Screw you, Elon Musk! Car dealers are important. They do all kinds of useful things, like offering rust proofing and paint sealant and marking up the cost of exciting new cars by $20,000 or more. And the latest target of their awesome practices is the 2014 Corvette Stingray. Get out yer checkbook!
Automotive News reports that some dealers are going markup crazy over the C7 'Vette, because why have customer loyalty when you can have cold, hard cash instead? From the story:
Some dealers seem ready to risk a little wrath. In a recent post on a Corvette fan message board, an irate customer of a California dealership griped about the price quote he received on a Stingray: "$10K" above sticker.
Because the poster had bought a Volt plug-in hybrid from the same store two years ago, he figured the sales manager wouldn't gouge him on the Stingray. "Needless to say they just lost me and my wife as customers," he fumed.
As the story notes, price gouging isn't a novel thing by any means: models to get their prices jacked up by dealers include the Dodge Challenger SRT8 and the PT Cruiser when it launched, although that seems hilarious in retrospect. In recent years, the Nissan GT-R had some pretty insane markups as well.
Still, it's an irritating practice, and one that automakers have no control over. Still, the story notes that some Chevrolet dealers are doing the right thing and avoiding crazy markups. They quote the sales manager of Coughlin Chevrolet in Pataskala, Ohio, near Columbus, one of the nation's top Corvette sellers, who say they will sell the Stingray at list price.
But for dealers who do charge markup, they can get into markup price wars with other dealers, according to one dealership that says they plan to sell the Stingray "for thousands above list price":
Managers at his store have decided on markups half the size of the competition's. He figures the store can please zealous shoppers by helping them be among the nation's first Stingray owners, but at a lower price than rivals are offering.
"If the competition is charging $15,000 above," the manager says, "we'll charge $7,500."
What's the worst dealer markup you can find?
Here Come The Insane Corvette Stingray Dealer Markups