New vehicle - MSRP?
OK guys - just want to know what to expect with prices - we've never (I mean never) bought a brand new vehicle, so want to get ideas on how it works. As we're getting older we are thinking of buyin...
Forum Discussion
Seon wrote:
Spoke to a friend who's looking to buy a 4wd Denali pickup who said none available locally and the ones when searching on line are listed way above MSRP. When he asked why the mark-up he was told, "Because we can".
I'll stick with my 11 yr old vehicle with 65k miles, thank you.
The "because we can" attitude might work just fine if they're dealing strictly with cash buyers, but think about it -- no bank or CU is going to finance a new vehicle for substantially over MSRP. The buyer is instantly in the bucket (or, a negative equity situation). The lender doesn't want to chance having to repo a vehicle that has a balance owed of substantially greater than it's worth.
As for availability, my wife and I just returned from a 3100-mile trip through Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia. I'd estimate that at least 75% of our travels were non-interstate. It's true that some car dealers looked a bit scant on inventory, however there were plenty of dealerships that appeared to have lots full of new vehicle inventory, so at this point I would really question any 'shortage' of vehicles (even if you had to fly to go pick it up -- an airline ticket is way cheaper than a crazy high markup on a new vehicle). This whole overcharging game will end -- sooner than later -- when these dealerships realize they're overloaded with inventory and their floor plan interest begins to eat them alive.
