Price pack KO'd by sticker law
WASHINGTON - The price pack, which has been called one of the worst evils ever to hit the retail auto business, was dealt a crippling blow last week as President Eisenhower signed the Monroney price-labeling bill.
Reprints
Print
Respond
Many authorities contend that the pack was killed outright by the new law, which requires manufacturers to affix a price tag to the window of each new automobile.
Even the skeptics admit that the law will halt one of the nastiest forms of the pack - the advertising of highly inflated prices together with claims of '$1,500 discount' or 'double the book value of your trade-in.'
PERSPECTIVE 2000
Before the 1959 model year, most buyers didn't have a clue as to the price of a new car. It was a deep, dark secret known only to manufacturers and dealers. The makers issued a watered-down price that did not include federal tax (then 10 percent), freight and dealer prep. The dealer who pointed out those omissions to the customer was branded a crook.
Dealers often 'packed' the price in order to stroke the buyer's ego with an unrealistic trade-in allowance.
The system was chaotic. It screamed for relief, and that relief was the Automobile Price Disclosure Act of 1958.
