Price gouging is a frustrating fact of life in 2022. From houses to GPUs, and gaming console to cars, real world transaction prices often far exceed the numbers that got us excited about the item in the first place. But if even ordinary cars are selling for over list, how much of a markup are car fans facing for the 2023 Toyota GR Corolla, a car so hyped it has dealers rubbing their hands together manically like Scooby-Doo villains?
After a triple-tailpipe exhaustive investigation, Carscoops can now put an indicative number on dealers’ inherent greediness. As my colleague Stephen Rivers alluded to when we asked Toyota how many GR Corollas would be made for the States the first year of production, a couple of us here at Carscoops are/were interested in the hot hatch and reached out to dealers within our respective states.
Read: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Rocks The Boat With 300 HP, AWD, And A 6-Speed Manual
Do note here that we haven’t even seen a fully-finished pre-production GR Corolla as the vehicles at the presentation were cobbled up with whatever parts were available, including EV buttons and standard Corolla instrument panels. Nor has Toyota announced pricing yet.
A $10,000 markup will secure you a spot 100% (you don’t say…)
Photos Mike Gauthier for Carscoops
I sent out a bunch of emails to Toyota dealers in Massachusetts (along with a few more to a few out-of-state dealers). Most of them told me they’d be happy to put me on a “VIP” (sic) waiting list and get back to me with more info when available. However, one perky salesperson in northeastern Mass was happy to secure me a spot for a five-figure markup – oh, my, how nice of them.
Asked if they had any indication of pricing, timing, allocation and how I could get on the list, the salesperson replied: “They will be going over MSRP for $10,000, and wait time will be roughly six months. We can put you on a wait list with an agreement to price and a $500 fully refundable deposit.”
But would that secure my spot for sure? “The deposit will 100% secure you spot on the list,” the salesperson replied with the confidence and aplomb of a veteran. “We don’t have an exact MSRP but a rough estimate will be around $31k plus the $10k market adjustment and taxes and fees. The six-month wait is from the launch date which was last week. There is no allocated list at this time.”
If that $31,000 starting MSRP is crudely accurate – which, to be fair, we don’t think it is, as our guess is between $35,000 and $40,000 for the base model and $40,000-$45,000 for the winged Circuit Edition, that would equate to a bonkers 32.3% markup over MSRP! Regardless, that should give you an idea of what to expect from at least some stealerships.
What can you do about greedy dealers?
Here’s the thing. MSRP isn’t a fixed price set by manufacturers like a lot of people seem to wrongly think it is, but an acronym for “Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price”, keyword here being “suggested”. That’s why in the good ol’ days you could walk in a dealer and negotiate yourself a lower price than MSRP. When high-demand meets low production numbers, that works the other way around.
Still, that doesn’t mean, we, as consumers, should accept it. You have options, from shopping around until you find a dealer that respects the customer and their business, to shaming predatory practices and placing pressure on manufacturers to deal with these…dealers. And if nothing else works, well, just move on to a different car. If we’re talking about mid-$40s to mid-$50s for what is essentially a three-cylinder Corolla that may not live up to the hype created by its much smaller sibling, the GR Yaris, there are plenty of other driver-orientated options out there that can easily scratch your performance itch.
Will Toyota take any measures against dealer markups?
When we reached out to Toyota last week to inquire about the production numbers, (but before we contacted local dealerships), a spokesperson told us that they would be monitoring the situation, though they did point out that there’s only so much they can do.
“We recognize that there is a lot of excitement about the GR Corolla and that customers are anxious to be among the first to own the new model,” said the press rep. “Toyota has established a Manufacturers’ Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) that is, as it sounds, a retail price suggested by the manufacturer. Because our dealers are independent business owners, the final transaction price will be the result of interactions between the customer and the dealer. Our sales group has consulted with our regional offices to ask them to be aware of transaction prices and consult with dealers as needed.”
We’ll see how that’s deciphered in real life transactions. Thanks to pressure from consumers and media, some automakers have at least publicly acknowledged the problem and are trying to find ways address it. Whether that proves enough or is inadequate and superficial, remains to be seen.
Subaru of America’s CEO, for example, sent a letter to dealers that was obtained by Jalopnik saying, “Taking advantage of the current market imbalance between supply and demand is something a ‘car dealer’ would do… it’s NOT something a ‘Subaru Retailer’ would consider doing.” Earlier this year, Ford boss Jim Farley admitted that around 10 percent of its dealer network was charging over MSRP and that those offending dealerships’ allocations would be impacted as a result, while according to Autonews, Hyundai and Genesis emailed dealers saying that if they pushed things too far with markups, they could be hit with penalties to discourage bad behavior.
What else did we learn about the GR Corolla from our communication with dealers?
Beyond the sticker-shocker from one of Toyota’s dealerships in Mass, we learned a few more things about the car that are worth sharing, even if it’s still a bit early for definitive conclusions.
One thing that seemed to be persistent was that dealers believe they will be getting anywhere from one to three cars – at least here in MA, starting this fall (October or November, to be precise).
“We are not sure how many Corolla GRs we will get allocated. Toyota mentioned it might be one per dealer this year. We have not received any pricing,” a dealer manager told us. “No pricing, no timing. I can say that every dealer has been allocated about three. Only three!”, another one said.
One of the salesman informed us that, “For the Circuit edition that is only going to be available in 2023, we will not see until a few months into 2023 from what we were told. We have no idea how many we are getting.”
Have any of you reached out to your local dealerships for the GR Corolla and what have they told you? You can tell us in the comments below or contacts us and share your experience with us through email.