competition. Is that ethically wrong? That is a very hard call to make. .
I recently had an experience of buying a new car. I shopped around Altus and also in Florida while on a .
recent trip. I was in the market to buy a Ford Explorer. The prices seemed to be about the same in these .
two markets. My wife and I decided to drive to Oklahoma City to look further. When we got there, the .
first dealership that we saw had over thirty Explorers on the front lot with a recent shipment of more in the .
back. Compared to the Altus dealership which had two. Immediately, I noticed that the price at that .
dealership was $1,300 less than the same model with the same package in Altus. Both stickers said the .
price quoted was the manufacturers suggested retail price. Already over $1,000 to the good, we decided to .
look further. We found four Explorers that had an additional mark down of $2,000. This was because of .
an engine style in the process of being phased out that had an additional rebate. Looking at the two .
different model from Oklahoma City and Altus, we! .
would save $3,300 by buying here. We decided to look no further. We selected the color and bought our .
car. .
Overall, we had a very pleasant experience but what about the people who buy from the Altus dealership .
and spend over $3,000 more? Are they being unethically taken advantage of? That's a hard call to make. I .
teach an equal opportunity class on base and during that class someone inevitably brings up car prices in .
Altus as being unfair. Are these prices unfair or is it just the law of supply and demand? Two thousand .
dollars that I saved in Oklahoma City were because that model car wasn't available to the dealership in .
Altus. That difference can be easily excusable. The other $1,300, I have a harder time with. I took .
detailed notes and both stickers were basically identical with the exception of price. Each indicated a .
different manufacturers suggested retail price.
