Owner Says First Auctioned 2023 GR Corolla Sold At A Loss At $8.5k Over MSRP

The seller claims it cost him more to buy with the markup than what he sold it for
by Stephen Rivers
January 13, 2023 at 17:30
One of the first 2023 Toyota GR Corollas to be offered for sale from an owner has crossed the auction block for a cool $48,500. That’s $8,427 more than MSRP on this particular example and according to the seller, he still lost money after paying a markup on the car, as he told us in an email.

The GR Corolla is one of the hottest new cars on the market right now. It packs a punchy three-cylinder engine that might even be more powerful than Toyota says, and a clever AWD system along with a six-speed manual transmission. It’s also being produced in limited quantities so it’s no shock that many (bit not all) dealers are marking it up across the nation.

This particular GR Corolla is the Core or base version of the car. Without options, the Core starts at $35,900 but this one isn’t totally bare bones. It features the $1,180 performance package which includes limited-slip differentials and red-painted brake calipers. On top of that it has the $770 technology package and a $500 cold-weather package with heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.
That spec leaves the car with a $40,073 price tag after dealer handling and processing. After we first reported on the car when it went up for auction, the seller reached out to us with exclusive details. He said that “at current bidding (note – $47,050), I stand to lose a substantial amount of money on the car.”

After the auction ended he reiterated in the chat on Cars & Bids that “this is not breaking even sadly. I’ll enjoy the new car but my payment on that one will be higher as the down payment is now lower. Oh well.” That flippant attitude towards losing thousands of dollars might be part of why they were so willing to pay more than Toyota says the car is worth in the first place.
It’s a great lesson for the rest of us though that while a dealer might be greedy enough to milk every last dollar out of their customers, the value that they place on a car doesn’t always translate to the open market.Of course, without seeing the actual transaction ourselves, it’s plausible that the seller isn’t being totally forthright and that they did indeed break even or even come out on top. We’ll have to wait to see what future GR Corollas go for to get a clearer picture of the market.