4 ms·

This is interesting, can you give some examples?

lastofthemojito 5y ago
It's interesting to browse Carvana - many of their listings include a link to a window sticker, which includes the original MSRP. Some normal cars, especially ones in high demand like the Kia Telluride, are quite marked up. Here's an almost-new Telluride listed for $46,990, but if you look at the window sticker, the MSRP when new was $35,770. https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1936818 https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1936818 One the other hand, the Mercedes GLC isn't at the top of most people's lists. Here's an almost-new one listed for $49,990. According to the window sticker, original MSRP was $51,125. https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2059912 https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2059912 MSRPs $15k apart, but now listed for a just a $3k difference.
el_benhameen 5y ago
As another poster noted, Kia is a particularly good example. I am trying to buy a Kia suv and would normally have thought of it as a mid- to lower-level consumer brand, but there’s insane markups and competition for them right now. The Sorento tends to be marked up $3-8k over msrp in the bay area, and I’ve seen the Telluride marked up $10k+. I went to test drive a Telluride; the first one was bought as I was getting in and the new owner shouted me out of the car, and the salesperson told me to decide whether I wanted the second one before I got back or he’d have it sold. Anecdotal, but he told me that folks who would usually go for a Range Rover like the style, so they’re happy to pay $60k for a marked up Kia versus $100k for whatever else they would have bought.
OldHand2018 5y ago
I had an article that had a big list, but unfortunately I can't find it any more. You can do some web searches and see that the brands with the largest price gains are "normal" while the brands with the smallest price gains are "luxury" cars. You may do best with some anecdotal evidence, however. I moved from the city to the country this year and needed to buy a 2nd car to get me to/from the train station once work went back in person. We were targeted for an October return, so my plan was to buy a cheap used car starting around July. I quickly found that cheap used cars don't exist, but certainly the ones that were the least overpriced were luxury makes, which I associated with concerns over long-term reliability - but I now think that was incorrect. Once I gave up on used cars, I started looking at new cars. "Normal" dealerships were an incredible pain, especially once they found out that I was not going to trade in the car I arrived in. They all wanted high prices above sticker price, long waits, all sorts of games with add-on packages, etc. The two closest dealerships to me were Mercedes and Audi, and when I went to them I found no games, no markups, no giant crush of buyers clogging everything up, etc. I ended up with an Audi Q5 at ~$2k below sticker price (~$46k), the same price range I was being quoted for a Honda Ridgeline (well over sticker - and not even the top model). In normal times it probably would have been $5k below sticker, but whatever. The return to office got delayed again - maybe early 2022 - so it now just sits in the garage getting dusty. Still has the new car smell.

It's interesting to browse Carvana - many of their listings include a link to a window sticker, which includes the original MSRP. Some normal cars, especially ones in high demand like the Kia Telluride, are quite marked up. Here's an almost-new Telluride listed for $46,990, but if you look at the window sticker, the MSRP when new was $35,770. https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1936818 https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1936818 One the other hand, the Mercedes GLC isn't at the top of most people's lists. Here's an almost-new one listed for $49,990. According to the window sticker, original MSRP was $51,125. https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2059912 https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2059912 MSRPs $15k apart, but now listed for a just a $3k difference.

el_benhameen 5y ago

As another poster noted, Kia is a particularly good example. I am trying to buy a Kia suv and would normally have thought of it as a mid- to lower-level consumer brand, but there’s insane markups and competition for them right now. The Sorento tends to be marked up $3-8k over msrp in the bay area, and I’ve seen the Telluride marked up $10k+. I went to test drive a Telluride; the first one was bought as I was getting in and the new owner shouted me out of the car, and the salesperson told me to decide whether I wanted the second one before I got back or he’d have it sold. Anecdotal, but he told me that folks who would usually go for a Range Rover like the style, so they’re happy to pay $60k for a marked up Kia versus $100k for whatever else they would have bought.

OldHand2018 5y ago

I had an article that had a big list, but unfortunately I can't find it any more. You can do some web searches and see that the brands with the largest price gains are "normal" while the brands with the smallest price gains are "luxury" cars. You may do best with some anecdotal evidence, however. I moved from the city to the country this year and needed to buy a 2nd car to get me to/from the train station once work went back in person. We were targeted for an October return, so my plan was to buy a cheap used car starting around July. I quickly found that cheap used cars don't exist, but certainly the ones that were the least overpriced were luxury makes, which I associated with concerns over long-term reliability - but I now think that was incorrect. Once I gave up on used cars, I started looking at new cars. "Normal" dealerships were an incredible pain, especially once they found out that I was not going to trade in the car I arrived in. They all wanted high prices above sticker price, long waits, all sorts of games with add-on packages, etc. The two closest dealerships to me were Mercedes and Audi, and when I went to them I found no games, no markups, no giant crush of buyers clogging everything up, etc. I ended up with an Audi Q5 at ~$2k below sticker price (~$46k), the same price range I was being quoted for a Honda Ridgeline (well over sticker - and not even the top model). In normal times it probably would have been $5k below sticker, but whatever. The return to office got delayed again - maybe early 2022 - so it now just sits in the garage getting dusty. Still has the new car smell.