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Damaged Ford F-150 Lightning Sells for $30,000 Above MSRP at Auction, Smells Fishy

We live in a crazy world where people are willing to pay insane amounts of money to buy a new car. This is especially true for electric vehicles, even when those said EVs are damaged. One such damaged Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat sold at an auction for $30,000 above its sticker price, prompting people to question why it was taken to market.
Damaged Ford F-150 Lightning sells for $30,000 above MSRP at auction 6 photos
Photo: RDeFran on f150lightningforum.com forum
Damaged Ford F-150 Lightning sells for $30,000 above MSRP at auctionMany Ford F-150 Lightnings delivered are the $40k Pro ModelMany Ford F-150 Lightnings delivered are the $40k Pro ModelFord F-150 Lightning Production At Rouge Electric Vehicle CenterFord F-150 Lightning Production At Rouge Electric Vehicle Center
Demand for the most popular vehicles has led to price increases and unfair behavior from dealerships and customers alike. Many car buyers resold their newly purchased vehicles for a hefty profit. At the same time, dealers have attached “market adjustment” fees to the MSRP of the most in-demand cars on their lot. The dealers still have the upper hand despite the carmakers stepping in to prevent dealerships from making more money than they do from selling cars.

In the case of the Ford F-150 Lightning, we’ve seen some crazy markups before, sometimes equal to the vehicle’s MSRP, which is bonkers. Ford mandates dealers that 75% of the cars they sell match the actual customers who ordered them. This is meant to limit markups and the dealer’s ability to sell a vehicle to another customer willing to pay more.

Recently, a Ford F-150 Lightning sold on a car wholesales auction platform for $110,400, as we’ve learned from the f150lightningforum.com forum. This is much less than the Lightning with markup as high as the MSRP we spotted a few days back. But, and there’s a big but, this Lightning was listed as “damaged.” According to the listing, the truck had loose trims in the front left and on the running boards.

It was the kind of platform where you and I cannot sell or buy cars, so it’s safe to say this is sold by a dealer to another dealer. Dealerships are supposed to be able to fix such a minor issue as a loose trim, and yet the truck was auctioned. It also got a lot of attention, with 262 bids placed on it. Considering this truck is now free from Ford’s strings, it can sell for at least $140,000 from the dealer who bought it. Well, it already sold with $30,000 above the sticker price once, so it certainly made the selling dealer happy.
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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