worked like this: Law was made that required all cars to be sold by franchised dealers. Laws were made to make it difficult/impossible for new dealers to setup shop. Basically between the OEM franchise requirements and Utah dealer laws you could NOT create your own dealership.

Think about all the smaller dealers around (especially in rural areas), they were family owned decades ago. Try to think of a new dealership that got sprung up that wasn't Larry H. Miller or Brent Brown. It's not because LHM or BB are the only game in town, it's because LHM and BB have lobbied the system to stifle competition from even setting up shop. With the growth rate of Utah, you'd think SOMEONE would try to get into the car sales business. They effectively couldn't.

So now it's really EASY to tack on those $10-15k market adjustments because you have a corporate policy that all LHM dealers do this, you only need to convince Brent Brown, he can easily say "well look! People are paying!" and he does the same.

Your competition is artificially limited due to lobbied legislation, not the free market.

This is why cars are incredibly cheaper in Idaho and Colorado.....heck; I was getting quotes from San Diego that were thousands cheaper than Utah dealerships, and you can't tell me that San Diego Jeep has less overhead costs and less demand than LHM on University.


The game for profits was (until Tesla changed the game) being won by the lobbyists NOT the negotiators on the lots.