Today, I stumbled across site that has a crowd-sourced app, called the “EV Dealer Markup Tracker,” for checking which EV dealers are charging over MSRP and those who are not. You can search by specific model(s), date range for the reported pricing information and markup amount range.
This has really become a major issue with COVID-19 and supply chain problems: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/17/more-than-80percent-of-consumers-are-paying-above-sticker-price-for-new-car.html
As EV buyers, we should all contribute to the source data and use it when shopping.
The dealers gouging the worst, probably will have vehicles available, so here’s my advice:
- Visit the dealers showing prices above MSRP and do your test drive evaluation there.
- Ask about pricing, so you can contribute data to this project.
- REPORT THE RESULT TO THE SITE.
- SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE APP ON SOCIAL MEDIA, FAR AND WIDE.
- TRY to resist the temptation to overpay, no matter how hard it has been to find the EV of your dreams.
- When you find a good dealer, don’t try to negotiate all the profit out of the deal. You’ll need a dealer who can service your new EV!
Together, we can change bad dealer behavior. Nothing pisses off a dealer (and more importantly, their salespeople) than “tire kickers,” which you will be, as far as they’re concerned. That’s okay, because nothing pisses off car buyers more than dealers who price gouge.
What goes around, comes around.
