The shift in how car dealers handle online pricing since COVID

I was shopping for a used SUV in Austin last week and noticed every single dealer website now shows the 'out the door' price up front, no more 'call for price' games. Back in 2019 when I bought my last car, I had to email three different dealerships just to get a baseline number before fees. Is this a permanent change or will they sneak the old tactics back in once inventory loosens up?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_brian6d ago

Just wait until the next recession hits and suddenly every price tag disappears faster than a free beer at a construction site. They're only posting those out the door numbers because they know people are still trigger happy with their wallets. Once the lots fill up with 2024 leftovers and nobody's buying, they'll be back to "special internet price requires your firstborn's social security number.

jake7476d ago

Nailed it @the_brian. Soon as those 0% financing signs go up and nobody's walking, you'll see actual prices drop below invoice again. The showroom floor gets real quiet when people stop buying.

anthonynelson6d ago

Yeah man I used to think they'd never drop prices but this kinda changed my mind.