Motorola’s Android Auto dongle has been out of stock for over a month, scalpers double the price

Ben Schoon | Mar 9 2022 - 7:46 am PT

Wireless Android Auto is a convenient feature, and judging by the popularity of the Motorola MA1 and AAWireless, it’s also something a whole lot of people want to get their hands on. Unfortunately, the Motorola MA1 has been left completely out of stock across all storefronts for over a month now, and scalpers are taking advantage of the unmet demand.

Motorola MA1 is the first Google-license dongle for adding wireless Android Auto to cars that already feature the wired version of the platform. It was announced back in January, and went on sale later that month. Pre-orders sold out nearly immediately, and stock on Amazon has been scarce in the time since. Even when the product launched at Target, it sold out nearly instantly.

We last observed the restock of the Motorola MA1 on February 4, over a month ago. Stock lasted less than an hour, and it hasn’t been restocked in the time since.

In previous statements from Motorola Sound/MGW Global, we were told that restocking at Amazon has the primary holdup and that manufacturing, i.e., available inventory, was not holding back sales. We reached out to SGW Global again last week to see if that was still the case, but the company never got back to us.

The real problem here is not just that the product is hard to come by, but that scalpers have swooped in on the opportunity. As of March 9, the Amazon listing for Motorola MA1 is out of stock from official sellers, but third-party sellers have inflated the price to 2x the original $90 price tag, with most hovering around $200. eBay sellers have also been selling the device for well over its normal price tag, with most “Buy it Now” listings sitting around $170-200, and one “presale” listing at $140. Point being, you’re not going to be able to get the MA1 for its retail cost right now.