yes he has the right to charge whatever he wants, but DCX as the supplier of those cars has the right and the power to retaliate if its needs aren't met. If the dealer isn't moving units because he is putting the screw to his customers then DCX can (and hopefully will) sanction him. Its certainly in their best interest to do so because DCX isn't getting a cut of his markup while he is costing them precious sales.
BTW I'm curious how your friend saved 20k by buying his car in Michigan (?) and then driving it back to San Diego. The state of CA is very strict about emissions and his car probably won't pass smog as bought. Also he has to be a resident of and have the car registered in the state of purchase for a certain period of time before CA even allows him to import it as I understand it. If this is not the case, please let me know. Obviously if this is a legitimate option its worth considering.
