Here Comes the Firesale from those Closed Chrysler Dealerships

Since Chrysler put those chopped dealerships between a rock and a hard place by refusing to buy back their inventory, we now have firesales of autos trying to get some of their money back.

At Engel's dealership, a 2009 Dodge Ram Truck with a retail price of $45,428 is selling for $28,392 -- after rebates, incentives and cash back from the dealer.

Emily and Josh Patterson left a dealership outside Chicago with a new Dodge Caravan they got for nearly $13,000 off the $40,000 sticker price.

"We came in just to look but when we found the deal we really went from there," Emily Patterson said.

Yet the buyers' gain is the dealers' pain.

"It is a financial disaster for us, not just the business, but personally," Engel said. "As the dealer and the owner, my brother and I always worry during a time like this, where we know they are not taking back the cars. But I am passively confident we are going to sell all the cars."

Auto analysts say that before Chrysler made the announcement that it wouldn't support the 789 affected dealerships or allow them to perform warranty repair work, they were earning about $825 less per vehicle than other dealerships. Now, that difference has climbed to approximately $2,700 per vehicle.

Damn it, just when I stopped making typos on the term Chrysler. In all seriousness, this sounds really sad and it is all because Chrysler will not take back outstanding inventory from these closed dealerships.

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