Placing a reservation on a car you are really excited about is a thrilling experience. However, the experience of knowing your vehicle is being built specifically for you becomes sour when dealership markups take effect and the already hefty price tag gets increased by the price of an entire second car. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happening to some GMC Hummer EV reservation holders when they go to pick up their trucks from the dealership.
GMC Hummer EV Seeing Last-Second Markups, Forcing Out Reservation Holders
Jalopnik was able to speak to one reservation holder that had this happen to him. The man reserved his Edition 1 Hummer EV within the first few minutes of reservations going live. After waiting a year, his Hummer finally arrived at Penske Buick GMC in Cerritos, California. On March 17, he went to pick up his new truck but had no idea what he was walking into.
Image via GMC
The salesperson was friendly; however, after he and his wife took the truck for a test drive, they sat down to do the paperwork. That’s when they got hit by the dealership markup, which added another $50,000 to the top of the MSRP of the GMC Hummer EV.
It undoubtedly was a punch to the face seeing that markup after the test drive. But, of course, this was part of the dealership’s plan. Had they informed him of the markup beforehand, he wouldn’t have come down. But by revealing the markup after he was already there, they played the “take it or leave it” card. It’s likely the reservation holder thought he would have avoided this situation, given that GM warned dealers not to markup the price for the truck.
The reservation holder contacted GMC concierge to see if there was anything they could do, but they were no help. All they did was open a case and retrieve his information. But this isn’t the only instance. There have been several other cases where people haven’t been able to purchase their already expensive reservation vehicles because the dealership won’t let them unless they pay the markup price.
An excellent method to try and avoid this issue is to ensure you get a signed purchase agreement before the vehicle arrives at the dealer to make sure you get the price you’re expecting without any markups. If the dealer refuses to sign one, you’ll know that’s not a place you want to do business at.
Photo via General Motors.
