Nissan Can't Stop GT-R Markups

How long after the exotic 2009 Nissan GT-R arrives in showrooms next June will the first speculator put one up for sale on eBay in order to make a quick profit?

The guesstimate is seconds, or about the same time it will take some dealers to tack a premium on the car and sell it significantly above the sticker price in order to make a hefty profit.

Nissan says it can’t stop either from happening with the GT-R, a $70,000-plus sports car powered by a 473-hp, 3.8-liter V-6 teamed with a six-speed automatic.

“We’ve talked about ways to stop eBay sales by restricting the transfer of the new car warranty to the next buyer for at least six months,” says Eric Anderson, Nissan’s North Central Region vice president, who, like many industry officials, admits that watching speculators capitalize on selling hard-to-get cars is aggravating. “But we gave up on that idea because it would have been unfair to the guy who found he really had to sell his car sooner,” Anderson said.

Anderson insists there’s one other certainty Nissan can’t stop — dealers adding whopping markups over sticker on the limited-edition GT-R. Those premiums aggravate consumers.

“We’ll counsel dealers on why they shouldn’t, but there’s no way we can stop them from doing it,” Anderson said, citing price-fixing laws that make it illegal for the factory to tell dealers what they can or can’t charge for a vehicle.

The GT-R is the new rival to the Chevy Corvette ZO6, Ford Mustang GT500 and Porsche 911. Nissan has 1,070 dealers in the U.S., and only 1,500 GT-Rs have been earmarked for this market, meaning demand is virtually guaranteed to exceed supply for a machine claiming a 0-62 mph time of 3.5 seconds.

Any Nissan dealer can apply to sell the car, but not all will be authorized, said Nissan spokesman Brian Brockman. Those who sell it will have to pony up extra money on equipment and mechanic training to service and repair the car.

Dealers who sell the car will have to periodically adjust the all-new, rear-mounted dual-clutch automatic transmission with paddle shifting and both front and rear drive shafts free of charge for an as-yet unspecified period — expected to be three years.