Recommendation to a Dodge dealership in CA that will take factory order at or under MSRP?

This would be a factory order on a 2022 or 2023 Challenger SPWB. From the San Francisco bay area to the East Bay, Sacramento to Stockton/Modesto/Turlock/Merced.

Any recommendations??

 

You're WAY ahead of yourself for 2023. I think I heard that 2022 Orders will begin to be accepted in early October with production starting in early December for the 2022 model year. Probably about the same time frame in 2022 for the 2023 model year.

California is an expensive place to buy a car. I'd suggest that you broaden your scope. For example ... YouTube content creator - OCMotivator - traveled from California to Missouri to buy his 2021 Charger Wide Body Scat Pack. And, he's planning to do the same thing for a 2022 Challenger Hellcat. Here's a link to his recent post about this exact topic.

 

Even with these high fuel prices?

 

Thankfully they're not like that everywhere. I filled my daughter's Ford Edge (3.5L V6) with 87 octane for $2.75 per gallon today in Jacksonville, FL.

You have to look at it as a business proposition. And use the fact that you'll have to travel as a negotiating tool. And since I'm kinda bored watch old Law & Order episodes, I did a little "figurin'"

It's about 2,100 miles from St. Louis to Stockton, CA. Let's say you follow the break-in procedure and then play a little and get a little less than the EPA estimate of 23mpg highway and only get 21mpg. That means you'll buy 105 gallons of gas. So even if you're paying $4.50 per gallon for Premium you'll only spend about $475 in fuel.

Add in another $400ish for a one-way flight to St. Louis and you're all-in for less than $900 ... plus snacks and Red Bull (if that's your thing.)

Your choice ... pay California dealer mark-ups in the $$$thousands$$$ ... or enjoy a road trip you'll talk about for years to come in your brand new Challenger Scat Pack Wide Body.


Remember ... You wouldn't be paying California prices on the whole trip. These are the prices for Regular ... just because I'm too lazy to change the settings in Gas Buddy for every city along your route.

St. Louis, MO - $2.87

If you take the Northern route you'll pass through ...

Lincoln, NE - $2.89
Cheyenne, WY - $3.24
Salt Lake City, UT - $3.57
Reno, NV - $3.98
Sacremento, CA - $3.99

If you take the Southern route you'll pass through ...

Oklahoma City, OK - $2.45
Albuquerque, NM - $2.73
Flagstaff, AZ - $3.15
Bakersfield, CA - $3.75

 

This will not work. The distance involved will ruin the car. It's a wide body and before I drive it at any kind of distance it NEEDS rock guards, Expel, for the debris that will get kicked up onto the sides of car. This kind of long distance driving will ruin the paint for sure let alone whatever the weather conditions maybe.
Alot of these cars are popping up on lots now as if the gas prices are deterring ownership of these vehicles. Once dealers realize this they will be begging for customers. The used HC's, R/T's I see for sale have been on the lots for a long time just collecting dust. Everyone is buying a Toyota.

 

I guess you could put some Blue Painter's Tape on the leading edges for the trip. But, I really think these cars are hardier than we often give them credit for. Get out and drive ... you'll enjoy the trip.

All car buying/selling cycles run their course. It will be interesting to see how Dodge (and all of the manufacturers) handle the flow of new cars once chips and other components are readily available. Something tells me that they're smart enough not to flood the market with new product all at once. But IF ... they do flood the market, then prices will drop and dealers will no longer be able to demand "market adjustment" increases. AND ... that will mean the big money being paid to get our used cars will Aldo come to an end.

If I didn't like my '15 SRT 392 6-speed so much, I would have sold it in June/July when trade-ins were at their peak. But I would have to wait and hope that the market turned back to the buyer's favor.

 

Well time will tell. I won't purchase any car now it's just a bad time when prices are maxed out. Cars are depreciating assets. When the right time comes and I can get it at MSRP or below then I will buy. I will not participate in this kind of market now with stealerships who are taking advantage of the situation. I will do my best to stay local to minimize driving the Challenger until I can get the proper protection to guard against those rock chips that those extra wide tires will kick up. Then afterwards when all the protection is in place I will feel safer driving this because here we have some of the worst freeways with lots of debris on the road from plywood, building materials, nails, furniture, landscaping equipment etc. This kind of stuff can do lots of damage to a vehicle. These roads here have taken a turn for the worst basically like a third world especially for how expensive it is to live here and the taxes we pay. One would think we would have the best of things but it is really just the opposite. The government here is just plain corrupt and misuse the funding for "other things".

 

The roads are bad everywhere. To put it in automotive terms .... Too many states and communities have put off road improvements for so long that now things need a complete overhaul instead of a tune-up.

Don't even start me on the state of South Carolina where the vast majority of I-95 and I-26 are just two lanes in each direction. WTH ... have they been doing with the taxes collected on gasoline purchases???


I usually (not always) buy pre-owned cars for myself and new cars for my wife. It's her only real "want." I'm with you ... there's no way I'd buy a car in this market unless I HAD to.

 

I wouldn't consider a used Challenger especially because you don't know if the person before you really took the time to break in car right or did they trash the car? So it sounds like your state is just as bad as here. But it makes it even worse here because we are suppose to be one of the leading states of the nation when in fact one of the worst especially in misusing funds. $$$$

 

Thankfully ... we get enough tourist that we're able to fund government on sales tax dollars so we don't have a state income tax. But it also leaves us #1 in Toll Roads and #41 in access to healthcare.

But, those same tourists clog the highways and create mind-numbing traffic. And, I know you know all about mind-numbing traffic in California. I've been there and I've been in it and was always glad to get back on the plane.

Oh ... I'm very careful about what I buy. For example, I bought my 2015 SRT 392 in December of 2017 when it had just 1,367 miles on it. The car had been purchased in Ohio by an older gentleman who spent his winters in Central Florida. Apparently on his way South for the Winter he got caught in traffic a time or two and decided he didn't want a manual transmission. So it sat in his garage in Florida for a couple of years while he drove his other vehicles before trading it in for a Challenger Hellcat ... with an Automatic.

BTW ... It's 1,100 miles from the original dealership in Ohio to the dealership where he traded the car in. And, since it still had 11 months of the 36-month warranty; I felt like I had a pretty good safety net IF there was a problem. Original MSRP = $51K. My OTD Price = $36K. I'm happy to give up 1,100 miles to save $15K.