How To Turn a $40k Truck Into a $50k Truck

Then be careful about buying a more run of the mill Ram. Probably lose its value a lot quicker than the hot ticket TRX/Rivian/Raptor/etc.

 

For sure, this overvalued used vehicle market won’t last forever. Smart me would just buy a truck and stick with it. Dumb me might get in the way of that.

 

If dealership competition were driving down prices, then manufacturers would not need to pressure dealerships to lower prices to MSRP, but they do. Forcing sales through dealerships narrows the pipeline of goods to the consumer and reduces the options available for consumers to cross shop between manufacturers and loan originators. It also provides strong incentives between dealerships to fix prices. All of this effectively reduces the supply of new vehicles. Supply down, price up.

Tariffs like the Chicken Tax on imported trucks reduces the benefits of global labor differentials and reduces the total supply of light trucks in the market. Supply down, price up.

Setting mandates on MPGs, diesels, etc. reduces the total number of manufacturers and models offering light trucks, reducing supply. Supply down, price up.

Demand is incredibly high for trucks and the system we have doesn’t allow the market the flexibility to meet that demand.

 

good thing that digital portfolio is included, or i would have been extremely suspicious

 

Found financing paperwork from previous owner in my 2018.
Poor bastard turned a 47k truck into a 58k truck financed at over 6% interest.

 

Fuck the price of the new taco, I am more worried about the price of fucking paper towels!
This massive inflation of all necessary things in life is getting nuts.
Gonna have to start wiping my ass with a dried corncob like ma used to do.

Oh…and thanks for the Tech Pack you savages! Lol, maybe it will wipe my ass

 

This is exactly why I ended up buying from Panama City Toyota. Still had to pay for toyoguard, but you can't get out of that if you buy in the southeast.

 

Yes.

The price of a vehicle isn't determined by each step just adding their cost. Point being, you don't get to the final cost simply by adding up each layer. If buyers will pay $50k then Toyota will sell it for $50k, they are not going to sell it for less just to be your friend.

But, if they CAN sell direct they may undercut their dealers to drive them out, now they get the full amount rather than a piece of it. That lowers price in the short term but in the long term it reduces competition which will ultimately raise prices. Remember, the dealers compete amongst themselves for your business, that competition lowers price overall.

Remember when you could go to a dealer and haggle, and walk out buying a truck below MSRP? That IS that competition. Dealer A haggles because they would rather sell it to you than have you walk down the street and buy from Dealer B. Take out the dealers and who are you haggling against? Toyota corporate? (remember, you already have choice of different brands).

Bottom line, when the manufacture sells direct there is less competition trying to sell you a car, less competition drives up prices in a free market. Yes, the car dealer network isn't perfect free market but it is closer to a free market than direct to consumer sales is.

 

That assumes that dealerships don't collude to fix prices. It becomes easier when you have multiple dealerships organized under a distributor.

 

Oh really?

 

Things are going to get worse until the wealthiest generation in history retires from retirement and kicks the bucket

 

That is true. It also assumes there are enough dealers to actually drive the market down. If your town has one dealer then that doesn't happen.

But to the point, when toyota IS the dealer there is only ever one dealer.

A perfect example is Telsa, their cars went from low $50's to mid-$60's, then back down again. Tesla is renowned for some of the highest profit margins for any manufacture, it must be when you can chop 18% of the price at the drop of a hat. But Tesla doesn't compete against itself, there are no two Tesla dealers each trying to get you to buy at THEIR location rather than the other location. And to be clear, I'm not just bashing Tesla, I like them overall, but with them direct to consumer and right to repair (or lack of) are two areas that I think is not in the consumers favor.

 

I worked in franchise dealerships for 14+ years before leaving it, I can guarantee you that dealerships absolutely do not collude on price fixing. Every owner of a dealership wants to be #1 in volume and most will stop at nothing to achieve that distinction.

Although your statement reminds me of the King of the Hill episode where Buck and all the other propane guys collude for price fixing and raise the price of propane to make money.

 

Hell with the price of toilet paper, or paper towels. What's up with the price of eggs? They claim this chicken flu has decimated the egg laying chicken population that eegs now cost over twice what they were.

 

"Market value adjustment" to me is nothing more than a polished up way of saying "price fixing." Even if they're not colluding with anyone else, the fact that it is a thing when everyone is supposedly trying to beat everyone else's prices (which are readily available on the internet) tells me exactly that.

 

This I can believe lol

 

Those are rookie numbers. ADM on the west coast are 10k plus.

 

shortage of vehicles......economics 101

 

Toyota has you covered.

 

Well my local dealer has a $6000 “market adjustment “ for all new cars. Absolutely ridiculous!