A GMC Hummer EV Pickup Edition 1 buyer who was excited to take delivery of their battery-electric pickup was instead left dismayed after the dealership applied a $50,000 markup to the vehicle at the last minute.
The customer, who anonymously relayed his experience to enthusiast blog Jalopnik, was able to secure a reservation for the limited-edition GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 when the automaker first opened reservations for the vehicle in 2020. On March 17th, he was informed by the dealer, Penske Buick GMC in Cerritos, California, that the vehicle he had pre-ordered had arrived at the dealership.
When he got to the dealer, the salesperson greeted his wife and him and offered him the keys to the vehicle to take a test drive. After a short spin in the vehicle, they walked into the salesperson’s office to do the usual financial paperwork. It was at this point he realized the dealership had applied a $50,000 market adjustment to the vehicle, bringing its pre-tax asking price from the manufacturer’s suggested price of $110,295 to $160,295. After taxes and other registration/licensing fees, the transaction would have totalled $177,013.85.
The customer obviously balked at this asking price and ended up walking away from the dealer. He later called GMC to ask if there was any recourse he could take, but he told Jalopnik the automaker was of no real help and only took his name and information to create a case file.
GM has already warned dealers over applying so-called market adjustment fees to in-demand products like the Hummer EV Edition 1. In a letter sent to dealers earlier this year, the automaker said it was aware of some dealerships that have been “demanding money above and beyond the reservation amounts set in GM’s program rules,” and would be “forced to take action if it learns of any unethical sales practices or brokering activities that undermine the integrity,” of its brands. This could include rerouting popular products like the Hummer EV SUV to other dealers or taking “other recourse prescribed by the Dealer Sales and Service Agreement.”
While GM is not a fan of this sales practice, the automaker has no legally-backed way to force a dealer to sell a vehicle for a certain price. We wouldn’t be surprised if the dealer was able to find a customer willing to pay this $50,000 market adjustment fee, either, as a Hummer EV Edition 1 recently sold for nearly $300,000 at auction – making this $177,000 price tag seem like a bargain.
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Extra comfort for rear-seated passengers.
Filings made in 24 countries, so far.
The sweepstakes closes on December 22nd and the drawing will take place on December 28th.
At a time of year when luxury car ATP usually rises.
Sales decreased 5.6 percent to 16,670 units during the first ten months of 2024.
Specifically critical minerals supply chain development.
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I know it's unpopular but I'm forever astonished that people cannot understand supply and demand. If a product's demand increases, so will the price. Why should dealers be forced to sell a wildly in demand vehicle at MSRP to then have those buyers sell them on a secondary market at an absurd markup? Why does someone who got their name on a list early get to make a windfall when a business that has to pay employees and market these products need to make a predetermined amount per car? Do you think dealers are sitting pretty selling 25% volume because of supply chain issues? Are sales persons not entitled to make a living with significantly reduced volume of sales available? Vehicles are commodity products and pricing is dictated by the buyer not the seller. Remember that.
If you were a GM dealer salesman or any car salesman and did a surprise $50K premium price markup on a pre agreed good faith deal on a vehicle in the Northeast or New Jersey, to a Paisan, you would end up either horizontal in a back alley or swimming with the fishes at the bottom of a lake.
Of course dealers and any business should be able to make a profit. The concepts that seem to be eluding both you and these particular dealers are ethics & ethical business practices. Laws address some of this in business at the most egregious and/or easily defined levels, but not all aspects of ethical human behavior can be governed…in other words, just because you can do something (including but not limited to taking advantage of your customers), doesn’t mean you should.
There is a way of doing business. What was described is just plain wrong and unethical. No-one is against a dealer making a profit and if you want to stop the flippers, you write it into the contract that they cannot re-sell within a specified timeframe. What is clear to me is the sheer greed of some people.
When we changed my wife's car early last year, all this nonsense was just starting. Having bought 5 Acuras over a 20 year period, at the same dealership, they lumped me in with everyone else and gave me the same tired BS. Long story short, they have lost my business FOREVER. Never will be back to buy an Acura.
Buyer should file complaints with the California Attorney General's office and California Consumer Protection agency for unjust enrichment by Penske. Also complaint to California auto dealer licensing authority for fair dealing breach.
I hate to see rip off stuff like this.
Well, GM could just do as Tesla does and sell directly to the customers.
In the 21st century, almost anything which can be sold in a physical store can also be sold online so just cut out the middlemen if they're too much trouble for their worth.
I can't understand why, an individual comment on a GM post, just to trash their products?????
Some unfortunate people are vicious and vindictive. They were not loved as a child and possibly bullied and molested as a child.
The dealer model is anti-consumer. I will never buy a vehicle that way.
And just wait until the GenZ kids really start buying new vehicles. This is going to seem antiquated and ridiculous to them. And they'll end up buying a Tesla/Rivian/etc.
I'd be filing a lawsuit. Bait and switch is illegal.
This experience is the perfect example of GM's poor customer experience. GMC should find that buyer another Hummer at another dealer or another off the assembly line and deliver it to the customer. It would be a lose for the gouging dealer, but it would be a win for the customer and for GM as a brand. GM better take notice that if you piss of the loyalists at this point, they are not coming back.
At the reservation process, you choose the dealer. I'll bet the customer regrets choosing that dealer!
we saw a Hummer EV clocked in at 200k Markup! ha
https://markups.org/gmc/seth-wadley-gmc.html
I wasn't surprised one bit that the Chevrolet dealer was Penske in Cerritos. They have one of the highest markups on C8 Corvettes in the area. I've read some awful reviews regarding their customer service. Personally, I'm staying away from this dealer.
Eric: Roger Penske should be informed about this as his otherwise good name and reputation is taking a big hit.
Wonder if Roger is in a nursing home and his lieutenants are running the show like what they did to Howard Hughes in his senior years. ???
I'm from Cleveland, Ohio, Roger's hometown ( Shaker Heights ), and I know Roger would not stand for hosing the customer.
BTW: The Penske's and the Paul Brown family ( Cleveland Browns ) lived close to each other in Shaker Heights ( suburb of Cleveland ).