No Fixed Abode: The Dealership's Greatest Hits

Last week, I told you the tale of my friend Rodney’s grandmother who got taken to the cleaners recently by a Cleveland-area Buick dealer. That story’s not quite finished — apparently there have been a few conversations and trips back and forth to dealer, and at one point the “lost paperwork” excuse came into play — so I’ll update all of you once everything shudders to a final halt.

As can be expected from the always-contrarian B&B, not all of you were on the side of the elderly lady in the case. One particularly interesting comment went something like this: “It’s ironic that Jack and Rodney are complaining about the dealer making money off Grandma while at the same time smirking to themselves knowing how often they did that back in the day.”

Well, I cannot say that I ever charged anyone over sticker price for any new car, ever. Not even during the week that the first Ford Expeditions started arriving at dealerships and customers were doing everything but using lethal force to get their hands on one.

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t see some people get “grossed” in the most hardcore method imaginable. So, without further ado, here are a few tales of outrageous dealer-profit fortune, including one in which your humble author played the villain.

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  • Redapple2 As stated above, gm now is not the GM of old. They say it themselves without realizing it. New logo: GM > gm. As much as I dislike my benefactor (gm spent ~ $200,000 on my BS and MS) I try to be fair, a smart business makes timely decisions based on the reality of the current (and future estimates) situation. The move is a good one.
  • Dave M. After an 19-month wait, I finally got my Lariat hybrid in January. It's everything I expected and more for my $35k. The interior is more than adequate for my needs, and I greatly enjoy all the safety features present, which I didn't have on my "old" car (2013 Outback). It's solidly built, and I'm averaging 45-50 mpgs on my 30 mile daily commute (35-75 mph); I took my first road trip last weekend and averaged 35 mpgs at 75-80 mph. Wishes? Memory seats, ventilated seats, and Homelink. Overall I'm very pleased and impressed. It's my first American branded car in my 45 years of buying new cars. Usually I'm a J-VIN kind of guy....
  • Shipwright off topic.I wonder if the truck in the picture has a skid plate to protect the battery because, judging by the scuff mark in the rock immediately behind the truck, it may dented.
  • EBFlex This doesn’t bode well for the real Mustang. When you start slapping meaningless sticker packages it usually means it’s not going to be around long.
  • Rochester I recently test drove the Maverick and can confirm your pros & cons list. Spot on.