That's $99,666 plus a $250,000 dealer markup.
A little over a week ago, Dodge unleashed the bonkers Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 on the world, and already shady dealers are selling them for well over sticker. Dodge knew this would be a problem, even though the American automaker will do its best to hit the predicted 3,000 units for the USA. It even went as far as stating that preference will be given to dealers willing to sell the car at its actual MSRP of $99,666. Fully loaded, these cars should ring in at around $130,000.
Alas, it was not to be. CarBuzz jumped on the Dodge Horsepower Locator to find the remaining Demon allocations, of which many are left. Unfortunately, the cars aren't listed with an MSRP like other run-out Challenger and Charger models, which means you have to phone. We wonder why…
The situation is much worse than we expected, for one good reason. The Demon 170 is the most readily available out of the seven Last Call editions, and while it may be Dodge's final V8 muscle car, it's by no means the last V8-powered muscle car that will ever be produced. Ford has already promised that it will produce the V8 until it's no longer legally allowed, and you can have it with a manual gearbox.
Still, people are going crazy to get their hands on the Demon 170. Carscoops did some digging and found it impossible to get a Demon at MSRP. On Hellcat.org, a poster revealed that a dealer told them that $200k over sticker would get them a new Demon. This pales in comparison with a Facebook Marketplace post by Nick Marsch, who appears to be posting on behalf of a dealership. Dealers aren't allowed to post on Marketplace, so employees have to do the dirty deed.
According to the post (attached below), only two allocations are left, and the first allocation sold for $200,000 over sticker. The current highest bid is currently $250k over.
What can Dodge do to stop this? Well, the preference for dealers selling at MSRP was a good idea, but shady dealers found an easy way around it. An employee (most likely the dealer principal or owner) buys it for $99,666 and immediately puts it back on sale with zero miles on the clock but with $200,000 attached to the price.
Chevrolet had the same problem and even canceled a warranty for selling a high-profile vehicle within a year. The only tactic that has worked so far is internet outrage, which forced a shady dealer to drop the price of a Corvette.
We understand the principles of supply and demand, but we're talking about a Dodge selling for the same price as a brand-new Ferrari 296 GTB. Sure, the Ferrari is not as fast in a straight line, but it will hand the Demon its ass around a track. We know which one we'd rather have. Heck, at this price level, you can find a pristine McLaren 720S or a 600LT.
Just the fact that we're talking about a Dodge Demon selling for the same price as a Ferrari goes against everything the muscle car stands for. Muscle cars have always been about democratizing speed. They're built so hard-working blue-collar Americans can get the same straight-line thrills as the wealthy.
These markups go against everything muscle cars stand for, but it goes beyond that. Do you think a $350,000 Demon 170 will ever see the light of day? Will it ever get a chance to thrill a crowd at a local drag race? The answer is no because it will be stored for a decade until the owner can sell a low-mileage example for $600,000.
But the joke will be on those who buy cars at these inflated prices. If all 3,000 are locked away as an investment, the value doesn't increase. It will only result in the market being flooded with Demon 170s ten years from now when the new generation of car buyers will have little interest in old-school muscle cars anyway.
Keyword: Dealers Are Selling New Dodge Demon 170 For Supercar Money