This kind of ignorance is out there all over the place.

I stopped by a dealer in Hampton, VA yesterday to inquire about their '08 Challenger(s). The first salesman wasn't sure if he had any in stock right now, but he could check and get back to me. The second guy said they weren't introducing it until today (Saturday) at the Chicago Auto Show (I told him it actually had been introduced on Wednesday). Then their expert told me they had ordered 4 of them, that they had taken deposits for 3, were selling them for MSRP, but had no idea how many he was actually going to get. He also told me he was pretty sure they were making only 4,000 of them.

Then I stopped by another dealer in Yorktown, VA and asked the same questions. This guy knew a little more, but he said he hadn't sold his yet, hadn't taken any deposits, didn't know how much he would sell it for it and figured he would probably put it up for auction when it finally came in. I asked if he would sell it for MSRP and he said he didn't think so.

Next I stopped by my dealer and he told me one of the local wholesalers called him last night and was trying to buy as many as he could on the premise that he can sell them back to dealers for 15k over MSRP. He also told me he's getting numerous calls daily on the Challengers. Seems everybody is asking these questions and trying to find which dealers will sell for sticker and which are planning to mark it up.

Right, wrong or indifferent, I agreed back in December to pay a pretty hefty premium over MSRP and I may be the only poster here who has admitted doing so. But I also know I can bail out of the deal and not lose my deposit. If other unsold Challengers don't sell immediately, we'll see how well the premiums hold up. Right now, an '08 Challenger at MSRP sounds like a great deal to me!