Dealer May Sell For Less

The last week or two, I’ve been getting the Toronto Sun free of charge. The Sun, as it’s known, could be compared to, say, the New York Post, but it’s really more in the vein of a British tabloid paper. Like the Post, the front page always has some sensationalized headline, and it’s often looked down upon as the newspaper of the uneducated middle class, but if you want to know what’s really going on in Toronto, especially our farcical municipal politics, The Sun cannot be beat.

While its competitors have ads for local Aston Martin, Bentley and Land Rover dealers, the Sun seems to have never-ending full-page ads for local domestic car dealerships, which seem to be perpetually wrapping up some kind of blowout sale that brings a whole new meaning to the term “dealer may sell for less”.

Having never picked up The Sun prior to getting it delivered, I was unaware that you could get such a good deal on a new car. But every day, there are 2013 Fusions, Escapes, Journeys, Grand Caravans and even full-size trucks going for utterly unbelievable prices. How about

• A 2013 Dodge Journey Canada Value Package for $17,995?
• If you want a Pentastar and a 6-speed automatic, you can get that in a Grand Caravan CVP for the same money.

  
  

• If you look around a little more, you can find both cars listed at $17,295.
• A 1.6L Ecoboost Escape is $19,788, minus another $1,000 if you’re a Costco member.
• You can lease a 2013 Fusion 2.5L for about $25/month less than a Mazda3 SKYACTIV – or a well equipped Focus, for that matter.
• A Chrysler 200 is $555 more than a base model Honda Civic.

In some cases, like the Journey and the 200, you are getting some old tech, like 2.4L engines and 4-speed automatics. I don’t think I’d really want to drive a minivan at this stage in my life, but the Caravan at 17,995 is an unbeatable value – and the step up to a model with Stow N Go seats (which I’d imagine are a must have when kids and all their associated cargo are part of the equation) only brings the price up to just under $22,000.

The fact that a Dart 2.0L costs more than a Fusion or an Escape strikes me as absurd. I don’t know how much of it is manufacturer cash on the hood or a price war among dealers. One dealer principal I spoke to told me that this is happening already. According to him, car dealerships are just convenient real estate plays for a number of wealthy Toronto residents, and they’re ok with selling cars at rock bottom prices. For consumers, there’s never been such an abundance of good deals out there.