Markups on desirable cars, trucks, and SUVs aren’t new but recently we’ve seen some seriously egregious examples. Today, that comes in the form of a Ford Bronco Raptor that’s priced at $154,005 despite having an MSRP of just $79,005. What’s worse is that the dealer is blatantly defying Ford Motor Co.’s wishes by adding huge markups to many of the vehicles on its lot and we have the receipts to prove it.
We’ve covered Ford dealership markups in the past and to its credit, Ford itself has responded by trying to fix those issues. The carmaker had those dealers either adjust them back to MSRP or remove vehicles that weren’t actually on sale.
The dealership in question is Encinitas Ford in California. It first caught our attention thanks to a post on Reddit by user XSE_Fan. They titled their post “Life’s not fair!” and simply showed a photograph of the Bronco in question with its VIN, stock number, MSRP, and dealer markup with a grand total of $154,005.
Read: Insane Nissan Z Markups Exceeding $50,000 Over MSRP Frustrate Consumers
In the past when we’ve exposed dealers that make a bad name for the manufacturer they represent, many of them have responded by saying that the vehicle in question had a typo or that it wasn’t meant to be online since it was really just a demo vehicle. That’s unlikely to fly here because Encinitas Ford hasn’t just marked up this Bronco Raptor, it’s marked up more than a dozen more vehicles by $15,000 or more.
For starters, it has another Bronco Raptor with a 75 percent markup. It has two different F-150 Lightning trucks, each with its own $15,000 markup. Another has a $20,000 markup. A fourth Lightning sports a $25,000 markup and a 2022 F-150 Raptor is priced at $99,250 after a $20,000 markup. These aren’t just isolated incidents of super high-end vehicles. Encinitas Ford has an E-Series Cutaway van with a $22,659 markup.
Clearly, the dealer doesn’t care what Ford itself suggests is a fair price on these vehicles and it has no bones about defying clear direction from the manufacturer. Back in February, CEO Jim Farley said: “We have very good knowledge of who they are, and their future allocation of product will be directly impacted,” when asked about dealers that charge over MSRP.
Encinitas Ford may simply have flown under the radar until now. According to its website, it has more Lightning trucks en route. Hopefully, Ford will step in and correct these greedy practices. It’s in the brand’s best interest as customers are less likely to return to a dealer that charges over MSRP. If that’s not brand damaging, we don’t know what is. We’ve included screenshots as well as some of the actual window stickers of the vehicles in question below.