Price gouging? Here's who should know...

Do you believe that dealers will be willing to let EV6s sit unsold on their lots rather than budge on their absurd mark-ups? They're businesspeople trying to maximize profits, not collect unsold vehicles. If Kia can get solve whatever problems are limiting the number of EV6s delivered to the US, mark-ups will go away. Mark-ups may delay a few early sales, but they won't depress sales overall. Every EV6 will be sold.

 

King Kia in Gaithersburg, MD has first edition number 61 in their showroom. The guy who ordered it balked at the $15K markup the dealer added, and bought an AWD Wind model instead. Those cars carry a $10K markup. These markups throw these cars into direct competition with Tesla and the Europeans. I actually wrote KIA USA about this, and they basically shrugged their shoulders; dealers can charge whatever they want for these cars. The first edition has a matte grey paint job. Is everyone aware that those matte finish cars cannnot be put through a car wash - not even a brushless one? They have to be hand washed with special products to preserve the matte finish. I wonder if this also contributed to the guy who ordered it letting it go.I love my Niro EV, but I would gladly upgrade to an EV6 once the feeding frenzy subsides,hopefully later this year. I'm not paying $10K over MSRP for a car. No matte paint for me, either...

 

My new reserved First Edition EV6 is at my dealers.

MSRP $59,545

DEALER IS CHARGING ME $69,545

A $10,000 markup over MSRP just for handing me the car.

Dealer: Dan O'Brien KIA North Hampton NH

 

So, Clifford, are you willing to pay. $70K for that car? Supply and demand only work to the customer interest if we are willing to forego that which is over priced. Will you have enough federal tax burden to take full advantage of the $7500 credit? These are the questions I'm asking myself about this car right now...

 

Marty ..... no way am I willing to give Dan O'Brien KIA an extra $10,000 over MSRP ..... they are just the "delivery boy". I reserved the car from KIA and my deal was with KIA. How KIA corporate can allow this is mind boggling ............... I have sent the below to KIA Complaints and news organizations .......... I wish there was more I could do ..........

KIA is airing a super bowl ad featuring "robo-dog" and the new KIA flagship EV..... the model EV6. KIA's highly anticipated USA rollout of the new model EV6 is about to be severely tainted by the greed of some of its KIA dealerships.
In June of 2021, with a deposit payment of $100.00, I reserved a KIA EV6 at KIA's estimated retail full price (MSRP) of $58,500. At the time I reserved MY new EV6 from KIA, I chose the Dan O'Brien Kia of North Hampton NH dealership as my "Delivery Dealer." O'Brien's role was to receive MY CAR from KIA, prep MY CAR for delivery and arrange for payment/financing. Delivery was slated for early 2022 with the "scuttlebutt" being that cars would start being delivered to the 1500 reservation holders just in time for the super bowl and it's KIA "robo-dog" super bowl advertisement.
Only 1500 reservations were taken for the new EV6 in the USA and those of us "lucky" enough to get a reservation were ecstatic. I was psyched!
I received a call from my "delivery dealer" on Feb 9th 2022. MY new EV6 is ready for pick-up! Final KIA sticker price is $59,945 slightly higher than the $58,500 estimate provided by KIA in June .... no big deal.
Before I continue, I want to emphasize that my reservation is with the manufacturer KIA.... not with the dealer whose only contribution is to hand me the car and take my payment... the dealer was not involved in the ordering of the car, or the reservation process. In essence, the dealer is the "delivery boy."
In preparation for payment, the delivery dealer, O'Brien, sent me an invoice with a base "price" of $69,945, $10,000 higher than the KIA retail sticker price shown on window of the car.
Let me state this one more time .... KIA's retail price (MSRP) $59,945. O'Brien's price to me, to hand me MY CAR is $69,945.
Yes ... $10,000.00 higher than the KIA retail price. O'Brien's explanation is "too bad... it's what we can get for the car".
But ... it's not O'Brien's car, it's MY car. I reserved and ordered the car directly through KIA ... O'Brien is the "delivery boy."
In essence, my "delivery boy" is ransoming MY CAR BACK TO ME AT A COST OF $10,000.00.
The KIA forums show this disgusting practice is happening regularly around the country as unscrupulous dealers institute wildly unreasonable markups. In my case the $10,000 surcharge is being imposed by a dealer that did not even order the car. If it was not for my selection of the O'Brien dealership to take delivery of MY EV6, O'Brien would never have even seen the car.
KIA corporate needs to stop this price gouging immediately.
Instead of having 1500 wildly enthusiastic new owners bragging about their brand new EV6, KIA is about to have a large group of seriously upset people who believe they have been cheated out of their new EV6. How can this be good for anyone .... even for the dealers with the $10,000 unwarranted markup, it is short sighted beyond belief.
The super bowl ad won't be positively received by me or my fellow consumers who in good faith reserved an EV6 with KIA only to have it stolen by greedy dealers. Is this ridiculous price gouging what has become of us? In fact, watching the super bowl ad just spurs me on even more to making the dealership price gouging more visible to the public, and I intend to do just that.
I hope you run/air this story as it is not only KIA dealers, but also other manufacturers dealers (i.e. Ford that are instituting what they like to call "market adjustments" to their retail pricing.
As Forbes.com states "Many dealerships are charging “market adjustment,” a euphemism for an amount above sticker price, also known as price gouging.
See the "robo-dog" KIA super bowl ad at ... it's a great advertisement.

 

$10k over is nothing. In Florida quotes have been anywhere from $3-$20k over. Avoid Phil Smith Kia in Lighthouse Point, FL unless you enjoy or your goal is to be raped! As a returning customer, I expected something reasonable that could be negotiated. $16,995/$14,995 markup! We are living in bizarro world and I just fail to understand or be apart of it. The first quote below is for 1st Edition & the second for a GT-Line RWD.

I don’t want a Tesla for a variety of reasons but, Kia dealers are certainly making me rethink that position.

 

Thanks for making me laugh…Good one!

 

I purchased a First Edition tonight – I had spent several days negotiating with the dealer. What started out at MSRP + $21k, turned out to be MSRP + an extended warranty. Look, if you chose the dealership, then you did the hard part getting it there. There are plenty more EV6's behind yours that they can profit from. Be reasonable and if this is what you were interested in 8 months ago then make it known.

 

So, it's a cute ad; might win an award. As for the topic at hand, I am now seriously looking at the Tesla Model Y and the Polestar 2; both, in equivalent spec to the Kia EV6 AWD GT-Line, price out in the $59k range. Add another $5K if you must have the performance model, but you won't go as far on a charge...

 

There are no Tesla dealers to add markups, but Tesla seems to raise their prices every other week these days. Do Volvo/Polestar dealers play the EV markup game?

 

Everything is pricier right now because of supply chain problems, and those impacts have been overinflated by merchants who have confronted with customers with flush savings account because of less spending on other things the last 24 months.

My attitude is my 2019 Niro runs just fine. When dealers get their heads out of the clouds because they are not moving inventory, maybe I will come by. Yes, the EV6 limited supply will sell OK, but when greater numbers are available, the dealers will need to blink.

@Clifford C 's situation is truly frustrating since their anticipated promised vehicle got an unexpected markup, but @Ride_Da_Lightning is spot on: everything is expensive right now because that is "what the market will bear." Whether this is fair (whatever that means in this context) is a long discussion.

 

No, sir; that's the point. And the Polestar 2 is a really nice machine - very fun to drive...

 

The contrarian view would be it is only what the market will bear if we are willing to pay; if consumers balk at the practice, it will end...

 

Snippets from email from my local dealer:

They will be selling at well over MSRP. These will be an extremely limited production vehicle from Kia and will sell at a premium.

We will have one Glacier WIND package MSRP $54,280 and three GT-LINE packages MSRPS Runway Red $57,285, Snow White $57,780, and Aurora Black which has the suede interior $58,075 that are currently available. They will sell at MSRP plus $10,000.

 

Simple issue. If people are willing to pay absurd markups to dealers to be one of the first ones to get a car, then it's on them. The dealers may be able to play this game for a short period of time, but it won't last. Same happened with the Ioniq 5. Tons of stories of 10k markups, but now you hear plenty of people finding cars from dealers with no markup or only a very small one. Just wait them out. If Kia wants to sell a lot of EV6s the supply will eventually be great enough where the markups will be gone. Anybody who pays $10,000 over sticker for a car that will depreciate rapidly is crazy. Once they are selling at MSRP, that car that you paid 10K over sticker for will be worth sticker - $7,500, and dropping rapidly.