I came across this vehicle tonight while looking at available inventory. I have no idea how this is remotely tolerated, but man does it make me mad.


This is on a 2020 Defender 110 SE

 

Normally I don't have an issue with dealer markups, god knows I've knocked down the price off of msrp at every opportunity. The free market will do what it will do, the best way to bring prices down is for people not to bite.

This one tho is insulting people's intelligence. Put down the correct cost of the accessories, put a line item with a $15k adm and call it what it is instead of being extra sleazy.

 

My thoughts exactly, to the word.,

I used to “scalp” tickets when i was a kid in college. I would camp out on the sidewalk outside the Omni ticket office, get as many good tickets as I could afford or they would sell me, and put an ad in the newspaper. If any were left over the night of the show I’d show up early and spent my time getting rid of them on the street out front.

I always looked at it as a service — people who had more money than time were paying me for all that time I had invested to get the great tickets. If I didn’t do what I did, everybody who wanted the tickets I had would have to camp out in front of the Omni, and it would have to start much earlier since there’d be even more people doing it.

So as much as I don’t “like” ADM as a buyer, it does serve to “hold” a vehicle at the dealership long enough for it to be available when I get ready to buy so I can at least have one to decide if I want to pay ADM or not. If there was no ADM and the car is a hot commodity, it would be snapped up and I wouldn’t even have a shot at one unless I had gotten my order in two years earlier or whatever.

In other words, I don’t think “first come, first served” is any better of a system morally than “price raised until only those who are REALLY serious about this purchase can get one right now, and others will have to wait till supply catches up.” Because let’s face it — very few people who can afford a $71,000 Defender simply cannot afford a $97,000 one. Most of us simply don’t buy it for that because it feels like a poor value at that price, or we know we can get it a year later for under MSRP, or whatever. So if there’s somebody who feels like it’s worth it to overpay by that much in order to purchase “instant” gratification, more power to them.

But the tacky, childish, insulting “option pricing” of this dealer is enough to make me avoid them at all times and for all reasons.

 

Agree with @soulsea exactly. Don't F'ing play games like that. Everyone knows what it is. Put the "Dealer Markup" that I've seen MANY times over the years on "hot" newly manufactured models.

@NoGaBiker - My favorite version of this was a BBQ joint in Austin called Franklins. They open in the a.m. and close when everything is sold (about noon). The wait is in the hours. Many people camp out. For a long while, local students would hold spots and call you when they were getting near the cashier. They would charge $100 - $200 dollars. I thought it was a valid service, but Franklins somehow shut it down. {Pro-tip: If ever in Austin, they now let you order if you want to place a large order. PLACE a large order)

 

I guess when push comes to shove I don't believe in pure capitalism. The playing field is simply not level enough for anyone to play if everything goes to the highest bidder without any regulation.

The scalping tickets example means that the more popular the show the more likely only the people with significant money can go. I don't see that as simply a service.

Now I don't begrudge a dealership a profit. But I do think this a stellar example of dishonesty and I would not want to do business with anyone who felt this sort of deception was good "business."

 

Fair enough. After I transitioned from a "have-not" to a "have", I always loved the scalpers. I probably bought every concert ticket I got between 1988 and 2010 or so from a local guy on the corner with a handful of tickets. I was still a bargain hunter, though, and would set a price (usually face value) and a maximum distance from stage (row E, Center Right or Center Left, or whatever) and keep at it till a few minutes before showtime, when the value of the ticket was about to go to zero. But that was with buddies who enjoyed the "hunt" as much as the show. But with my wife, I'd just buy the best tickets I could find on the street, for whatever they cost.

But either way, I was grateful for the service, because if I had had to buy them myself in advance and there were no consolidators, I'd be sitting in the upper deck, 200 yards away.

And it's not like concert tickets and Defenders are necessities of life. Nor in the case of Defenders is it difficult to get one at MSRP. You just have to wait for it to come in after ordering it. If you want one now and don't want to wait, it OUGHT to cost more as long as D exceeds S.

But props to you, KevM, for your first line. I can get along with anybody who sees clearly and owns their position.

 

I have to concede good counter-arguments.

 

Welcome to the Porsche game. I have no doubt that it is easier for me to get a Ferrari F8 Tributo allocation than it is for me to get a GT3 allocation.

 

I have drove landrovers since the mid 90s I called a garage in texas after seeing a defender listed for 86k and when I asked what's the best price they said 30k over 116k been honest I told her we were too far apart and went and bought the wife a new gle 350 instead. If I went in when this shortage turns and there is lots of inventory available and offered 30k less I would be laughed out of the show room.
The merc dealer gave me sticker price that wasn't inflated I would be hard pressed to return to these people there should be a limit to which you can over charge people before it becomes a crime

 

WOW!!! Mudflaps for $1995. I could get filthy rich just selling and installing mudflaps. Bought mine for around $80 a pair, took roughly an hour per axle to install. I would be generous and gracious and cut that price in half, installed for a cool grand. I would install them in a tuxedo, while pouring Dom Perignon for the customer while they watch, and do cartwheels all the way to the bank. Find me the person who would pay $1995 for those listed and give them my info. Phone lines are open, operators standing by.