Ahhh,the dreaded "fair market value" mark up.Dealers do this in MANY cases as standard practice on new,hard to get models.

Ask any first year PT buyers.....in Florida,one went for 36 grand in 2000.New T-Bird owners faced the very same thing in many cases....saw one locally for 56 grand early on when they first arrived.

Not all dealers by any means do this practice.It is an unfortunate effect of the buisness.What was discovered very early on in the great PT battle was this,Chrysler Corp does not view the end driver as the "customer".The Customer is the licensed franchise DEALER...this is how all major car companies work.Even if you have a special order in and are waiting for it....if the dealer decides to sell it out fom under you when it comes in(say another customer offers 6 grand more than you!)he/she can!!!!Now,you can fight in court to get the car IF you have met certain criteria.If you have a true written and signed contract.Or if the dealer cashed a deposit check BEFORE the car arrived...for by law,they cannot.Once again,this happened to an early PT customer in California.....she won her court case against her dealer,who sold her PT that she ordered out from under her,and they had to produce the car.

Basically,the dealers of any brand are in the driver's seat as far as price setting goes.And in many cases they can do so because somewhere,someone will pay whatever ridiculous price they are asking.A recent example....one of the first 25 Chevy SSRs went for 137,000 dollars.Now granted,this was through a charity auction BUT the base price is listed as 42 grand.And many dealers are already asking 50 plus for a vehicle they don't even have on lots yet.

InfernoRed