# Chevy Volt Nissan: Uncovering Price Gouging on Green Cars

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2011/04/chevy-volt-nissan-uncovering-price-gouging-on-green-cars/
- Published: 2011-04-02T20:37:55-04:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

# Jim Motavalli is the author of Forward Drive: The Race to Build Clean Cars for the Future, among other books.

He has been covering the environmental side of the auto industry for more than a
decade, and writes regularly on those topics for the New York Times.

Price gouging on hot cars is a sleazy practice. It seems it’s been happening to 
the [Chevy](https://greenlivingguy.com/2011/02/chevy-volt-electrically-equipped-for-winter-driving-gm/)
[Volt](https://greenlivingguy.com/2019/11/chevy-volt-launch-party-in-2009-around-the-time-i/)
and Nissan Leaf. So and few dealers will admit they do it. But when short supply
meets high demand, as it has with the new green cars, the market can and will push
prices up. The Japanese tsunami and earthquake have aggravated the situation, and
anyone who actually has cars to sell holds all the cards.

![Chevy volt](https://i0.wp.com/greenlivingguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/image1.
jpg?resize=314%2C420&quality=52&ssl=1 "Green Cars Make Cents - The Green Living 
Guy")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FYI, I test drove the Chevy Volt in the [winter](https://greenlivingguy.com/2011/02/chevy-volt-electrically-equipped-for-winter-driving-gm/)!

If you think the $41,000 MSRP is too much to pay for the Chevy [Volt](https://greenlivingguy.com/2012/06/chevrolet-volt-saves-supertanker-worth-gas/),
how would you like to pay $61,000? That’s the jacked-up price a Los Angeles-area
dealer is charging for GM’s first plug-in hybrid. And reports of a $55,000 Nissan
Leaf are not apocryphal — that’s how much a consumer recently asked for his car 
on **eBay**. Some desperate buyers are offering to pay $70,000 for the Leaf.

In fact, it takes ingenuity for dealers to price-gouge on the Nissan Leaf, because
the online ordering system puts buyers in line for cars, and not many are up for
grabs on the lots. But the tsunami has made Leafs exceedingly scarce, and that creates
an opportunity for some dealers to profit (sometimes by buying used vehicles on 
the open market). And some first-in-line customers are reselling their hot cars 
at what-the-market-will-bear prices.

Source: [bNet](https://www.netflix.com/)

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 greenlivingguy

 The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman is an independent power producer, a green living
expert, and Editor of the McGraw-Hill, TAB Green Guru Guides. Seth is also an Author,
Radio Host, Reporter, Writer and an Environmental Consultant on green living. The
Green Living Guy writes about green living, green lighting, the green guru guides
and more. Seth's books range from: # Build Your Own Electric Vehicle by Bob Brant
and Seth Leitman (2nd and 3rd editions) # Build Your Own Plug-in Hybrid Electric
Vehicle by Seth Leitman # Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle by Carl Vogel # Green
Lighting by Seth Leitman, Brian Clark Howard and Bill Brinsky # Solar Power For 
Your Home by David Findley # Renewable Energies For Your Home by Russel Gehrke #
Do-it-Yourself Home Energy Audits by David Findley # Build Your Own Small Wind Power
System by Brian Clark Howard and Kevin Shea # and more green living books to follow.

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