Car dealerships are growing less popular all the time. Startups such as Tesla are pioneering a business model with corporate-owned showrooms to cut out local franchise owners. I’d argue that dealerships still serve an important purpose, but they aren’t doing themselves any favors. The recent shenanigans by a Mississippi Dodge dealership that resold a Demon 170 ordered by a serviceman who was deployed in Iraq are a prime example.

Imagine for a minute that you’re a serviceman about to deploy when you see the final Dodge Challenger come out: the 1,025 horsepower SRT Demon 170. You’ve always liked the supercharged Challengers and desperately want this final model before the badge goes away forever.

The MSRP is $96,666, so you debate whether to splurge. But you finally decide that you serve your country and deserve to treat yourself. You go down to your local dealership, Mac Haik in Flowood, Mississippi, to configure one. You set up the car exactly how you want, finished in eye-catching “F8 Green” paint. But when you go to reserve it, the dealership has bad news. They want an extra $50,000–just for the privilege of doing business with them.

Little did this customer know, Mac Haik Auto Group is infamous for price gouging. These shysters marked up an early Corvette Z06 $90,000 dollars! The serviceman in question (who has remained publicly anonymous) was desperate enough to own a Demon 170 that he agreed to the $150,000+ total price tag.

Dodge set about building the custom car, and gave the dealership a delivery date. But the customer had deployed to Iraq, so he asked a family member to pick the car up for him. So far, so good. Then one day, he was on a Facebook group for other enthusiasts and a group member announced he had bought a green Demon 170 from Mac Haik Flowood. He even had a picture of the window sticker–which had the serviceman’s name printed on it!

The two Dodge fans began talking and figured out exactly what had happened. This second buyer had been promised a Demon 170 by Mac Haik Flowood, finished in “Triple Nickel.” After he drove eight hours, they told him “tough luck,” they’d already sold his car. As a consolation they told him he could buy a green one which was on its way–for a markup much higher than $50,000. Desperate for one of the final Challengers, he paid up.

The two buyers of the one Challenger complained to the entire Facebook group about the two-timing dealership. William LeGrange, general manager of a Mac Haik Chrysler in Texas responded by writing that the serviceman had never ordered a car–despite his name on the window sticker. He even said the man was lying about being in the military.

This absurd outburst was bad news for Dodge. CEO Tim Kuniskis called Mac Haik and was told everything had been smoothed over. He contacted the serviceman who said that no, the problem was far from resolved. The “brotherhood of muscle” was very much on the serviceman’s side, but Mac Haik still was not.

“Many other owners and the guy who purchased my original vehicle have reached out and offered their own solutions…I’ve had many people offer up their own cars to me for purchase. The guy who purchased mine even offered to spend more money to buy another one if I wanted to buy mine from him. The brotherhood is real…All those options were well received, and I was grateful for everyone’s willingness to help but it wasn’t on them to fix. It should have been on the dealership to fix.”

Dodge Demon 170 reservation holder

Kuniskis was in a bit of a bind: Dodge Challenger production is over and the factory that made them is offline to be retooled for EVs. No other dealerships has a Demon 170 in F8 Green left. But Kuniskis did have 40 Demon 170s set aside to reward his top-performing dealerships. So he took one of these, originally painted “Pitch Black,” and sent it back to a factory to have it painted green and specced exactly how the serviceman requested.

Not only will the original buyer get the car–at MSRP–but he won’t have to deal with Mac Haik. Jay Leno has volunteered to meet him and hand over the car when the soldier gets back to the U.S. And considering how Mac Haik has treated him, I wouldn’t blame him for never talking to them again.

The dealership is in serious damage control mode. It fired three employees involved in the fiasco, including its Flowood general manager. It brags that it got the F8 Green Demon 170 back and generously sold the customer who’d bought it a third Demon 170 at MSRP. That’s right, his reward for being so darn flexible was not having to pay the stupid markups Mac Haik shouldn’t have demanded in the first place. Then the dealership offered the original Demon 170 to the serviceman. It promises that if he says no, it will sell it to someone else and donate any profits to a charity of his choosing. Considering that the dealership conglomerate makes $166,372,318 revenue–per store–annually, I think it can afford to part with those profits.

Next, read how Tesla refused to recall Autopilot cars killing first responders, or watch the YouTube video by “Butter Da Insider” who originally broke this Demon 170 story in the video below: