Suggestion for DCX: dealer markup crackdown

[allhemi]

Originally Posted by DARK AGE 53

If I have to wait 2 years I won't even pay MSRP, we can debate this all day long but it's up to DCX to which way they want this to go.

You got that right! If I wait 2 years I want a rebate and low intrest rates!

[Sublime 340]

Some customers don't take gouging lightly;

http://cbs4.com/watercooler/local_story_035203500.html

[PhantomR/T]

Originally Posted by Sublime 340

Some customers don't take gouging lightly;

http://cbs4.com/watercooler/local_story_035203500.html

WOW.... I hope that guy dosent get upset at the price of a Challenger!

[Sublime 340]

Guy was Obviously Unbalanced, anyways; being at a Ford dealer.

[RonRdRcr]

Originally Posted by Mike Penner

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.

I agree with you 100%. I am looking for a charger R/T for the wife and stopped at a dealer in town who had a couple. I was checking out the new Top Banana they had and noticed a $6,000 Adjustable dealer markup. Then I noticed a $3,000 ADM on every other charger on the lot. I asked why, and he said it was because of the demand. Then I told him about the dealer 15 miles from him selling them all at MSRP and he called me a liar. So, I'm working my deal with the other dealer. What really pissed me off though is I used to be a tech at that dealership.

Oh well

Ron

[RonRdRcr]

Originally Posted by Sublime 340

Some customers don't take gouging lightly;

http://cbs4.com/watercooler/local_story_035203500.html

A guy I worked with in Oregon bought a new Explorer from the local dealer. Signed all of the paperwork for $32,xxx. When he got his first statement in it said he owed $76,xxx. The local Coast Guard station banned all military members from going to that dealer. Apparently he wasn't the first person they had done it to. He took them to court and got it all straightened out eventually. Just another reason I'll never buy a Ford.

Ron

[DanRealtor]

Have you ever visited a dealership that offers "One Price", "The price on the windshield is what you pay". Lou Grubb is one here in AZ. The "No Haggle" approach may appeal to some people: Not Me! I won't shop at any dealership that has this approach.

While many of you are griping about "Market Adjustments" or any other term to describe dealers selling cars for over MSRP, I haven't heard any of you insisting that dealers should have to stick to MSRP and not sell for less (including those of you giving opinions on what's best for DCX: 8>6...). I still don't understand why any or all of you consider this "Price Gouging". And, as staed previously, we are all able to wait or travel (or both) to get the car we want at the price we want, or not buy at all.

The term "Price Gouging" IMO is appropriate when used to describe merchants taking advantage of peole in times of disaster (Katrina...) for basic necessities (food, water, fuel, tp....) when the consumer really cannot do without or travel to get the items elsewhere. Under those conditions I believe it is appropriate for the government to intervene. When describing the pricing strategies of dealers I don't think the term is appropriate.


Dan

[ChuckG]

I tought this was an insightful quote from the article where the guy fire-bombed the dealership:

Miami-Dade police say they regularly get calls to auto dealerships from people upset with their car purchase, and the Consumer Federation of America says auto dealer fraud tops it’s list of complaints.

It says much about how some dealers rip-off their customers. I put mark-ups over MSRP in the same category. People can rationalize all they want that these mark-ups are OK. They're just wrong in my book and I will personally boycott any dealer that does this.

The human mind can rationalize anything.

[TwinTurbo]

well said ChuckG - the MSRP on all cars is already set higher than the true value.. Therefore, I suggest when a person haggles with the dealer and gets a lower price, it reflects a more realistic value. For a dealer to mark-up $5,000 to $10,000 over MSRP is just pure simple rape of the customers.

[DanRealtor]

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that: Most or all who perceive the "Market Adjustment" to be "Price Gouging" are not business owners. And most of us who don't perceive it to be "Price Gouging" either do own or have owned our own businesses.

And I do still find it interesting that no one has a problem haggling the price down below MSRP: If the dealer has too much inventory (excess supply).
And some of those same people cry foul when a dealer wants more than MSRP (short supply and/or excess demand).