Originally Posted by Derf00

Those list prices that dealer has listed are just ludicrous. Read the fine print....
Price $33,480. MSRP $24,485. Harris Ford Discount $11,689.

The Price of $33,480 is their made up price. That can be anything they want it to be
MSRP $24,485 is what most places will sell/advertise for and should be your baseline, not their made up price.

So, it's not false advertising as they are telling you what MSRP is. If you are gullible enough to not read the ad or simply believe the big print, it's on you. Now, if they listed their 33K price as the MSRP, yes, that is false advertising.


It's the mentality these days. Everyone expects a discount, the bigger the discount the better they feel about making a purchase. Most people ignore the fact about the bottom line cost meaning what the out-the-door price is and simply focus on discount.

So, to counter this, most retailers (including dealerships) resort to raising their prices to make the discount seem big.

Most people wouldn't look twice if the car was just listed with the discounted price to begin with and NO discount was mentioned or listed. People would bitch, "oh I want a discount".

Anyways, look at auto pricing before 9/11. Discounts were few and far between. Hardly anyone offered them and imports Never offered them unless it was a model year end clearance.

After 9/11 car manufacturers used them to stimulate car sales that tanked. They've been a staple in the dealership market (and retail market) ever since.