Outrageous Dealer Add-Ons and Fees - When Will They Learn?

[john_pifer]

Shopping for a new 2024 Odyssey, as we just found out we're expecting our 4th child, and, by the end of the year, we'll have 4 children under 4 years old!

My SOP is to treat the car-buying process as a bid, emailing multiple dealerships to inquire how much they're willing to discount their stock.

Our closest Honda store, Darrell Waltrip Honda in Franklin, has several Odysseys, and every one of them has over $3000 in dealer added garbage, including "LoJack Connect", a $1500 system for locating your car if it's stolen (Apple AirTags are $29), $300 for door cups (clear film under the door handles), $500 for window tint (that much for only the front windows!). And their doc fee is $750!

When will they come to the realization that most people don't want this stuff, and recognize that it's simply a profit-padder for the greedy dealerships? And it just aggravates the customer and creates ill will.

After contacting about a dozen dealerships, I will say that I've found one dealer - Classic Honda out of Galveston, that proudly advertises zero add-ons, and has the lowest price I've found - about 8% off MSRP on a Touring model after local Texas taxes and fees (not including my Tennessee taxes), and a (reasonable for 2024) $150 doc fee.

I guess Tennessee dealers are just extra greedy. I've bought 3 new vehicles since 2007 (2007 Tacoma, 2016 WRX, and 2021 4Runner), and I had to go out of state to find a dealer that would sell for a fair price on all 3 of them. Got the Tacoma and the WRX out of AR (Central Toyota in Jonesboogie and the WRX out of Little Rock), and the 4Runner from Vandergriff out of DFW. And it's looking like that's going to be the case again.

I've had a couple of closer dealers offer discounts of 2-3 grand, but they had a bunch of add-ons that are sinking their offer.

Glad the new vehicle market is softening a bit after the craziness of MSRP and "market adjustments" of 2021 into 2023.

If you're in the market for a vehicle (depending on what it is), don't be fooled into paying markups and paying for silly dealer add-ons that just serve to line the dealer's pockets. Just don't buy from those dealers. EVERYTHING is negotiable, as long as it's not a model that's super in-demand (yes, of course, demand sets price - that goes for anything).

 

[cptbarkey]

My last two vehicles were bought out of state. A one way flight was still well under local prices for my area.

Houston is a high volume area, try a few more in Houston proper. Galveston is a bit of a drive from the airport.

As to what dealer fleecing is currently happening, good luck with that.

Congrats on #4. We had 3 kids within 2 years and stopped there, enough grey in my beard and i'm in my mid 40s.

 

[Leo99]

Congratulations on the new addition to your family!

 

[mrsilv04]

I walked away from a deal on a Ram pickup over a non-negotiable $995 'ceramic paint sealant' add-on, that was disclosed really late in the buying process.

 

[UncleDave]

Shopping for a new 2024 Odyssey, as we just found out we're expecting our 4th child, and, by the end of the year, we'll have 4 children under 4 years old!

My SOP is to treat the car-buying process as a bid, emailing multiple dealerships to inquire how much they're willing to discount their stock.

Our closest Honda store, Darrell Waltrip Honda in Franklin, has several Odysseys, and every one of them has over $3000 in dealer added garbage, including "LoJack Connect", a $1500 system for locating your car if it's stolen (Apple AirTags are $29), $300 for door cups (clear film under the door handles), $500 for window tint (that much for only the front windows!). And their doc fee is $750!

When will they come to the realization that most people don't want this stuff, and recognize that it's simply a profit-padder for the greedy dealerships? And it just aggravates the customer and creates ill will.

After contacting about a dozen dealerships, I will say that I've found one dealer - Classic Honda out of Galveston, that proudly advertises zero add-ons, and has the lowest price I've found - about 8% off MSRP on a Touring model after local Texas taxes and fees (not including my Tennessee taxes), and a (reasonable for 2024) $150 doc fee.

I guess Tennessee dealers are just extra greedy. I've bought 3 new vehicles since 2007 (2007 Tacoma, 2016 WRX, and 2021 4Runner), and I had to go out of state to find a dealer that would sell for a fair price on all 3 of them. Got the Tacoma and the WRX out of AR (Central Toyota in Jonesboogie and the WRX out of Little Rock), and the 4Runner from Vandergriff out of DFW. And it's looking like that's going to be the case again.

I've had a couple of closer dealers offer discounts of 2-3 grand, but they had a bunch of add-ons that are sinking their offer.

Glad the new vehicle market is softening a bit after the craziness of MSRP and "market adjustments" of 2021 into 2023.

If you're in the market for a vehicle (depending on what it is), don't be fooled into paying markups and paying for silly dealer add-ons that just serve to line the dealer's pockets. Just don't buy from those dealers. EVERYTHING is negotiable, as long as it's not a model that's super in-demand (yes, of course, demand sets price - that goes for anything).

Learn ?- They know what they are doing and prey on people that don't push back.

They wont stop because they get away with it 90+ % of the time, and because they can.

All you can do is give the straight shooters your business and avoid the tru-kote pushers.

 

[Hall]

When will they come to the realization that most people don't want this stuff,

You seem to be missing something.... They add these things on because people do pay for them. They're not going to stop. Too many people have to get that car that they want and now. "I can afford that payment. Where do I sign?".

 

[henni]

To the OP -- how do you make this happen, ie. the distance if I got my map data corrrect is about 13 hours by car ?

Do you drive a car down for trade or fly and drive up, assuming everything is pre-negotiated and dealer makes no last minute "oops. we just sold that car an hour ago..." ?

 

[eljefino]

IDK with Honda but Toyota (USA) is distributed through regional "middlemen" who do nothing but add these geegaws and jack up the price. Your leaving the region to shop around is the only way around these hucksters.

Thanks for doing what's right, and ignoring the bad apples.

 

[CKN]

What is the "News" here? It's the same old SOP for dealers. Best advice-find a dealer that doesn't do this.

 

[I<3oil]

They won't. Congrats! Skip the Odyssey and get the Sienna.

 

[zzyzzx]

They won't.

The dealers would rather sell at an auction for a huge loss before they would sell for a slight profit or slight loss to an individual.

 

[CKN]

The dealers would rather sell at an auction for a huge loss before they would sell for a slight profit or slight loss to an individual.

That is nonsense.

 

[BHopkins]

Unfortunately, it is not the dealership that has anything to learn about these methods used to increase dealership profit margins. Rather, it is the consumer. As long as consumers continue to accept these sort of dealership practices as the norm, and buy cars from these dealerships, the dealerships will continue to use them.

 

[shortyb]

Shouldn't be when THEY learn, should be when WE learn not to pay for that BS.

 

[shortyb]

Unfortunately, it is not the dealership that has anything to learn about these methods used to increase dealership profit margins. Rather, it is the consumer. As long as consumers continue to accept these sort of dealership practices as the norm, and buy cars from these dealerships, the dealerships will continue to use them.

Beat me to it by just that much .

 

[BHopkins]

Every car dealership that I've ever been in has doors that allow me to leave, any time I feel like it. Consumers need to be willing to exercise that agency whenever they feel that a deal is not good for them.

 

[Wat_MPG]

Here in Florida, they are horrible. $1K "dealer fees" are the norm. There are still a lot of vehicles with ADMs here. We just bought our '24 Sequoia in Auburn, AL for $4k under MSRP. The Florida dealers wanted about $5k over.

 

[john_pifer]

My last two vehicles were bought out of state. A one way flight was still well under local prices for my area.

Houston is a high volume area, try a few more in Houston proper. Galveston is a bit of a drive from the airport.

As to what dealer fleecing is currently happening, good luck with that.

Congrats on #4. We had 3 kids within 2 years and stopped there, enough grey in my beard and i'm in my mid 40s.

Thanks! We’re about the same age. I was a bachelor until 40, when we got married, in 2020.

Then we had two kids in 2021, skipped 2022, and then one in 2023. And now it’s looking like we will have another one in 2024, Lord, willing!

 

[john_pifer]

I walked away from a deal on a Ram pickup over a non-negotiable $995 'ceramic paint sealant' add-on, that was disclosed really late in the buying process.

As you should have! That is real BS!

 

[john_pifer]

To the OP -- how do you make this happen, ie. the distance if I got my map data corrrect is about 13 hours by car ?

Do you drive a car down for trade or fly and drive up, assuming everything is pre-negotiated and dealer makes no last minute "oops. we just sold that car an hour ago..." ?

With the last vehicle, I bought, the forerunner, there was no special Toyota financing, so, I got preapproved through my credit union, caught a one-way flight from Nashville to DFW, handed them the check, and then drove it back. About a 10 Hour drive, not too bad.

Easy.

You are correct, an unscrupulous dealer could screw up the process pretty badly.