Dealer Reportedly Forces Customer to Buy Charger Super Bee to Secure Demon 170 Allocation
On top of that, the dealer also wanted to charge the prospective Demon 170 buyer a $100k markup on top of its $100k MSRP.
From the moment we knew that Dodge’s “Last Call” lineup was going to mark the end of an era and the dawn of a new one, it was immediately clear that these limited-production Charger and Challenger models were also going to be quite pricey. With markups a common occurrence these days, dealers are taking advantage of a tilted market to make a few extra bucks, much to the dismay of shoppers, and that will certainly be the case with these Last Call models. However, the hoops that one dealer made a prospective 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 buyer go through are more than a little ridiculous, as they recently explained to CarScoops.
That shopper – Jason Smith – has long been a huge Mopar fan, so we can only imagine his excitement when the Demon 170 was unveiled recently as the ultimate Dodge muscle car – a bonkers creation with over 1,000 horsepower on tap that comes with a $100k price tag, though just 3,300 will ultimately be built. Smith has owned multiple other Dodge models in recent years, however, all of them purchased from Lithia Dodge in Billings, Montana. Thus, he headed back to that same dealer to place his order for a Demon 170, which he figured he had a pretty good chance of getting given his close relationship and history with them.
Instead of being greeted with warm fuzzy conversation, however, Smith was shocked when the dealer told him that he would have to purchase a Charger Super Bee if he wanted to get first dibs at the new, wicked Demon. Regardless, Smith was undaunted given the fact that he really, really wanted a Demon 170, so he placed a non-refundable deposit on the car he didn’t want so that he could get access to the one that he did.
That apparently wasn’t enough to satisfy this greedy dealer, however, as Smith received yet another piece of shocking news when he reached out to them following the Demon’s reveal. “Good Morning! Thanks for reaching out. It was nice but fast I just got back from Vegas this am. I might have one available I am going to charge 200k for it, do you want if available?” a dealer representative said. After Smith pointed out that he literally bought a car he didn’t want for this opportunity – as well as the fact that a markup was never part of the deal – the dealer backed down somewhat, saying that he could have the car for a “mere” $65k over sticker.
As one might imagine, Smith is more than a little disgusted by this revelation, to the point where he isn’t just done buying cars from Lithia Dodge, but he’s also swearing off Dodge vehicles in general. It’s hard to not share Smith’s disgust over this entire sham, but at the same time, such practices have become quite common in the automotive world over the past few years. Sadly, as has often been the case, the person that does wind up paying some ridiculous premium will likely store this car away in a garage too, never putting any sort of mileage on it, when it could have gone to a true enthusiast who would have driven and enjoyed it as Dodge intended.
Photos: Dodge
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