Share Your Worst Stealership Tales With Us

We’ve already reported on how the elements that allowed the rise of the “stealership” mannequin additionally make it exhausting to fight. And that received us questioning, what are your worst experiences with stealerships?

The time period has emerged in response to the enterprise mannequin that defines auto gross sales in a lot of the world. Known as “discriminatory pricing,” the mannequin permits sellers to cost completely different costs to completely different clients for similar automobiles.

Though the title isn’t a reference to discrimination as we think about it at the moment, each senses of the phrase apply. In 2018, a report discovered that individuals of coloration got fewer financing gives and had been charged greater than white shoppers, even when their credit score scores made them extra certified to purchase a automobile, per NBC Information.

Learn Additionally: Research Finds 25% Of Automobile Consumers Gained’t Return To Dealership That Charged Above MSRP

The mannequin additionally implies that sellers don’t must cost what a producer recommends a automobile needs to be value. That has lengthy led to excessive markups for in-demand automobiles. The observe is worse than ever due to provide strains, and we’ve reported on Nissan dealerships promoting Nissan Zs with wild markups, though this is applicable to different manufacturers, too.

Some dealerships attempt to get slightly extra devious with their markups. Chevrolet sellers in Texas had been allegedly auctioning off construct slots for the brand new Corvette Z06, with considered one of them asking $90,000 over MSRP. They later backtracked, stating that they might promote the automotive at listing value, nevertheless it was nonetheless an instance of somebody making an attempt to slap an enormous premium on a fascinating automotive.

Excessive costs aren’t the one method that sellers screw with clients, although. In April, we reported on two Nissan dealerships in Arizona that had been discovered responsible of false promoting. They marketed a low value for a automobile, then advised clients they really had to purchase all types of add-ons to get the automobile.

Though they had been caught, many different ways fly below the radar. And that’s why we’re asking you what immoral, unfair, and worsening enterprise practices you’ve skilled or seen in your time looking for a automotive. Have you ever been discriminated towards? Upsold? Or charged an eye-watering markup? We wish to hear about it.