[randerson]

My experience is that the base price for a car hasn't increased as much as all the mandatory dealer add-ons they force on you. I'm currently trying to buy a new car and the dealer refuses to sell me one without a Pulse brake light, paint protection, ceramic glaze, wheel & tire protection, floor mats, and prepaid maintenance, and I must trade in my current vehicle. Other dealers in the area all do the same thing. I walked out the door and they never called me back so I suppose this strategy works for them. Dealers have gone from adding zero value to adding negative value, and thanks to their lobbying it is impossible to buy a car without them.

[tschwimmer]

Car dealers are a scourge on Americans and a hidden tax imposed via poor legislation. They employ thousands and are generally very wealthy so regrettably they have become an embedded political entity.

I don't know what the answer to them is other than to remove the anti-DTC laws but that seems unlikely.

[foxyv]

In a small town I used to live in, the car dealerships essentially financed the entire town. Their sales taxes paid roughly 80% of the town budget. The dealers could have murdered people in broad daylight and the sheriff would have handcuffed the corpse.