While inventory remains low, vehicle prices continue to rise.
Some dealerships no longer follow the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), and car shoppers are instead charged higher prices. Manufacturers can’t keep up with the demand, which has surged in the last few months due to recent vaccinations and the reopening of the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That percentage of people paying above sticker for a vehicle has been going up and up and up,” Ivan Drury, automotive analyst at Edmunds.com, told the Wall Street Journal. “There’s no end in sight because there’s fewer and fewer cars on dealer lots.”
J.D. Power revealed that approximately three-quarters of all vehicles sold in the U.S. went for the sticker price or above. This practice had increased to 67% at the end of May and was higher than the average of around 36% pre-pandemic.
A Texas dealer told The Wall Street Journal that they no longer negotiate like they used to. Discounts are no longer offered, and car shoppers are paying record prices.
This sometimes comes as a surprise to some buyers -- but not in the states of California and Connecticut. Dealers in these states need to disclose when they are charging above the factory-set price, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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