A slew of economic studies has found patterns in who bears the brunt of this pricing strategy. It's not pretty. For example, a number of studies find that dealerships tend to charge people of color more than white folks. Another study finds that older people tend to be charged higher prices than younger people, and that older women tend to be charged the highest price of all.
One study found that dealerships tend to treat a buyer's decision to trade in their used car like a neon sign on their foreheads, flashing, "Charge me more!" That's because trading in your used car, while easier than selling it directly, also fetches less money. Dealerships apparently see this as an indicator that you're either unsavvy or willing to burn cash — so they jack up the price of the car they sell to you.
In trying to find my new truck, I spent hours searching online and corresponding with dozens of dealerships located up and down the West Coast and farther inland.
Luckily, my partner ended up finding the exact truck I wanted, located more than 400 miles away, in Southern California, near her parents' house. The dealership initially wanted $5,000 over MSRP. But thanks to her fierce negotiations (she's a lawyer), we were able to talk them down to only $2,000 over. In normal times, that would be a rip-off. But these are not normal times.
We ask WHAT did this article tell us that 95% of the world didn't already know? But this IS NPR after all. We look forward to their next article that discovers we landed on the MOON!
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