And yes there was bidding on the initial GTs and on last year's GT500s. Many GTs sold for $40,000-$50,000 over MSRP and most GTT500's sold for $10,000-$20,000 over MSRP. Before anyone starts whining about dealer gouging, etc., I personally talked to people who said, "How much do I have to pay to guarantee that I get one of these cars?"
The market for GT500's has settled down quite a bit this year. MSRP to $10,000 over seems to be the going rate.
Then many people got taken. You know what they say about a fool and his money ...........................
The guy who owns that GT in my picture? .............................. Yup, the dealer tried that same crap about putting in his bid so he could get the car and be one of the first in Calgary to own one. When my friend's brother laughed and started to walk out (the dealer knew him to be well off), the salesman started to sweat as his next big commission was going out the door. "If you can get if for MSRP, will you take it?" Well, he took it. Some bidding war, huh? If the guy had the time, he would have haggled for less. He went in with MSRP as his final figure. He got what he wanted and he bought it.
Another example...... At a time when Dodge Vipers first came out, there were "stories" of people paying $60K OVER MSRP to have the privilege of being one of the first to own one. At that time, they were going for MSRP of $99,000.00. I picked mine up for $65,000.00 plus tax.
Car sales people would love to make you THINK they've got something you really want and need and they harp on that one obscure story about "so n so" who paid "such n such" for theirs. I won't believe that an isolated story applies to the general trend. $10K OVER for a GT? Are people really that stupid?