New Car Prices

This is definitively a conspiracy, but if mods feels it should be in a different place, feel free to move it.

In S Calif when new car shopping we see many interesting items on the car cost sheet. I am specifically referring to "Market Adjustment" markups. For those of you who don't see this and don't know what it is, it is "PURE PROFIT" for the dealership. So, for example, a new mustang gt goes for about 25K. But with Market adjustment, it is 28K. This is another way of ripping of customers. Ford can claim we list the car for 25K, dealers do as they please for pricing. The real end result is the REAL cost is 28K, but they get to advertise 25K.

A few years ago, I was at a Ford dealership here, they had a Mustang Cobra for $41K. After reading the sticker I was shocked to realize that $14K of that was dealer markup. That was $14K of profit for them for every one of them sold.

Zap-I am suree u realized they tacked on 25% onto the sticker price.

Here is another example, the new ford GT lists for about 150K, but actually sell from 200K-265K (numbers actually taken from car magazine).

It's not a conspiracy, it's called making a profit. If they didn't make a profit, how would the business exist?

And yeah, I'm moving this to BTS.

Kid,

I don't mind a dealer making an honest profit, that is built into the sticker price. The Market adjustment is nothing more than a rip off for dealers selling popular new cars.

Making a profit is one thing, but adding almost 50% to a sticker price is rediculous. When a car costs $27K, and you add $14K to it, that's going beyond making a profit.

Zap, I am with you, It is truely beyond me how anyone can find this ok.
Maybe a relitive of his owns a dealership and does this????????????:bnghd:

With some auto manufacturers, a market adjustment is a breach of agreement between the manufacturer and the dealer. If you are ever asked to pay a market adjustment on a new model because it is popular, you should contact the manufacturer directly and ask if they have a policy on this. There is a possibilty that they were told specifically they could not do this with this model, and will arrange for you to have your car at MSRP.

Some (not all) dealerships are evil, I used to work in one of them. :bash:

As a former new car salesman, I have some insight on this. The price on the window sticker is the MSRP, Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price, and in most cases, it is just that- a suggestion. Some companies have policies against changing the price, Saturn being the most noteable, with dealers only being able to sell at the price that Saturn sets, not above or below. When BMW came out with the E46 series M3, it had an MSRP of around 55k, but there was a huge waiting list. People that ordered their cars through the dealer usually got their car at sticker price, but it wasn't uncommon for the dealers to mark up the cars that they ordered for the sales floor to 75 or 80k. In fact, lots of people that had ordered their own car were driving them home and selling them on ebay for 10 to 15k profits. Lots of people complained to BMW about this, and BMW's stance was that it was wrong for dealers to mark the cars up, but the sticker price was just a suggestion and BMW had no say or control over what the dealers charged for the cars. I don't think that it is right, but it's just a simple case of supply and demand. Demand is high and supply is low, so up goes the price. We see it every day in the cost of gasoline. If you want a model that has this "market adjustment" added on, go somewhere else. I am sure you can find a dealer somewhere that isn't doing that, and when you go to a dealer that is charging the markup, let them know that you are going somewhere else because of that. It's pretty much all you can do.

Hey Monsoon!...long time no speak dude...hows it going?

anyways..to get to the thread...why is everyone so scared of the word 'Profit'?

if you dont make a profit you cant continue to be in business...if you dont like the price simply go somewhere else and barter a better deal.

Regards.

Again, I have no problem with profit, and I have no problem with dealer markups. It's 50+% dealer markups I have a problem with. I can see if I was buying a Mustang Cobra, and the MSRP was $27K and the dealer added on say $8K for markup. I have no problem with that. But this guy added over HALF THE PRICE of the car as markup. THAT I have a problem with.

I have never paid sticker price for a new car. I've had my share of new cars too.

The two of the new cars I purchased I was able to get employee pricing. This was before it was available to the public also.

My GF gets the supplier discount, which is 1 1/2 - 2 % below invoice. Not sticker price, but invoice price.

My last purchase was almost a month ago, I bought a 2005 Ford Explorer, Sticker Price was $32,450, I got it for $24,110, the employee discount was $3200 and the rebate was $4000 - I negotiated the other $1140.
and I didn't put anything down either.

All you have to do is negotiate, do not be affraid to make an offer and if its not accepted, get up and walk out, they'll stop you if they really want to sell a car. If they don't, simply go to another lot.

Go try it... it will work.