QOTD: How Can We Stop Dealer Markup?
Every day I see more dealer markup stories. For example, yet another Nissan Z markup story crossed our internal news wire desk this morning.
We also have reported that car buyers say they're willing to pay a LOT over MSRP. So that leads me to a few questions. One is, when will this stop? Another is, can OEMs or regulations do anything about the issue (if they even should -- some will argue that dealer markups are simply capitalism at work)?
Our friends down the virtual way at Jalopnik had one proposal. What say you, B and B?
[Image: Nissan]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
More by Tim Healey
Comments
Join the conversation
To all the bootlickers who champion this as the result of a "free market," well, this is actually the exact opposite of a free market.
The car selling industry is strangled by a franchise laws, enacted decades ago by a forward-thinking dealer lobby who foresaw that their business model may some day become obsolete, because car dealerships add nothing of value to the transactions. They poured enormous sums of money into state legislatures to have laws preventing exactly that - a free market.
I'm amazed how many champions of "free market capitalism" don't know this. A true free market would let carmakers sell directly, as is the case is the vast majority of other industries - clothing, electronics, appliances, anything really.
Art: Why settle for less vehicle so that the owner of the dealership can afford a bigger boat?
NOBODY really HAS to buy a new or even used car in this insane 2022 market, and those who do are damned fools.
THIS IS the way to discourage dealer markup. FIX your damn car and DO NOT GO BEGGING THEM TO GIVE YOU A NEW ONE, in this BIGGEST SELLER's MARKET EVER.
DO NOT BE AN ECON ILLITERATE. WAIT A YEAR OR TWO, THEN BUY.
I wanted, and planned for, a370Z. In June, my wife suggested I wait for the new Z. Sounded like a good idea til I started reading about dealer markups. I found a 2020 370Z with 9000 mi on it, and every option I wanted. And I have been driving it and thoroughly enjoying it since. I have yet to see a new Z advertised anywhere for sticker or below.