Dumb dealer add ons....
08-28-2010, 01:14 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Dumb dealer add ons....
So I was arranging my loan to go pick up my new Highlander and asked the saleswoman to give me the final payoff figure. She would not. She said they will take care of all that when you sit in the business office. I asked again and was told "They take care of all that when you get here. I did not give it much thought, just figured I would get a certified check for my best guess and then write a personal check if it was a little short. I should have known it was because they were going to try to sell me extended warranties and all kinds of other nonsense.
So when taking a final look at the car, ( I think it comes from toyota this way and is not a dealer add on) and it has a swatch of protective film, like the kind the put on the front edge of the hood nowdays, on the outer edge of each door so it wont chip when opened into something, and a patch in the little indentation behind each door handle that gets scratched up by your hand over time. I say I think it comes from toyota that way because the car had not yet been prepped for delivery. So the dealer is going to peel it off when they prep the car but will leave it on the car for a mere $200. Yes, you heard that right, if you save them a step in prepping the vehicle, you pay them $200 to not do that labor.
Now looking through the paper this morning in the car ads one dealer is thumping their chest about being the first in town to offer "anti-microbial" coating of the interior. I wonder what they charge to rub some purel on the dash? "Protect your family" it says. Who is dumb enough to think this will keep the car germ free? And are they just preying on OCD germophobes?
When I worked at a dealer as a teen we offered the $1,000 protection package. They put it on every car and then made people try to bargain the price down. It was "fabric protection" (which was a can of 3M scotch card that I sprayed on the seats and carpet at a cost of about $2 a car) "paint sealant" (a 20 minute run through the dealers Buff and Shine machine which cost us about $20) and "rust proofing" (about a $30 blast of some chemical goo into the doors and any enclosed metal space in the car).
So who pays for this stuff? If nobody was buying it the dealers would not offer it.
So when taking a final look at the car, ( I think it comes from toyota this way and is not a dealer add on) and it has a swatch of protective film, like the kind the put on the front edge of the hood nowdays, on the outer edge of each door so it wont chip when opened into something, and a patch in the little indentation behind each door handle that gets scratched up by your hand over time. I say I think it comes from toyota that way because the car had not yet been prepped for delivery. So the dealer is going to peel it off when they prep the car but will leave it on the car for a mere $200. Yes, you heard that right, if you save them a step in prepping the vehicle, you pay them $200 to not do that labor.
Now looking through the paper this morning in the car ads one dealer is thumping their chest about being the first in town to offer "anti-microbial" coating of the interior. I wonder what they charge to rub some purel on the dash? "Protect your family" it says. Who is dumb enough to think this will keep the car germ free? And are they just preying on OCD germophobes?
When I worked at a dealer as a teen we offered the $1,000 protection package. They put it on every car and then made people try to bargain the price down. It was "fabric protection" (which was a can of 3M scotch card that I sprayed on the seats and carpet at a cost of about $2 a car) "paint sealant" (a 20 minute run through the dealers Buff and Shine machine which cost us about $20) and "rust proofing" (about a $30 blast of some chemical goo into the doors and any enclosed metal space in the car).
So who pays for this stuff? If nobody was buying it the dealers would not offer it.
08-28-2010, 03:24 PM
#5
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yeah... negotiating the purchase is the easy part... sitting down with the finance guy is the suck... I thought I was going to have to fight the dude when we bought our RAV... funny... there was no window sticker on the the damn thing when we bought it... they mailed me one a few days later... found out I wound up paying a hundre or so for a chrome exhaust tip... Dealers are predators. I bet you're going to like your highlander. Enjoy.
08-28-2010, 06:17 PM
#6
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 3,642
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yeah, I think the "finance" guy is the worst person to deal with at a dealership. When we bought my wife's pilot back in December we got a great deal on her pilot at a dealership about 45 minutes away. We went to go pick it up and then we had to go take care of the financing. Honda was running 0.9% financing so we did it through the dealer. The finance guy would not take no for an answer on the extended warranty and flat out lied to us what it covered. He said that we would get a refund on it if we didn't use it before it expired. I said well then I guess we would never use it unless we had a really big problem and then he said it was deducted from the total so if we had a $500 repair we would get the total minus that $500 and it was only for stuff not covered under the standard warranty. I thought that seemed ridiculous because it basically makes it so there's no way they can profit on the warranty.
In a move I regretted a lot, I caved and got the warranty. After having time to read through all of the pages of fine print at home, I realized that everything he told me was BS and I was right the first time. Use that warranty at all, including roadside assistance, and we get $0 back. I let Honda know how displeased I was when they did the post purchase survey. A few weeks later I got my hondacare paperwork in the mail and saw that within 60 days of purchase you can cancel and get 100% of your money back so I did that. I was out no money and it was nice to take money out of the pocket of that lying finance guy. Next time I'll just be a total jackass if that's what it takes to make them understand I don't want it. I was lucky to get out of it this time with no money out of pocket and I still got a sweet deal on a hard to find color/trim level on the pilot.
In a move I regretted a lot, I caved and got the warranty. After having time to read through all of the pages of fine print at home, I realized that everything he told me was BS and I was right the first time. Use that warranty at all, including roadside assistance, and we get $0 back. I let Honda know how displeased I was when they did the post purchase survey. A few weeks later I got my hondacare paperwork in the mail and saw that within 60 days of purchase you can cancel and get 100% of your money back so I did that. I was out no money and it was nice to take money out of the pocket of that lying finance guy. Next time I'll just be a total jackass if that's what it takes to make them understand I don't want it. I was lucky to get out of it this time with no money out of pocket and I still got a sweet deal on a hard to find color/trim level on the pilot.
08-28-2010, 06:32 PM
#7
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 17,670
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I worked as a porter at a GM dealership when I was younger. We sold "Xylon" paint coating. It would be an up-sell of anywhere between $700-1500. The stuff we used was actually branded under that name. It was basically fabric/leather protectant, and a sealant. I wish I could charge that much for that little of work detailing--I would be rich 
Thing is, they sell it as "only an extra $10/month to your car" which makes it sound cheap. At the end of the day, the dealership still sold you something that doesn't work, for $1500
Thing is, they sell it as "only an extra $10/month to your car" which makes it sound cheap. At the end of the day, the dealership still sold you something that doesn't work, for $1500
Trending Topics
08-28-2010, 07:05 PM
#8
Registered User
It almost came to punches when I bought my wife's car with the finance guy.
They insisted I pay $450 for "security etching" on the windows. Told them to keep the car if that was the case (which took me 8 weeks to get on special order)
they finally caved. They also claimed I was the only customer she had ever had who wasn't interested in an extended warranty.
They insisted I pay $450 for "security etching" on the windows. Told them to keep the car if that was the case (which took me 8 weeks to get on special order)
they finally caved. They also claimed I was the only customer she had ever had who wasn't interested in an extended warranty.
08-28-2010, 07:24 PM
#9
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 116
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
All of these problems can be avoided if you just negotiated the final price before you went to pick the car up, and arranged for your own financing.
1. Call about the car you want, have the internet sales manager do a walkthrough to note any damages to the car, negotiate the purchase price, Dealer fee, any other fees they try to add, and tax/tag/title fees. Agree to buy vehicle (usually a $100 credit card deposit will do. They have never charged my card though, and usually just take the card number to know that you are serious).
2. Have them fax you the breakdown of the price.
3. Take breakdown to your bank/credit union and get approved for financing. Get a check from the bank made out to the dealer for the car you are buying.
4. Go to dealership and check car out. Note any differences from their walkthrough and your visual inspection and test drive. Negotiate the repair of any missed deficiencies (e.g. I found a small hole in my top and had the dealer agree to pay whatever repair quote I got up to $150. This way they don't feel like you are penny pinching and just want it fixed. I had them agree to this in writing, I got a quote, they mailed me a check, and I fixed the small hole myself).
5. Ask them if they can beat the financing terms that your bank has given you. If so, try their financing. If not, hand them your check and walk away with your new car.
Some of you may be wary of agreeing to buy a car sight unseen, but I have worked out good enough deals that the car would have to be in horrible shape to not be worth it. I also only deal with the internet sales manager. I don't waste my time with regular sales people who have to go to a boss for approval, and I stay far away from the finance guy. Worst case scenario, you wasted some time and might have to make a dispute with your credit card company if they actually charge your card.
1. Call about the car you want, have the internet sales manager do a walkthrough to note any damages to the car, negotiate the purchase price, Dealer fee, any other fees they try to add, and tax/tag/title fees. Agree to buy vehicle (usually a $100 credit card deposit will do. They have never charged my card though, and usually just take the card number to know that you are serious).
2. Have them fax you the breakdown of the price.
3. Take breakdown to your bank/credit union and get approved for financing. Get a check from the bank made out to the dealer for the car you are buying.
4. Go to dealership and check car out. Note any differences from their walkthrough and your visual inspection and test drive. Negotiate the repair of any missed deficiencies (e.g. I found a small hole in my top and had the dealer agree to pay whatever repair quote I got up to $150. This way they don't feel like you are penny pinching and just want it fixed. I had them agree to this in writing, I got a quote, they mailed me a check, and I fixed the small hole myself).
5. Ask them if they can beat the financing terms that your bank has given you. If so, try their financing. If not, hand them your check and walk away with your new car.
Some of you may be wary of agreeing to buy a car sight unseen, but I have worked out good enough deals that the car would have to be in horrible shape to not be worth it. I also only deal with the internet sales manager. I don't waste my time with regular sales people who have to go to a boss for approval, and I stay far away from the finance guy. Worst case scenario, you wasted some time and might have to make a dispute with your credit card company if they actually charge your card.
08-28-2010, 08:08 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,492
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
C'mon guys it's easy to get all the way through the transaction including the finance guy. Just let them know at the outset that you're not interested in their bullshit. When it comes to financing, always let them know that you've come to the table with your own financing in hand (cash, credit union, or personal bank). Tell the finance guy that he's welcome to compete for your business and if he can put a better rate on the table you'd be happy to use him. The minute the guy or gal opens their mouth about extended warranty, paint protection, window VIN etching, or pinstripes just cut them off mid sentence with a dead serious look in your eye and tell them you are not interested. If the guy opens his/her mouth again, stand up and tell them if they persist you will walk out. And oh yeah, you have to mean it. Never get so emotionally invested in a damned car that you won't walk away. Even if you just waited 8 weeks for delivery. In the end, throw the poor slob a bone like wheel locks for $100 so that they can claim some small victory and save face. Maybe it's because I have a finance background but I'm never intimidated by these guys. It's usually quite the other way round. I never spend more than about 15 minutes with the finance guy.