fun with a dealer...

[directory]

long story....

we started walking around the lot. it only took about 5 minutes for the sales man to catch up to us. we gave him the talk that we were just looking. he asked what we were looking for--i said nothing. it was jsut small chatting after that as he followed us around the lot. no problem, we weren't in a hurry, we were bored, so small talk was fine. he was nice.

then i saw an SUV that i liked and thought i might want it, so he showed it to us and did his sales speech. ithought, what the heck, let's buy it. test drove it, got it inspected by my mechanic. all good.

got back to the lot, negotiated price and shook hands. all was fine..until he passed us off to his financing manager. got inside for the minor details. we didn't need financing through them--no problem. so then he listed out all of the charges. what he said sounded like tis reads:

taxtitledocfeewindowetchingtransferfeesignhere....

all said it very fast with no pauses, very slick for someone not to notice. but i'm up to par in the game...

uhh, hold on...what? window etching fee?
great little trick for them to make $200. he told me the previous owner had it done, and that it would need to be re-registered under my name..uhm, no---that's not it at all--i know they do that at the dealership right before they sell the car--my brother-in-law used to work for them years ago and used to put them on there himself...

they are acid etches, and can't be removed--

of course i told him no. they can't charge me for something that i didn't agree to have done. so they took it off the bill--i then dropped another bomb on them, i'm not paying for the doc fee either--i'm not going to pay to have them push paper around....

got my way, in writing, and off with the SUV i go.

long story short--listen carefully, question all unreasonable charges, and ask questions--see if they will take fees off.

[directory]

is this glass etching a new dealer scam? a quick way to make money back?

that's what i take it for--he even went as far to say that most insurance agencies offer a discount for this--how can he say that without knowing the details of my insurance?

[stoned_pimp420]

O don't even know what window etching is or what it has to do with anything, please enlighten me on this topic.

[directory]

the dealer takes a little sticker that has an acid backing. this acid backing eats at the window slightly to put a small barcode and serial numbers on the window. supposedly this make the windows abled to be tracked in case you vehicle is ever stolen, and the windows get recovered...

what are the odds of this happening....

a total scam, as if the vehicle is used, they want an infor transfer fee..in my case, $200.00

[CBFryman]

I went with my paretns to get the trailblazer years back, negotiated it down to a price my dad thought was fair (researching dealer cost and average price paid for the vehicle is a good idea) and they pushed us over to the financing department because the best load my paretns could get from their bank was 2% APR fixed where as the dealer was offering 0% for like the first 3 years and 2% fixed for the rest... otherwise we would have dont it else where. They then try to add on a $50 fee to have the vehicle detailed, $200 fee for them to do a full inspection...and this is a new vehilce, and they claimed another $30 to have the oil changed due to brake in.

My dad straight up told them that it isnt his issue if their vehilce is dirty or if they have yet to change the oil from the brake in period or w/e and that an inspection on a new vehicle is assanine....came 2 inches from walking out the door and they decided to drop all fees.

When buying a car remember these things

1.) Dont let the salesmen know you like ANYTHING
2.) Dont be affraid to walk out of the door
3.) RESEARCH consumer reports MSRP for your area dealer cost etc...

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by directory

is this glass etching a new dealer scam? a quick way to make money back?

that's what i take it for--he even went as far to say that most insurance agencies offer a discount for this--how can he say that without knowing the details of my insurance?

The dealer can say that because it is a known fact that most insurance companies will offer a discount on insurance premiums if that service is performed on your vehicle. It is considered a "theft deterrent". The thing is however, that some municipal police agencies perform this task either for free or a greatly reduced charge. It is a form of a community service that they do. The dealer hopes the customer does not know that fact, and is willing to pay for it through them. The dealer will do research into finding what else they can do to add to their bottom line and help sell more vehicles at a profit. By knowing that insurance companies offer a discount for something like glass etching, they are able to "sell" that service to the customer by the fact that the customer can get a discount in the future by having it done now.

[cbzgt50]

A dealer here in Illinois puts $5 worth of pinstriping on and charged $200, Ziebarted (undercoat and paint protectant) $500 and has a doc fee of $150 for them to do what is their job. Why can't I take it to the DMV and save $150. I didn't want all that crap but they wouldn't negotiate. I only discovered the ziebart after I bought the car (I was 19). Pizzed me off, "we can't take the ziebart off" but they do it to ALL the cars. Then hide the fact that it is there until you bought it and look CLOSER at the bill of sale. F A G' s!


I went to the same dealer, just a different location right after the Ford Escape was released in 2001. My wife and I were going to order one but she wanted to make sure that it was a good ride. I had to go to the SAME dealership because they own all the dealerships within a twenty mile radius. I asked for a test drive of the Escape and the salesman asked me if I was going to buy it. WTF! It's not a Viper or Ferarri. I told him to pizz off and went to a small town and saved thousands and ordered the exact car I wanted with no jibberish BS. Big dealers suck!

[directory]

yeah, i like it when they try to get you to sign something that says you might buy the car after a test drive.


yeah, like i'm going to sign that. and if i do, i'm burning the hell out of the clutch. want some real fun...learn to drive stick on a brand new car--and have the dealer with you!