You'll mostly get the data during a an inflated economy, but it's still good to know which companies are screwing you over so that you can take your business to someone who didn't when the economy settles back down.

I doubt losing my business will cause anyone willing to price gouge to change their practices, but who knows what other evil things that kind of company will do to exploit you so I'll feel even better supporting a business that didn't go out of their way to take advantage of people who are struggling.

there will be the need to track "below" msrp which will be great just to find the best priced dealers around a given area.

Indeed, it will flip to the opposite side of the pole. Getting the best deal under MSRP. Pre covid if you were good at searching forums and Facebook groups you might find the select dealers advertising 3-5% below invoice pricing on certain custom orders.

No, if there is no oversupply it doesn’t matter how good or bad the economy is. I think right now cars are being built at like 70% of normal rate so it would take a sharp and prolonged recession to dip below demand and also take up the excess demand that’s accumulated because of low production for the last 2-3 years

I'm not sure that Markups seems relevant only, or even chiefly, because of the state of the economy. To me, admittedly as an outsider in the UK, the US car dealership model just feels wrong and monopolistic, regardless of prevailing circumstances - an exemplar of rentier capitalism supported by robust, deep-pocketed lobbying [1].

I suspect that Markups will remain relevant for as long as the situation vis-à-vis car dealerships and how they operate persists in the US. Markups may even prove to be instrumental in successfully rallying and focusing consumer support sufficiently to overcome the status quo, and so eventually have no further reason to exist. But the word "eventually" in the previous sentence is key.

[1] https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?ind=T230...

The best cure for high prices is high prices, but more transparency is always better.