Dealer markups are one of our biggest pet peeves in the auto industry. This is when a dealership charges more for a car that's in high demand when it first arrives in the US. We've seen markups as high as $200,000 over sticker price on cars like the BMW M4 GTS, and Shelby Mustangs that are almost six figures. We wanted to take a look at the current crop of special edition cars slated for release this year to predict which will sell for way too much. We hate it when dealerships charge more than the car's value, and that will most likely happen with these five cars.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the Lamborghini Huracan Performante after it set a blistering Nurburgring lap time of 6:52.01. The car will be priced at $274,390 base, but like most supercars, options will bump that price way up. We wouldn't be surprised if the first owners turn around and flip their cars for at least $400,000. When the base Huracan first reached US dealers, there was a markup for people who wanted to be the earliest owners, and we bet that this markup will be even greater for the Performante. We highly recommend waiting to buy it because limited edition Lamborghini cars don't appreciate very well.
When Dodge finally pulled the cover off the new Demon, we had people who don't even like cars coming to us to ask about it. There was so much hype surrounding this car. we have no doubt there be a hefty price to pay for all of this excitement. The Hellcat had dealer markups when it first came out, but Dodge already has a system in place to stop people from flipping the Demon for a profit by putting a one-of-a-kind plaque with the owner's name on the car. This may slow people down, but we wouldn't be surprised if someone named "space bar" ordered the car just to get a blank plaque. The hype is certainly there for this car, which means that it will be tough to buy.
We recently asked if the new Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE was worth the $70,000 asking price and the resounding answer was yes. The standard ZL1 is already a difficult car to get your hands on. Chevy dealerships have only had a small allocation for the ZL1 and we bet that the 1LE will be even more limited. This brings up an interesting question, "how much is the 1LE really worth?" Our readers overwhelmingly thought that the 1LE was worth every bit of its $70,000 base price, but is it worth $100,000? We could easily see $30,000 markups on the 1LE driving the price up to six figures. The car is a bargain at $70,000, but at $100,000 a Z06 with the Z07 package might be a better purchase.
Next to Ferrari, Porsche has become a brand that is synonymous with appreciation. Cars like the 911 R have more than doubled in value, which adds a halo effect to every other car in the portfolio. We think that the new 911 GT3 will be the latest Porsche to be overvalued when it first comes out. The PDK version will be available when the car first reaches dealerships, but the manual version won't be delivered until later. We think there'll be plenty of people who order the manual version of the car just to make a quick flip. This is sad for a car that was specifically built for the track. We'll probably see several of these cars up for sale with delivery miles on them.
Although the Lexus LC isn't really a limited edition car, it will be low volume. The LC will be built in in the Toyota Motomachi facility, which is where the Lexus LFA was built. Each worker will reportedly spend 20 minutes working on each LC, meaning that the final quality will be extremely high. We see the LC as an Aston Martin DB11 competitor, which is a huge first for Lexus. There will be limited allocation for each dealership for the LC, and we wouldn't be surprised if people are forced to pay over sticker or try to flip the car for a profit.