The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 will go down in history as one of the most outrageous and awesome production cars ever made. What’s wild is that Dodge priced this thing at a relatively accessible (in terms of it’s performance) price. Of course, you’ll never pay that at the dealer. And one dealer is taking the cake with what is likely the most expensive Dodge Challenger ever listed for sale.
On paper, the performance of the Challenger Demon 170 might make you think it should command supercar pricing. A 1,025-horsepower muscle car that runs on E85, has drag radial tires, can hit 60 mph in 1.6 seconds and is capable of putting down a quarter mile time of less than nine seconds is lunacy. Dodge pricing this thing under $100,000 ($96,666) is nearly unbelievable. And the company did briefly mention attempting to tackle markups on the Demon 170. But of course that MSRP means nothing to one Dodge dealer in Maryland.
Ourisman Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Ram in Bowie, Maryland, has a few SRT models in stock even though they’re not in production anymore. If you’re still looking for a Jailbreak or one of the Last Call special editions, this is your dealer. But the crown jewel of their inventory is a white Challenger SRT Demon 170. I stumbled upon this randomly one night watching YouTube. The host of the channel HemiMuscle apparently bought his 300C from this dealer.
One day — just over a week ago now as of this writing — he went into the dealer to check out what they have. A sales guy he has a good relationship with by the name of Tony showed him around. He mentions they have a Demon 170 in stock and HemiMuscle wanted to see it. Tony proceeds to show him the car and in the video, you can overhear HemiMuscle asking what Ourisman is asking over sticker; Tony says $200,000.
He mentions this markup again as he’s showing the Demon 170, which is literally in a glass-enclosed room on the sales floor, almost like a display case. Thinking I may have misheard him, I did some digging, found the dealer and sure enough, the Demon 170 is listed in their inventory and it’s marked up to the stratosphere. Let’s break down the insane pricing.
So the Challenger SRT Demon 170 is interesting because according to the monroney, it starts life as a regular ol’ Challenger SRT Hellcat. A $20,466 package turns it into the Demon 170. This is in addition to another $44,375 in options. It includes things that turn it into less of a drag racer and more of a drag racer you can live with like the $5,995 Premium Group that has heated and ventilated Laguna leather seats, Harmon Kardon audio system. Don’t forget about that $10,000 sunroof. You get all of this for a total price of $135,036. Ourisman is tacking on another $200,000 to that price for a grand total of $334,036. There’s no way in hell.
Could you get them to come down on this price? Probably, but most likely no. Tony mentions in the video for other cars on the showroom (like a $20,000 markup on what appears to be a Charger Scatpack Widebody) floor that if the buyer is serious, they can work something out. “Your presence is your best leverage,” he can be heard saying. Sure, but what kind of leverage can you really have negotiating against a markup of that size? If you have this kind of money, don’t buy a Challenger. I don’t care what its performance is. With a price like this, here’s to hoping this thing sits on their lot until the tires deflate.