Franc,

Actually I am at a dealership and NO those are NOT all dealer auctions Some are public like one we have here once a month and ANYONE can bid, now of course those prices do not reflect a 3% fee(some higher some lower) and sales tax of whatever state that the car is sold in.

Also to shed some light retail is NOT 1.5% of auction value in markup...to be perfectly honest we took an 04 Coupe with 40K miles on it here and I went 10K in it(to make a deal work on a new unit), according to date I was a little high...we sold it for 11,843. Out of that you pay your detail, title clerk,commision to the sales person, etc... People really think dealers make a KILLINGS of people. The reality is in this day and time with some non-credit worthy buyers the lender cap you what you can finance, so that is is NOT true.

I do hope this helps a little when you go shop a dealer, also if you look over this really WELL there is a HUGE chance the crossfire at your dealership your shopping COULD be one of these cars I have listed here for you if the mileage and color is the same.