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Scott Clark Toyota (also featured elsewhere with the 'training car' video) here in NC is doing a markup of ~$1200. Not to mention they seem to like lowballing you on trades.
Here was my experience in a nutshell:
I came in with a trade and while they appraised it (08' Si with ~65k miles, no accidents/damage), we talked numbers on the FR-S, which they had none left but could get one for me. I asked for the Ultramarine MT, which I was first presented with one that had ALL of the factory options, bring it up around 28k or whatever. I told the salesman that I did not want ANY options on the car, and he said 'they just come that way.' When I pressed the issue, he finally came back with the base model in the same color.
By that time, they came back with an offer for my trade, which was a little over $11k, while KBB says mid-$13k for 'good' condition. I was already getting annoyed because they tried to lowball me on the trade. The next issue, was this extra $1195 dealer charges for things such as tinting, Toyoguard, paint protection, some detailing job, and maybe one more useless thing. I said I did not want ANY of that and they were adamant that they charge that for any car and it was not negotiable. So again, I pressed that I just want the car, off the truck, nothing more. "Their hands were tied in this, its what the owner charges." (The owner?) A few times he used the term "market adjustment" which I called him out as nothing but added profit. I tried the Pure Price card but got whiffed on that one.
Feeling that I was getting nowhere, I moved on to the trade-in value and said that I don't know where they get these numbers but that's way too low. He asked me what I wanted, so I said 13k (I should have said 13.5k but I was already more or less just testing them since I was ready to walk out anyhow). He groaned and said he'll se what he could do. Came back with 12.5k and I said don't even bother, try again 13k or nothing. He magically was able to get 13k now!
So I went back to the $1195 and said why can't I get rid of this? I don't want what you are offering me here, sell me the car and only the car. He got his sales manager who came and said the best they could do "since I didn't want tint" was not tint and reduce it to $995 (lol?). I laughed, they removed the only thing I -was- actually interested in but not for the price they were charging to do it.
On top of that, they had a $699 DOC fee, which is probably the highest I have seen around here. Other dealerships range between $299 and $499 (NC has no maximum that I know of). Near the end, the sales manager pretty much said, "Listen, if you don't buy the car, someone else will", which I don't doubt unfortunately.
Basically, if you're going to pay list price (MSRP), you can do that ANYWHERE and don't need to get bent over at Scott Clark. I have a feeling they're trying to make added profit to support their gratuitous dealership.
I went to other dealerships in Charlotte, such a Town & Country Scion and Scion of Concord which both do not do any market adjustment or markup. They sell at MSRP and that's all ANYONE should pay, not a penny more.
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