2017 Honda Civic Type R: Texas Dealership Won’t Give Up Car
Dealerships taking delivery of the new model are trying to cash in on the hype. But how much is too much?
Honda knows it has a winner with the 2017 Civic Type R. The quickest front-wheel-drive car around the Nurburgring is driving its own hype machine. Now, dealerships taking delivery of the new Type R are trying to cash in on the hype. But how much is too much? Honda fans have salivated for the Type R, only to discover massive dealer markups or worse.
One Redditor claims that a Texas dealership balked at a pre-delivery agreement to sell the car at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, which is around $33,900. The buyer documented an alleged text-message conversation with a salesperson at the dealership that included the VIN and delivery dates. After the Type R’s delivery, the dealership indicated that they would retain the Civic for 90 days as a showroom model to draw interest.
Can you take that claim at face value? In theory, a Type R should prompt some people to see one in person. If it’s not available for purchase, that allows the sales team to nudge people toward the Civic Si or perhaps even an Accord V6 for the price.
At least one Honda dealership must have called up a Dodge dealership and told them ‘Hold my beer, I got this.’ Yep, they marked up a $33,900 car to $60,370.
However, we find it hard not to be cynical about this particular instance. The dealership apparently failed to understand the Type R’s popularity and look to be pushing for the buyer to drop out. The buyer even claimed the dealership offered her back the “non-refundable $1,000 deposit.” That would free them up to sell the car to another buyer for a marked-up price.
This hardly is an isolated incident. If you dig around even a bit, you’ll find no shortage of reporting on current dealer markups from all over the country. One random forum thread we spotted online has 141 pages (and counting) of discussion about Type R dealer markups, many of which top $40,000.
Dodge saw similar mark-ups on the Charger and Challenger Hellcats when those first went on sale in 2014. Dodge eventually limited that mark-up to $8,500. Before that, dealers averaged $9,500 mark-up on the Hellcat with some carrying mark-up line-items on the sticker for as high as $30,000. With a base price of $58,000, that represents a 150 percent sales price.
At least one Honda dealership must have called up a Dodge dealership and told them “Hold my beer, I got this.”
Yep, one dealership marked up a $33,900 car to $60,370. That’s 178 percent the MSRP, if you’re keeping track at home. Or the cost of a Civic Type R at asking price plus a nicely equipped Civic EX.
Honda certainly benefits from the hype created by this halo car, though it’s less-clear how this kind of dealership treatment affects the parent company’s perception. Should they mitigate these kinds of mark-ups if it keeps the dealerships happy? That’s a question Honda will answer with their actions following these mark-up bonanzas.
As mentioned, Dodge eventually did cap the mark-up on the Hellcats. More recently, they announced they will build any marked-up Dodge Challenger SRT Demons after those purchased at MSRP or below. In other words, buying at the suggested price gets you a lower serial number and gets you the car sooner.
However, the Type R represents oranges to the Demon’s apples. Dodge will almost certainly sell all 3,000 Demons before production even begins. That allows Chrysler to control pricing easier. Since the Civic will be built in higher numbers without as much halo-car appeal as a 9-second street-legal drag car, Honda will need to find another way to control things if they opt to favor customers over dealers.