Dealer Add-Ons
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When I sat down with the finance guy who attempted to sell me a raft of (over-priced) back end products, I told him I wanted to research his offers and I would give him an answer in 2 hours. I went to a Starbucks for a break from negotiations, and ran Google searches on gap insurance (available for far less with many insurers), compared the price of the dealer's extended warranties with the cost on chryslerfactoryplans.com, determined that the Karr security system was largely overpriced and over-hyped, and I already knew paint protection is one of the biggest scams in the new car industry. I even had time to contact a fellow ForumZ member for advice.
I ended up buying none of the back-end products and saved myself a couple of thousand in the process. Most dealerships will allow you to come back several weeks or even months later to purchase an extended warranty or gap insurance, so there's no reason to feel rushed. Don't allow the finance guy to fold the cost of any of these products into the monthly payment. They know that presenting an add-on as costing only another $15 or $20 a month sounds insignificant to buyers. Demand to know what the cost of an add-on is separate from your already negotiated monthly payment. You might be surprised how quickly the finance guy starts to discount the prices once you know how much the products cost as stand-alones.
I ended up buying none of the back-end products and saved myself a couple of thousand in the process. Most dealerships will allow you to come back several weeks or even months later to purchase an extended warranty or gap insurance, so there's no reason to feel rushed. Don't allow the finance guy to fold the cost of any of these products into the monthly payment. They know that presenting an add-on as costing only another $15 or $20 a month sounds insignificant to buyers. Demand to know what the cost of an add-on is separate from your already negotiated monthly payment. You might be surprised how quickly the finance guy starts to discount the prices once you know how much the products cost as stand-alones.
That's only part of the story, Corbin! The finance guy offered me the KARR alarm system initially for $800, but quickly dropped it to $600 when I scoffed at the price. I told him I could buy a better alarm system from Best Buy for half of what he was offering, and he tried to sell me a bill of goods that installing an aftermarket car alarm would void my warranty!
I scoffed (yet again) and told him that I used to run a shop that sold and installed stereos and car alarms, and I never once voided any warranties (it was a lie, but I was just using his ammo). That's when I excused myself for my Starbucks break, Googled user reviews on KARR, and found out what a piece of KRAP the system really is.
When I came back, I counter-offered $200 for the KARR system, and of course the finance guy declined. Uninstalling the KARR alarm was as simple as removing a chip, but they left the KARR sticker on the driver's window which, to me, is the real deterrent anyway.
18 months later with still only the factory alarm installed, my Challenger remains unstolen and in my possession. :smileup:
I was not buying their alarm but having one car stolen I was going to have a good one in the Challenger.
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1,688 Posts
I got suckered into it once, because I wanted the vehicle and they told me they already added these things so if I wanted the car I would have to pay for the add ons, so I did then, but afterwards realized with research that I was scammed, so now I tell them no every time I buy a vehicle. I'm not paying for their overpriced add-ons, that I doubt they even did.
Funny story with the 2013 Challenger that I bought a few years ago. When I went to the dealer they only had 2 red ones on the lot and I said no I don't care for red and they said oh hang on we have a jazz blue one in the back that just came in earlier that day. It wasn't clean yet, but they brought it out and they had already put the extra sticker on the window. Once I test drove it, I liked it and decided to buy it and when it came time for the price they were trying to charge me for pin stripes, paint sealant, and scotchguarding, however the car just got in and didn't even have pin stripes yet. They swore they were on there and then went out and looked and they weren't so they said, our mistake you don't have to pay for them. I said great, I'm also not paying for the other stuff since I'm sure you didn't do it either. They claimed they did and I pointed out the stripe fiasco and then they decided they didn't do it so I didn't have to pay for it.
It's all a scam.
When I bought my new Scat Pack last week the dealer told me they were making no money on my sale because I used a Friends and Family discount. I pointed out that the Holdback price was $1700 less than the FFP discount I was paying for so I knew they were lying to me. They went well yeah we make that but not much more. Really?! I so wish we could cut out the middle man and buy directly from the dealer.
Funny story with the 2013 Challenger that I bought a few years ago. When I went to the dealer they only had 2 red ones on the lot and I said no I don't care for red and they said oh hang on we have a jazz blue one in the back that just came in earlier that day. It wasn't clean yet, but they brought it out and they had already put the extra sticker on the window. Once I test drove it, I liked it and decided to buy it and when it came time for the price they were trying to charge me for pin stripes, paint sealant, and scotchguarding, however the car just got in and didn't even have pin stripes yet. They swore they were on there and then went out and looked and they weren't so they said, our mistake you don't have to pay for them. I said great, I'm also not paying for the other stuff since I'm sure you didn't do it either. They claimed they did and I pointed out the stripe fiasco and then they decided they didn't do it so I didn't have to pay for it.
It's all a scam.
When I bought my new Scat Pack last week the dealer told me they were making no money on my sale because I used a Friends and Family discount. I pointed out that the Holdback price was $1700 less than the FFP discount I was paying for so I knew they were lying to me. They went well yeah we make that but not much more. Really?! I so wish we could cut out the middle man and buy directly from the dealer.
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531 Posts
A friend/mechanic at a new car dealership assured me that the paint and fabric protection are worthless.
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531 Posts
At least you did not pay $5K over MSRP. What are these people thinking.:4-dontknow:
How much was the tint? They told me $495. I declined and got it done for $170. Even if you would've negotiated that $495 an person probably would've still be around $200-300....
I maybe interested in getting and alarm. Which one did you go with? What was the price? Who installed it?
How'd you even know the holdback price?
Just ask. Most dealers will show it to you on their invoice screen.
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636 Posts
Just so you know they can change that screen to say anything they want!
I went with DE Car mate it has shock, impact and starter kill and it works with the factory remotes( That is what made me get that one).It was around $200, installed by a local company
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