Dealer Adds $20,000 "Market Adjustment" to $32,940 Maverick

[ControlNode]

Makes sense. If you're comfortable with the price tgat's all that matters.

?

Except for the fact that those ADMs stick virtually forever.

Go buy yourself a used 2020 F-150 Raptor. And you'll pay the ADM too.

Or go to sell your RS, even though you didn't pay an ADM, the cars value includes it.

Once those vehicles are sold it establishes a new baseline. For it and all similar vehicles. Look at my Ranger for example Kelly Blue book lists it's value at $40-$42k for a private sale. That's more than I paid for it 2 years ago.

This is a rare market right now. A used RS was not MSRP plus any ADM in 2016, it was just depreciated value from MSRP. Granted that depreciation was not much, by 2018 my 2016 was under 30K, and went back up for a while. KBB is now showing about $24k for the RS with 90k miles. Not that I would sell it for that, I bought this car as a long-term fun car, to me there is nothing on the market new that really checks all the boxes the RS did enough for me to trade in the RS on it and start a new payment. I still stand-by if fools weren't willing to pay so much beyond normal values this current market everyone would be able to save thousands, both on new and used.

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[WhiteRangerDanger]

Not to be rude but I really don’t need anything that bad to pay MSRP or above. I’ll find it at the price I want.

Not rude at all...I just knew that I wasn't going to get anything better in price at that time

 

[Dr. Zaius]

...Who remembers the PT cruisers that were going for over MSRP, I do.

Looking back at people who paid over MSRP for a PT Cruiser...

I remember people paying over MSRP for the Neon as well.

Makes me think of P.T. Barnum...

 

[AzScorpion]

Not to be rude but I really don’t need anything that bad to pay MSRP or above. I’ll find it at the price I want.

I can see those needing a vehicle right away in the case that theirs died or have had an accident and waiting and or traveling just doesn't work out for them.

I've never paid msrp for any vehicle, motorcycle or snowmobile I've ever bought. But times are crazy now but there are still dealers out there will to sell below msrp. You usually have to be willing to either travel or have it shipped to you and most times you'll still make out better.

 

[D Fresh]

?


This is a rare market right now. A used RS was not MSRP plus any ADM in 2016, it was just depreciated value from MSRP. Granted that depreciation was not much, by 2018 my 2016 was under 30K, and went back up for a while. KBB is now showing about $24k for the RS with 90k miles. Not that I would sell it for that, I bought this car as a long-term fun car, to me there is nothing on the market new that really checks all the boxes the RS did enough for me to trade in the RS on it and start a new payment. I still stand-by if fools weren't willing to pay so much beyond normal values this current market everyone would be able to save thousands, both on new and used.

It IS a weird market. But it IS the market right now.

If you don't think you could've flipped your RS day one and made a lot of money on it, you weren't paying very close attention. Just like any other sought after car barely used models were commanding just as high of prices as an ADM'd new one. It's all supply and demand. It's just that back in the day the only vehicles out of whack in that regards were low volume performance models. Now it's Camry's and Civics.

Hopefully we get back to normal one day. But it's doubtful to me. Ford and other manufacturers have seen the premiums we'll pay if production is kept low.

And we certainly agree that people paying these prices are screwing us all. My only guess is they NEED a new vehicle more so than I.

 

[Rick V.]

I can see those needing a vehicle right away in the case that theirs died or have had an accident and waiting and or traveling just doesn't work out for them.

I've never paid msrp for any vehicle, motorcycle or snowmobile I've ever bought. But times are crazy now but there are still dealers out there will to sell below msrp. You usually have to be willing to either travel or have it shipped to you and most times you'll still make out better.

I’ve been fortunate that I was never in that position plus I have been dealing with the same dealership for 38 years. This is the second salesman and the same finance manager. Never paid MSRP or close to it.

 

[LostMy65]

The dealers are only doing this because there are to many who are willing to pay these ridiculous markups. I put the blame solely on the consumer.
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I don't know if I'd say solely on the buyer.
There's a website that got started just because of the markups. Markups.org. They have been tracking dealerships that stuck with MSRP through it all. Some dealerships are playing the short game and some stuck to thinking long-term.
People won't forget who took advantage of them when they had an actual need for a car. Friends will be telling friends. There will be google and yelp and other sources of reference.
I say it takes two. One, the jerk looking to take advantage, and the poor soul (or possibly often a sucker) that gets taken advantage of.
Yes, many may be fools. Some may be vulnerable.

 

[Sanctus Rimor]

Ford and other manufacturers have seen the premiums we'll pay if production is kept low.

That's short-sighted thinking on their part. Low production=low customer count.

That's less vehicles needing maintenance-$$$
Less OEM repacement and performance parts-$$$
Less aftermarket parts sales-$$$ through licensing and partnerships.

I have a friend with a bike shop. He said he didn't open a shop to sell bikes-there's no money in it. The money is in maintenance, repairs and upgrades. He has one saleman and six mechanics, and service appts are usually around 4-6 weeks out.

 

[D Fresh]

That's short-sighted thinking on their part. Low production=low customer count.

That's less vehicles needing maintenance-$$$
Less OEM repacement and performance parts-$$$
Less aftermarket parts sales-$$$ through licensing and partnerships.

I have a friend with a bike shop. He said he didn't open a shop to sell bikes-there's no money in it. The money is in maintenance, repairs and upgrades. He has one saleman and six mechanics, and service appts are usually around 4-6 weeks out.

I'd agree that is wrong thinking on their part if they plan to continue making money off of service and parts. But I'm not sure sure that's the plan. Looking at the way things are made now and considering the coming move to electric, I'm not sure that's the case. Cars are moving to a throwaway commodity. Junkyards are full of 10 year old vehicles.

 

[JohnnyO]

I'd agree that is wrong thinking on their part if they plan to continue making money off of service and parts. But I'm not sure sure that's the plan. Looking at the way things are made now and considering the coming move to electric, I'm not sure that's the case. Cars are moving to a throwaway commodity. Junkyards are full of 10 year old vehicles.

And actually that's not because they're cheaply made, it's because they cost more to fix than they're worth because of all the technology.

 

[D Fresh]

And actually that's not because they're cheaply made, it's because they cost more to fix than they're worth because of all the technology.

Perhaps.

Not sure what kind of crazy technology a 2012 Camry has in it, but sure.

Not being made to be repaired does not necessarily mean cheaply made.

 

[Garemlin]

I can't imaging a bank giving anyone a loan for a car priced $20k over sticker.

People willing to pay high ADMs on any vehicle usually have a bunch of disposable income and would probably be paying cash.

But yeah I can't see any bank doing that. I don't even know how GAP insurance would come into play in a situation where a vehicle that was bought for $20k over sticker and was totalled. I mean technically most GAP covers the balance of a loan. But I'm sure there are limitations.

 

[AzScorpion]

I don't know if I'd say solely on the buyer.
There's a website that got started just because of the markups. Markups.org. They have been tracking dealerships that stuck with MSRP through it all. Some dealerships are playing the short game and some stuck to thinking long-term.
People won't forget who took advantage of them when they had an actual need for a car. Friends will be telling friends. There will be google and yelp and other sources of reference.
I say it takes two. One, the jerk looking to take advantage, and the poor soul (or possibly often a sucker) that gets taken advantage of.
Yes, many may be fools. Some may be vulnerable.

I've seen the lists out there and on the Bronco forum they even have a "Naughty Dealer" list. Sure the dealers are the ones who are marking them up but it doesn't mean you (or anyone) has to pay that price. No different than going to the store where two items are for sale. One might be having a sale where the other is listed at full price. If the customer didn't do their due diligence and bought the one not on sale that's all on them. You really can't blame the store (or dealership) for trying to make more money.

Heck I've done it many times throughout my career when I was super busy. If someone called and I was busy I'd just throw a higher number on the estimate. If I got it great I'd work harder and or weekends to get it done. If not no big deal I already had plenty of work. Did I take advantage of someone, I don't think so. Because in the end it's really the customer who decides what's acceptable and what's not.

 

[Sariandan]

Heck I've done it many times throughout my career when I was super busy. If someone called and I was busy I'd just throw a higher number on the estimate. If I got it great I'd work harder and or weekends to get it done. If not no big deal I already had plenty of work. Did I take advantage of someone, I don't think so. Because in the end it's really the customer who decides what's acceptable and what's not.

This should be common practice when providing a service. If your business has too many customers, you're likely charging too little. If you have too few customers, you're probably charging more than your perceived value is worth and need to come down on price. This also works to control your workload, as you were doing.

I love when I see people not afraid to do this. I've seen too many business owners charge a high rate and then throw all sorts of discounts, because they they're desperate for business or more commonly, don't believe in themselves.

 

[AzScorpion]

This should be common practice when providing a service. If your business has too many customers, you're likely charging too little. If you have too few customers, you're probably charging more than your perceived value is worth and need to come down on price. This also works to control your workload, as you were doing.

I love when I see people not afraid to do this. I've seen too many business owners charge a high rate and then throw all sorts of discounts, because they they're desperate for business or more commonly, don't believe in themselves.

Almost every time I've done this were during building booms that were going on. There was a stretch of 2-3 years in the mid 2000's that were just crazy and we were already working 6-7 days a week.

I never believed in taking advantage of anyone in fact it's been the opposite. I've given some price breaks (mostly seniors) because I knew they were on a fixed income. Most of my customers would tell me I was always the one in the middle when they had got all their estimates. That's always worked for me because most are skeptical when someone is really low and not to many are willing to pay for the highest bid.

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