Dealer Claims $50,000 Markup on a Nissan Z Was ‘Incorrect’

After a prospective buyer was told that the Z will cost $50,000 more than it should, one dealer GM claims miscommunication.

byChris Tsui|
Peter Holderith
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Dealership markups on a hotly anticipated enthusiast car like the new Nissan Z were pretty much expected but one particularly egregious-sounding case has turned into a bit of a messaging mess. A post on "The New Nissan Z" Facebook group surfaced Tuesday documenting a text message exchange with an employee at Jeff Wyler Nissan of Louisville who informed a prospective Z buyer of a $50,000 markup since "there are only going to be 240 made."

Unless Nissan forgot to mention that its new $40,000-to-start sports car would be rarer than a Lexus LFA, there will definitely be more than 240 Zs made, so that's not right. Also certifiably not right is a $50,000 markup on a car that shouldn't cost more than about $60,000 after destination, options, and fees.

According to dealership general manager Stephen Tevis who subsequently chimed in via email, in the comments of the Facebook post, in a New Nissan Z forum thread on the topic, and in direct messages with The Drive, the alleged $50,000 markup was a miscommunication.

"There is no $50K mark-up at all," Tevis told me in a Facebook message. "That came out of a discussion that I had [with] a group of colleagues at Nissan stores across the country. That number was grabbed out of a convo and mistakenly repeated to someone who inquired about the car. At my store we would never mark a car up to almost twice the MSRP."

"The vehicle was listed on our website for MSRP and that’s what the customer that purchases the vehicle will pay," he added. Checking Jeff Wyler Nissan's online inventory, there is indeed just one Z listed: a yellow Proto Spec car with the automatic transmission showing an asking price of $54,915, just $900 more than the original price relayed via text before that $50,000 markup was erroneously slapped on.

When asked in what context the $50,000 came up in those conversations with fellow Nissan dealers and whether those other stores were indeed planning on markups of that magnitude, Tevis said: "No, sir, we were talking about what we’ve seen in other rare cars that dropped and the market adjustments that were added to them. We never came up with a definitive number because when we had the conversation it was a few months ago and we weren’t sure if we were even getting one."

However, Jeff Wyler Nissan is just one Nissan dealership and just because it isn't doing big markups, doesn't mean others won't. Elsewhere in that same Facebook group, for example, one member reported a markup of "at least 25K" from Clear Lake Nissan in Houston while another user claims to have gotten a call from Future Nissan of Folsom offering a yellow automatic car for $25K above sticker. Both dealers didn't respond when called for comment.

As pointed out by Carbuzz, Mike Rezi Nissan in Atlanta is openly listing its Z online for $78,990 "MSRP." So much for undercutting the Toyota Supra.

Mike Rezi Nissan

Got a tip or question for the author about Z markups? You can reach him here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com

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