FTC to tackle dealership upcharges

[Jhbryaniv]

minus 25 percent of course lol

Well, those mega corporations already make to much money....

?

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[Dunedain Ranger]

Whenever the government steps in to "help" things, I am instantly reminded of...

" Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding." Justice Brandeis

 

[Friday yet?]

I couldn't believe the check our realtor walked away with when we sold in Florida for essentially 3 days of work.

I mean I can, I signed the contract with him, but still.

3 days and dude netted 17k.

Edit: it also made clearer why he was so willing to pay for the photographer and other little things out of pocket...

Classic example of how useless they are. Their commissions infuriate me.

Sold my previous house @18 months ago. Ordered a very professional looking sign off of Etsy. Built a post like the ones the realtors use. Added an 800# to my phone. Set up a Gmail account for the address. Had that number & email included on the sign. Paid $400 or so to get the house listed on MLS. One note: my plan was to pay ZERO % to any gd body. However it seems that the "pay to list your house" on MLS folks won't let you complete your posting with "zero" commission. But the website will take 1/2 %. So while it chapped my ass I agreed to pay 1/2% because you do need your listing on MLS. But due to the unexpected commission I raised my price even more to cover it.

Installed the sign and shit hit the fan. Phone calls. Emails. People stopping by trying to get the jump on anyone else. People would stop me while I was cutting the grass. Ask questions, say they wanted to see it and then say, "we'll call our realtor to make an appointment." Hard working folks those realtors.

And the damn realtor phone calls. Always ALWAYS wanting to "discuss" the 1/2 %. I would not budge. Short but firm conversation. And they had no choice but to bring their clients by because their clients spotted the house while searching the MLS. Realtors did f*** all. Also had realtors stopping by for other open houses because they saw my professional sign, thought the event was at my house and never picked up on the For Sale by Owner. I'd keep my mouth shut and let them right on in. One of those clowns clients made an offer the same day... which is when the realtor realized my house was FSBO. She was PISSED about the 1/2 %. PISSED. Me being me... with other offers in hand, told her to f*** off and hung up the phone. (Warden was not impressed with me.)

So.. sold my house in a week, raised the price to cover the unexpected 1/2 % and moved on. Hopefully last time I sell a house.

And when I was looking at my current house, new construction, started talking about pricing with the builder. His first, FIRST question was, "Do you have a realtor?" I literally LOL'd (Warden giggled a bit) and said "Hell no! I HATE realtors!" True story, guy smiled shook my hand and said "You and me gonna get along just fine." And we did.

 

[Clank]

look at the window sticker - the one from the factory. the price there is the price it should be . . .

Yes I believe if they had to actually list the asking price, they wouldn't be as bold to put markups on because people would just rule it out without even inquiring. I currently do that if it says please call or just lists MSRP because I don't like their BS

 

[maxbottomtime]

Just in time for excess truck inventory. Lots are full, outside of a few high demand models it's becoming a buyer's market. The fact manufacturer's just increased their MSRP (F-150s up 10-15K on the same model/trim, Rangers 5-10K increase), means we'll be seeing deep "discounts" in the near-term.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Just in time for excess truck inventory. Lots are full, outside of a few high demand models it's becoming a buyer's market. The fact manufacturer's just increased their MSRP (F-150s up 10-15K on the same model/trim, Rangers 5-10K increase), means we'll be seeing deep "discounts" in the near-term.

Caution, Former Car Salesman Rant Ahead:

I'm not sure about other areas, but physical add-ons (running boards pin striping, bug shields window tint, etc) are always listed on a separate sticker on the vehicle around here. That stuff can be negotiated or even removed from the vehicle, usually. My dealer took this route during Covid when all models were scarce and the used car marked skyrocketed, too. They'd take a nice XLT or Mustang and throw the accessory catalog at it, rather than put a $10,000 "Market adjustment fee" on the MSRP. IMO any legislation that tries to over-regulate to benefit consumer laziness usually screws it up.

Do your research, be patient, watch the market; what goes up, must come down. Whatever you were driving in 2020-21 would have served as adequate transportation, while the gottahavitnow people paid for the be-first-on-the-block privilege. Once they were gone, things have returned to normal.

Our selling model in the US is built around same-day delivery. In the EU, more than half are customer ordered, and nearly all in Japan, where real-estate is scarce. They are in awe of our 15+acre lots with 3-500 vehicles that you can drive home TODAY!! I wonder how many of those Broncos with $30,000 markups actually sold at the asking price? Fundamental supply and demand.

Did you think we wouldn't see this happening again?

 

[Tavo]

The FTC finalized the rule it proposed last year, cracking down on bogus fees. And NADA isn't happy about it.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized its new rule designed to combat nefarious automobile dealerships using shady tactics when selling cars. Called the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule, it will eliminate junk fees that are sometimes added to purchase agreements and present customers with a clearer up-front picture of what the final price will be. In theory, anyway.

Shady Dealership Upcharges Are Now Illegal (msn.com)

Sure such as “market adjustment” fee of $10,000.00 & that’s on top of the full msrp and all of their add-one like delivery.

 

[9zero1790]

it used to be 2 kinds of dealers and markup. 1. milk every penny out of customers that are not aware of the system, have bad credit, etc. in some what predatory way. 2. the volume seller who will negotiate a price and try to please a customer to move inventory and make up the difference in back of house numbers games.
type 1 i refuse to deal with
type 2 seems to be scare or non existent after all the bs the past few years.

 

[Hickesy]

I remember the dark, ominous atmosphere of the dealership I went to. Everyone was red-faced, tense and sweating, grinding their jaws like they made regular visits to the gents for a line or two. When they tried to sell me the overpriced extended warranty he wrote the figures on a scrap of paper and slid it across the table like a gangster. Horrible place. Built on a Native American burial site for sure.

 

[Ronbo]

I couldn't believe the check our realtor walked away with when we sold in Florida for essentially 3 days of work.

I mean I can, I signed the contract with him, but still.

3 days and dude netted 17k.

Edit: it also made clearer why he was so willing to pay for the photographer and other little things out of pocket...

They got $36 k from us on our house sale in Broward County.

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