Dodge Dealers Already Charging Ridiculous Markups for the 2023 Challenger Demon 170

It's been only 24 hours since Dodge introduced the 1,025-horsepower muscle cars, and enthusiasts are already having trouble purchasing the Demon 170 at MSRP. YouTube's "Scavenger 1320," a longtime Dodge enthusiast, was met with a $50,000 upcharge by Texas-based Denton Dodge, a dealership he's been working with for more than 10 years.

Before going in to inquire about the four Demon 170 allocations, our host shared that he'd been dealing with Denton Dodge for so long due to the dealership's no-markup policy. But apparently, he wasn't aware that the company that got him a great deal on a Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 had changed ownership and joined the markup frenzy.

The dealership is getting four of the 3,000 Demon 170s scheduled to leave the assembly line and it's moving them for a whopping $150,000, which is 50% above MSRP. And that didn't stop two customers from placing orders online. Our host, on the other hand, declined the ridiculous offer and left the dealership while recording a lengthy markup rant.

But while $50,000 is an absurd markup for a car that starts at just under $100K, Denton Dodge is not the only dealership doing it right now. And frustratingly enough, some of them are charging even more than that. As one user points out in the video's comments section, a Dodge dealer in Montana sold three Demons for more than $200,000 a pop. That's a markup of more than $100,000 and I bet some dealerships are looking to put the muscle car into quarter-million territory too.

But needless to say, this situation is far from surprising. Because that's exactly what happened when the original Challenger SRT Demon was introduced for the 2018 model year. Even though Dodge set a retail price of $86,090, many of them were sold with six-figure sums that far exceeded the $100,000 mark.

To counter these markups, Dodge introduced a system that prioritized models sold at or below the car's MSRP. The process included an acknowledgment document that notified the buyer that the more expensive his Demon was, the later it rolled off the assembly line. According to Dodge honcho Tim Kuniskis, the company will do the same with the Demon 170, but it's safe to assume that the program will not eliminate all markups.

And if the 2018 Demon is any indication, some Demon 170s will end up on the auction block as low-mileage cars in 2024. And sadly enough, it's something that will keep them out of reach for enthusiasts looking to use the muscle car for its intended purpose.