Having to deal with purchasing cars and car prices in the US has been an absolute pain the past few years. It is one of the top most hated experiences for myself and many other Americans and things need to change.
I have listed ideas and would like to hear other ideas as to what may also need to be reformed to especially put fuel efficient and sustainable cars into the hands of the American public without them being massively exploited. Here are my ideas:
- All car prices at any dealership must be posted to the public. No more “Call for price” garbage. This is to ensure that all customers see the same price and no price fixing can be allowed. Consumers will have a right to price transparency and all consumers deserve to see the same price.
- Any cars received by dealers must left without any dealer upgrades and cosmetic modifications and left as is. Only if the customer requests at an agreed upon price can they be added. This is to prevent dealers from putting $1000 weather mats or $5000 tints, paint protective film, or other clearly overpriced upgrades onto the price tag.
- Economy hybrid and economy electric cars (classified as the top cheapest hybrid or electric vehicles that year by MSRP) will be capped at a ~10% dealer markup over MSRP. This to prevent price gouging and to encourage affordability and adoption of highly efficient, affordable, and sustainable vehicles.
- Dealers will be required to provide pre-purchase inspections and all codes the car shows before purchase. Dealers must also accept reasonably accessible independent pre-purchase inspection if paid for by the customer. No more lemon cars and deceit.
- All car manufacturers must provide an avenue for consumers to purchase economy hybrid and economy electric cars directly from them. This may include delivery to a dealership or the customer. Delivery charges must be made known beforehand and cannot exceed more than 20% (or a certain percentage) of actual cost to manufacturer and/or dealer.
- Within the last few months of every year, all car manufacturers must allow customers to reserve and put down payments for a economy hybrids or economy electric cars to be delivered the next year at latest and should also be reasonably expected to deliver as many of those as possible. This will ensure car manufacturers have an accurate idea of how many cars need to be produced and also receive proper input funding to produce those cars. Any of these orders will take priority over dealerships. If a car manufacturer receives at least the cost of production and delivery, they should build the car. No more artificial shortages and price fixing.
- For at least 10 years, economy hybrid and economy electric vehicle manufacturers must sell repair parts, tools, and provide continuously updated instructions on all known issues to the public for 20% over cost at maximum.
TL;DR: All car prices must be listed, no dealer upgrades on any cars received to dealership allowed, ~10% markup percentage caps on economy/sustainable vehicles, mandatory codes and pre-purchase inspections request acceptance, required consumer from manufacturer purchase avenues, in-advance car production reservations, and available parts and repair instructions should be required for consumers to be allowed affordable, efficient, and sustainable vehicles.
These are the ideas I have at the moment. Any thoughts, suggestions, or feedback is welcome.