2020 Toyota Supra listed for $100,000 at Baltimore dealer

Cost markups accompany every hot new product, the Honda Civic Type R and Jeep Gladiator two recent examples of the “added dealer markup” virus. In the background, Toyota dealers have spent the entire year honing their ADM approach to the 2020 Supra. In January, Toyota of Cool Springs Tennessee appended $25,000 to the $55,250 MSRP of a Launch Edition Supra. In March, Larry H Miller Toyota in Colorado Springs wanted $50,000 over MSRP for a regular, series-production Supra, and tried to make that look like a bargain by saying the first-ever Supra sold for “more than $2,000,000 over MSRP at an auction.” Last week, Jerry’s Toyota in Baltimore combined those approaches, posting a Launch Edition Supra for the “Internet Price” of $100,000.

The Nocturnal Black sports car is one of 1,500 Launch edition models, all of which come with special bits like red mirror caps, matte-black wheels, and a carbon fiber plaque on the dash. Other than the red leather interior, which isn’t available on the standard car, there’s nothing bolted on that couldn’t be added to a series Supra for a lot less than $50,000. As a touch of garnish for those thirsty for a Supra, the small print informed all that the $100,000 “excludes taxes, tags, and $300 dealer processing charge.” There are no check-swings at Jerry’s. It didn’t take long for the listing to make the fiber optic rounds, because the Internet. The dealership removed the page, but a screenshot for the listing will live forever, because Internet. 

Now that the figures are getting wide press, dealers might stick to phone calls only to discuss pricing. The SupraMkV forum has a thread specifically for comparing markups and finding dealers selling at MSRP. One post says, “I think this is a record: West Covina Toyota: $120,000,” but there’s no link and the dealer doesn’t have a listing online. There’s no reason to think that will forever be the limit, either. In another SupraMkV thread, a poster uploaded phone screenshots of a conversation with dealer supposedly in the San Francisco area. The salesman wrote of the Launch Edition ADM, “[We] are only getting one a year and it’s whoever pays us the most will get the car.” If you’ve heard about rents in San Francisco, you’ll know that means someone could throw a lot of money at the Supra.

Our dealer ADM creativity award still goes to Dodge dealers for the Challenger Demon. Dodge set the mousetrap by prioritizing allocation to dealers that signed notarized promises to sell the 808-horsepower dragster at or below MSRP. So what did the enterprising mice do? They auctioned build slots on eBay, then sold the car to the winning bidder at MSRP.

Coincidentally, around $100,000 is what the Supra’s chief engineer said the carmaker would need to charge if Toyota had gone it alone and developed its own chassis and inline-six cylinder. For anyone wanting a Supra for a little less, patience and the SupraMkV forum are your best bets.