Motor Kombat: The Fight against Egregious Dealership Markups

Illustration by Derek BaconCar and Driver

From the February/March 2022 issue of Car and Driver.

My friend Louis needed a truck. After driving nothing but Toyota Tacomas for 20 years, he was temporarily truckless, ironically because the craze for Tacomas resulted in some household vehicular arbitrage that saw his dented and scratched 2017 Taco traded straight up for a new Ford Bronco Sport. But then what? How do you replace a vehicle that everyone wants without paying a concurrently stupid price? I advised him to embrace an old baseball maxim: Hit ’em where they ain’t. If everyone’s after a Tacoma, just get something else. You don’t always need the hot car. Take it from a guy who traded in his 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander for a 2010 Lincoln MKT EcoBoost.

Marc UrbanoCar and Driver

I counseled Louis to check out the redesigned 2022 Nissan Frontier, the Ford Ranger, and the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon. He immediately clocked the Ranger as the kind of truck that’s due for a refresh, which is accurate. The only four-wheel-drive Canyon or Colorado that met his $40,000 budget was an extended cab, not a full four-door. As for a Tacoma, the dealer said something like: “We have one Tacoma coming in next month, and for a chance to buy it, customers are going to engage in hand-to-hand combat in our new showroom battle pit. The winner will pay $7000 over sticker.” A friend who recently bought a new 4Runner TRD Pro told me what a great deal he got—he only paid full price.

A block away, the Nissan dealer had four new Frontiers on the lot and no kind of Squid Game situation. I gave Louis the soft sell, telling him, “I know you love Tacomas, but the Frontier just got redesigned and is actually better than the Tacoma in a lot of ways—an extra 32 horsepower, three more gears in the transmission, Zero Gravity front seats.” He asked what I meant by Zero Gravity seats, and like the car expert I am, I quickly changed the subject. Gravity is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, but not as powerful as my apathy when it comes to investigating marketing rhetoric.

Louis ended up buying the Frontier for at least $5000 less than the cheapest local Tacoma, a disparity I find mystifying. I mean, I like Tacomas, but I don’t understand the deification that’s driving prices insane. “The Frontier drives way better than my Tacoma did,” Louis noted. “It’s quieter and faster.” It also has four-wheel disc brakes, which, believe it or not, differentiates it from the current Tacoma. “My new truck has rear drum brakes” sounds like something you’d say to a fellow passenger on a steamship while drinking a laudanum soda pop.

Andi HedrickCar and Driver

The way I see it, the mere presence of a hot vehicle in the market creates opportunities for anyone who can keep an open mind. The Ford Bronco is another example. I’ve been rubbernecking Bronco anguish for months, as reservation holders complain and complain about distant build dates. And the Bronco is cool. But if you’re so impatient for a convertible four-by-four, there’s an SUV called the Jeep Wrangler that’s pretty easy to get. My local dealer has more than 40 to choose from, none of which carry five-figure markups. The Wrangler isn’t new and novel, but “new and novel” is a bad reason to buy a car that you plan to keep longer than six months.

Want a C8 Corvette, but can’t find one at a reasonable price? Get a C7 Grand Sport. As the old Corvette saying goes, “Sooner or later, they’re all a C5.” Do you wish you could buy an FJ80 Land Cruiser, but they’re all halfway back to their original base price? Get in on the ground floor with a manual-transmission two-door Chevy Blazer ZR2, or a supercharged Nissan Xterra, or a Quadrasteer three-quarter-ton Chevy Suburban.

Actually, forget I said that. None of those are hot or trendy. Long may it last.

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