Hellcat price gouging...

[Mike Mercury]

Originally Posted by LATB

I say let the free market work. I don't see it gouging if someone wants to pay a "market adjustment" for any car.

No one is being forced to buy.

[ApexOversteer]

I wonder how many of the first ones will end up bubble cars, and never see the road.

[Iron Chef]

I like Tim Kuniskis. He's a car guy throughout, owning a 1971 Challenger. And yeah, a dealer can charge what they want for a product. But it's in the manufacturer's best interest to get that product out there. Dodge has a right to allocate cars to the areas where they feel they'll sell more of them. It's targeted marketing and there's nothing socialistic about it. I'm fine with a dealer making a fair profit, but what they attempt is price gouging and even if you don't play into the game, as a customer it still leaves a bad taste.

One thing that should be noted in the Jalopnik article is the comment about the Hellcat being a "limited edition vehicle" which is incorrect. Kuniskis has gone on record as saying there will be no limit to the amount of cars Dodge will produce, including the Hellcat. They may not crank them out like a standard Charger, but if people want one, they can order one.

I was at a local dealer for an oil change the other day and was talking to the salesman about a Challenger SRT 392. He started with the old "Wellll you know there won't be many of these cars made..." horseshit, at which point I brought up the interview with Kuniskis on my phone. He was dumbfounded and I looked at him and said "I've bought a few cars from you but if you think you're going to play this game with me, I'm just fine with going through the USAA buying service." His backpedaling left skidmarks. At that point, the service manager who's a former neighbor and friend of mine walks up and says "When you're ready to order come see me directly" and gave the salesman a dirty look.

[snide]

Originally Posted by ApexOversteer

I wonder how many of the first ones will end up bubble cars, and never see the road.

If I were to buy one, I'd be driving it.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

Bourgeois Capitalist pigs.

[ApexOversteer]

Originally Posted by Iron Chef

I was at a local dealer for an oil change the other day and was talking to the salesman about a Challenger SRT 392. He started with the old "Wellll you know there won't be many of these cars made..." horseshit, at which point I brought up the interview with Kuniskis on my phone. He was dumbfounded and I looked at him and said "I've bought a few cars from you but if you think you're going to play this game with me, I'm just fine with going through the USAA buying service." His backpedaling left skidmarks. At that point, the service manager who's a former neighbor and friend of mine walks up and says "When you're ready to order come see me directly" and gave the salesman a dirty look.

The look on saleshole's face must've been priceless...

[HellCat]

I'm worth every penny.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by HellCat

I'm worth every penny.

[Bill]

Just how exactly is this socialism? Dodge wants to sell cars. Dodge is going to reward dealers who turn their produc t quickly by sending them more product to sell. You guys make it sound like you want to force Dodge to send all dealers the same amount of cars. Now that sounds like socialism. You want to punish the sucessful dealers who turn lots of product. Instead, they are going to punish their poor performers who don't sell many cars. Should Igive a raise to my worst salesman, or should I give it to the guy who is out selling shit?

[VatorMan]

The .gov has NOTHING to do with marching orders Dodge gives to THEIR dealers. It's an ORDER from the Boss. You want to disobey orders, pay the price.

There is nothing socialist between pieces of the same business.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Just how exactly is this socialism? Dodge wants to sell cars. Dodge is going to reward dealers who turn their produc t quickly by sending them more product to sell. You guys make it sound like you want to force Dodge to send all dealers the same amount of cars. Now that sounds like socialism. You want to punish the sucessful dealers who turn lots of product. Instead, they are going to punish their poor performers who don't sell many cars. Should Igive a raise to my worst salesman, or should I give it to the guy who is out selling shit?

Your (sic) a Commie.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by VatorMan

The .gov has NOTHING to do with marching orders Dodge gives to THEIR dealers. It's an ORDER from the Boss. You want to disobey orders, pay the price.

There is nothing socialist between pieces of the same business.

You to (sic).

[Sea Six]

There's one way to fix all this.

Everyone face the nearest state that fought on the side of the Confederacy. For those of you already in a Confederate state, face your state capital.

Me, I've got my back against the Gulf of Mexico, and am in FL which hardly had a presence in the War Of Northern Agression so I'll just face Jackson MS, the capital of the only state that still has the guts to insist on keeping the Confederate Battle Flag within its state flag.

Now let's all recite the Pledge Of Allegiance, while ignoring the fact that a Socialist penned it.

Amen.

[73sbVert]

Originally Posted by Iron Chef

I like Tim Kuniskis. He's a car guy throughout, owning a 1971 Challenger. And yeah, a dealer can charge what they want for a product. But it's in the manufacturer's best interest to get that product out there. Dodge has a right to allocate cars to the areas where they feel they'll sell more of them. It's targeted marketing and there's nothing socialistic about it. I'm fine with a dealer making a fair profit, but what they attempt is price gouging and even if you don't play into the game, as a customer it still leaves a bad taste.

One thing that should be noted in the Jalopnik article is the comment about the Hellcat being a "limited edition vehicle" which is incorrect. Kuniskis has gone on record as saying there will be no limit to the amount of cars Dodge will produce, including the Hellcat. They may not crank them out like a standard Charger, but if people want one, they can order one.

I was at a local dealer for an oil change the other day and was talking to the salesman about a Challenger SRT 392. He started with the old "Wellll you know there won't be many of these cars made..." horseshit, at which point I brought up the interview with Kuniskis on my phone. He was dumbfounded and I looked at him and said "I've bought a few cars from you but if you think you're going to play this game with me, I'm just fine with going through the USAA buying service." His backpedaling left skidmarks. At that point, the service manager who's a former neighbor and friend of mine walks up and says "When you're ready to order come see me directly" and gave the salesman a dirty look.

Welcome back Mike!

[NeedSpeed]

Originally Posted by LATB

I say let the free market work. I don't see it gouging if someone wants to pay a "market adjustment" for any car.

No one is being forced to buy.

You wouldn't want to stop any "market adjustment" on one of your real estate flips, would you?

I would guess if a real estate agent was trying to sell houses way above market value and they weren't selling, they'd get fired.

[Datawiz]

Originally Posted by ...Whitepower...

Nice move by Dodge to combat it.

Dodge Wants To Stop Dealers From Gouging Customers On Challenger Hellcat

I commend their efforts.

[Silverspeed]

How long has the current Challenger/Charger been on the market? Isn't it time for a redesign? I haven't kept up but am intrigued by this one. Don't want to buy one only for them to redesign a year later.

[StaticCling]

Something is only worth what someone will pay...

[StaticCling]

Originally Posted by Silverspeed

How long has the current Challenger/Charger been on the market? Isn't it time for a redesign? I haven't kept up but am intrigued by this one. Don't want to buy one only for them to redesign a year later.

It has been around since at least 2007 or 2008, because I remember seeing my first one shortly after I got married on a road trip to San Diego in June or July of 2008. They were rare back then. They are all over the place now.

I like the looks of the car, but I really don't see what they can really do with it in the future. It's Retro, and Retro is dead.

[ApexOversteer]

Originally Posted by Silverspeed

How long has the current Challenger/Charger been on the market? Isn't it time for a redesign? I haven't kept up but am intrigued by this one. Don't want to buy one only for them to redesign a year later.

Challenger is 6 years old and the Charger is 3 years into the second generation of the modern car which debuted in '06.

My own speculation: The Charger went from '06 to '10 largely untouched, and then the new Charger came out in '11. New Charger in '16 or '17, I think is reasonable to speculate.

Challenger is 6 years old and gets a facelift. Challenger is built on a tweaked version of '06 Charger platform. I'm thinking the Challenger facelift is meant to hold us over until the new Charger platform is out, with the new Challenger coming a year later.