There Might Be a Way Around New Car Markups But You Have to Get on Facebook
The new car market is a mess. If you have tried to buy something in the past couple of years, you have more than likely left at least one (if not many) dealerships irritated because someone has expected to sell you a car for more than MSRP. If you had the misfortune of trying to buy something like a Ford Bronco or Chevrolet Corvette, your irritation might look something more like blind rage. Markups are out of control. However, there may be a way around some new car markups emerging, but you’ll have to venture into the Facebook groups to find it.
How to get a deal on a new car in 2023
Getting a “good” deal on a new car nowadays is relative. Some intrepid car dealers have seen this rising issue and decided to carve a little piece of the cake out for themselves. The thought is there is no shortage of frustrated buyers who left dealerships empty-handed because of dealer price gouging, so why not get rid of the markups? These dealers can snatch the lost sales of others while also taking a higher, more altruistic road.
According to The Drive, this is all happening on brand-specific Facebook group pages. The idea is beautiful and simple: buyers go to the groups, post the model and spec they want, and then dealers make offers. Sometimes dealers will even post high-demand cars for sale at MSRP or, sometimes, even lower.
Dealerships are changing
We have all suspected there wasn’t something quite right about car dealerships for a while. You know this is true because how many people will tell you how much they hate going to buy a new car. This is not a post-COVID thing. This anecdotal issue has been going on for decades.
This Facebook group idea is interesting because it inverts the power dynamic that has long felt overwhelmingly in favor of the dealers. These adaptive dealers are giving the buying power back to the customers. This shift allows the potential buyers to feel like they have some agency for once. This isn’t Unicef or anything. The dealers are clearly still doing this to sell cars, but the balance doesn’t make us feel like we are clawing for semi-equal footing.
What car groups are on Facebook?
There are plenty of “No Markup” groups on Facebook now. There are general OEM groups like Subaru, Chevrolet, and so on. More specific groups have also formed for buyers looking for a specific, hard-to-find new car like a Ford F-150 Raptor or Bronco.
The coolest part of these no-markup groups is that it’s a way for local car dealers to earn back the people’s trust. Instead of burning customers, this tactic lets people buy cars without feeling like they are at the receiving end of a firehose of debt. The car community, no matter how twisted and conflated it may get, will always fracture and reset. This has happened many times before, and it will likely continue as we press into virgin waters.
