Plan Ahead: Save Thousands by Ordering—and Waiting for—a Car

There is an inventory shortage at dealers across the U.S. now, the result of a global semiconductor shortage that is hurting the ability of manufacturers to build complete cars.

High-volume dealers that used to have 1,000 vehicles in stock are now down to 30 cars.

With such scarcity, every dealership is trying to maximize gross profit on each vehicle sold. The days of dealers chasing volume targets by discounting vehicles are no longer.

Today, you’ll find demo BMWs with a $5,000 market adjustment. Popular Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4 electric SUVs are being sold with mark-ups, despite the initial pleas from carmakers who told dealers not to.

According to TrueCar, the average selling price on a Ford Mustang Mach-E is thousands above retail price.

Is there a way around these mark-ups? Yes, by placing an order and waiting your turn.

We spoke to multiple Ford, Volkswagen, and BMW dealers who all told us the same thing. If you want a car today, they’ll charge a market adjustment on an inventory car. But if you place an order, they will sell you the car at MSRP. It just takes a few months for the car to arrive.

What explains this? With a custom order, a dealer may be willing to accept a lower profit margin in exchange for the certainty that the vehicle will be sold the moment it hits the dealer lot. Additionally, with some manufacturers, a customer-ordered vehicle doesn’t count toward the finite number of vehicles that a dealer gets allocated each year.

Note this doesn’t apply to every dealer or every manufacturer—some brands, such as Toyota, don’t do customer orders—so cast a wide net to find a dealer or a broker who will do orders at MSRP or better. Browsing the Marketplace on the Leasehackr Forum is the best place to start.

Additionally, if you have an expiring lease, and you don’t plan on buying out the vehicle, then be sure to plan ahead and order a vehicle in advance, so you’re not stuck paying thousands of dollars above MSRP.

As they say, immediate gratification can be costly.