The picture is bleak for American automotive consumers, as the average price paid for new vehicles continued to grow higher than MSRP in 2022. That despite people already paying high prices in 2021, and manufacturers continuing to suggest higher and higher prices over the last 12 months.
A new study from iSeeCars, an online used vehicle marketplace, found that MSRPs rose 7.6 percent over the last year. The average price of a new car, as seen on a manufacturer’s website, rose from $38,707 in February 2022 to $42,608 in February 2023.
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Even so, the price consumers actually paid for their new cars was higher still. The average dealer listing rose by 6.5 percent in the last 12 months, up from $42,551 to $45,996. On average, then, car buyers are spending 8.8 percent more than MSRP, which is 7.6 percent higher than in early 2022.
Fortunately, that’s just an average, and some vehicles can still be had for the amount that the manufacturer suggests, or less. The Chevrolet Silverado is the best deal in February, in comparison to its MSRP, because buyers paid an average of $50,116 for the truck – 1.9 percent less than Chevy’s suggested price of $51,103.
The Volkswagen Arteon and the Cadillac Lyriq also saw customers paying less than MSRP (0.4 percent less, to be precise), while most buyers got an Infiniti QX80 for exactly what the brand suggested it was worth.
In terms of vehicles to avoid, meanwhile, none demanded prices higher above MSRP than the Genesis GV70. The Korean crossover had an average listing of $56,476, which is 27.5 percent higher than its MSRP of $44,299.
Of the vehicles that cost the most over MSRP, the majority were luxury vehicles, such as the Mercedes GLB, the Porsche Taycan, and the Cadillac CT4-V. As ever, though, Jeep customers were willing to pay well over asking (23.9 percent) for the Wrangler.
The good news for consumers is that the market seems to be calming. Dealer demands peaked between May and August, with averages prices at around 10 percent over MSRP, but have fallen slowly since then to 8.8 percent in early 2023.
“The difference between dealer pricing and MSRP should continue to fall as the supply chain improves, though getting back to MSRP for most models may not happen this year,” said Karl Brauer, iSeeCar’s executive analyst.