New sticker shock hits
When Glassman Subaru in Michigan told Elaine Gasaway it now charges a fee above sticker price to order her an Outback SUV, she signed on the dotted line.
“They’re charging me $3,000 over sticker to order it,” said Gasaway. “They
said if it was a car on the lot, it would be $4,000 over.”
Many other car buyers may find themselves also paying over sticker price on their next car as a vehicle shortage means dealers have more customers than wheels, giving them a pricing advantage.
Called a market adjustment fee, the surcharge is usually handwritten in near the sticker price or verbally conveyed by the salesperson. It is becoming more widespread across the nation on all makes and models, auto experts said. The fee ranges from a few hundred bucks to $20,000 or more above
the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP).
Intended to offset the low sales volume dealerships are experiencing due to the trickle of new vehicles coming from factories as manufacturers struggle with parts shortages, the fee is raising questions about ethics within the industry and forcing drivers to make tough choices. There are some who raise the specter of price gouging, too, which would be a legal issue.
Michael Glassman, vice president of Glassman Automotive Group, said new vehicles are increasingly hard to come by, so he has to try to meet his customers’ budgets while still making enough to pay his fixed costs.
In October, consumers paid an average of $535 over MSRP, said Ivan Drury, senior manager of insights at Edmunds.