Dealers go wild when they get their hands on a new model, especially if it’s a limited edition or a performance model. Unfortunately this comes at the expense of the customer who has to contend with things like crappy customer service — credit checks before a test drive for instance — and worst of all, markups. Hyundai dealerships are at this point right now. Some have started receiving Ioniq 5 N allocations and have already started to mark them up. One potential buyer has learned just how ugly things can get when you challenge a dealer on a markup.

We first spotted the markup on the Hyundai Elantra N owners group on Facebook. A picture showed that Ontario Hyundai in Ontario, California has a 2025 Ioniq 5 N with MSRP of $67,685. But with the dealers $20,000 markup, they’re asking an eye watering $87,685 for this performance hatch. Wanting more information, I reached out to the person who posted the image and was informed that it was actually taken by a guy who had gone to the dealer to try and buy the car. He promptly put me in touch with this individual so I could get more information on the situation.

David De Rego — also known as @Qball1754 — is a well known automotive social media influencer in Hyundai circles. He’s a member of the SoCal N Club and is popular enough that he has access too and the backing of Hyundai corporate. It’s how he found out about the allocation of the Ioniq 5 N at this specific dealer before anyone else — there isn’t even a build and price tool up for it yet on Hyundai’s website. He told me that after finding out about the allocation from Hyundai, he headed straight to the dealer to see if he could work something out. “After I had been told about the allocation, I wanted to show up at Ontario first thing in the morning and work out a deal,” he said.

David told me he wanted to trade in his modified Veloster N for the Ioniq 5 N. But things didn’t go as planned from the moment he got to the dealer. David says the salespeople and managers were weirdly defensive about him showing up for a car that they had just received. “When I was first greeted by the salesman and I mentioned the Ioniq 5 N, they became very defensive and wanted to know who told me about the car and why I just showed up for it,” he said. He then says he explained to them his involvement with Hyundai and the N brand. Things went a bit smoother from there as they went to work numbers on the Ioniq 5 N and his trade. But that didn’t last for long.

David says that the Ioniq 5 N was then brought around for him to inspect but he couldn’t test drive it. He was informed they’d only allow him to drive it after his credit was run and numbers were agreed upon. He then gave them a ballpark figure on where he wanted to be on his trade and for the Ioniq and was met with what he describes as attitude. “They told me this is an exotic car so everyone wants it,” David says. David and the dealer did agree on $23,000 for the Veloster N. At this point he says they immediately attempted to run his credit but he declined since they were still trying to figure things out with the Ioniq 5 N; he was told the car wasn’t in their system yet. This is a strange thing to say considering that, according to the markup sticker, the car already had a stock number.

At this point, roadblocks to the deal start to appear as David describes. They tell him there’s no lease available for the Ioniq 5 N and that it won’t qualify for the $7,500 EV tax credit. Then came the numbers for the Ioniq 5 N: $20,000 down and $1,500 a month. For some reason, David says this was the point that they became more curious about his association with Hyundai, N and the SoCal N Club. After explaining his partnership a second time, he says things got even worse.

He said that the sales staff became rude and condescending to the point of affecting the deal itself. All of a sudden, the trade-in amount they had agreed upon dropped to $15,000. He also says his fiancée overheard the sales staff saying how they were going to try and force him into financing the car. After a bit more back and forth on numbers, David tried to get them to remove the markup.

This really pissed them off. Speaking as if he was trying to leverage his relationship with Hyundai on the deal, he said he was told that they didn’t “care about my affiliation with Hyundai or the N brand or who runs it in the U.S., corporate decides the markup.” The rant continued with David being told that the markup couldn’t be removed, no one at Hyundai or N would have a say on it and that if they wanted to they could charge an even higher markup “like the rest of the dealerships.”

At this point David says he was done and he said he was going to walk, but not before the manager came back with an offer for his trade in that was $3,000 higher than before. David wasn’t interested though. He told him he was done and that he was going to go to another local dealership Hyundai told him about that has two Ioniq 5 N allocations. But Ontario Hyundai persisted. He says as he and his fiancée got to their car the salesman was still trying to talk numbers on a trade in value for the Veloster N. He said they seemed more focused on him trading the car than anything else at this point.

David says the experience sucked. “I’ve never felt that disrespected by a dealership before. And to hear them talk about screwing me over just to make a sale, I couldn’t believe it.” He’s now going to try his luck at the aforementioned dealer that’s getting two allocations. He won’t mention his Veloster N trade in this time around though. He said he’s going to leave the car at home and see how things play out if he doesn’t mention it at first. “I’m hoping I have a better experience,” he told me. All I can say is good luck to you sir. But I wouldn’t hold out hope, especially with Hyundai dealers getting their hands on a model like the Ioniq 5 N.

As for Ontario Hyundai, I reached out to them for a comment about the situation three separate times to try and get their side of what happened and was never able to get a hold of anyone. Whether that was unintentional or on purpose we’ll never know. David said they continue to blow up his phone, either trying to make a deal or because what they’ve done to him is starting to make the rounds online. Hopefully enough people raise hell so they’ll get some sense and do right by him. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Update: Hyundai reached out to us with a statement about this incident saying they’re dissapointed that it happened and have reached out to the dealer about the incident.

While Hyundai dealerships independently set vehicle prices, we emphasize transparency and discourage markups above MSRP to maintain positive customer relations and brand loyalty. We strongly reinforce that prices posted on websites should align with pricing in the store and have followed up with the dealer in question.