After negotiating the price on a used truck, I was told they would sell for $20,000 if we came in "today". During the negotiation process, something was mentioned about a "tire gauge service" and and "etching service". I asked what that was about. The sales manager (Errol) informed me that some vehicles have these features installed "when we get them." I asked for his assurance that we would not be charged extra for them. He replied, "No, I wouldn't do that to you."
When I was shown the final offer I noticed some writing in the left-hand margin. They were codes and numbers, with no dollar signs next to them. I asked what that was, and the salesperson said it was for these securitity features, but indicated that we weren't being charged for them. (Also, their final figure with TT&L were off by $195, which they claimed was a "mistake" when I caught it).
When we got to the finance department, I noticed two line items for these security features on our contract ($299 each, totalling $598). I informed the finance manager that we did not agree to pay for these, and were in fact told these were "included". Furthermore, we were not given the option to remove these features from our purchase price.
Upon raising this issue, the sales manager came back and informed us that we could remove them, but the price wouldn't change. Having spent more than 3 hours at the dealership and being late for work, we were worn down to the point of signing the docs so we could get out of there.
In short, we were deceived in being forced to pay for something we had absolutley no interest in buying. The misleading and intentionally vauge communication on the subject was not fleshed out until the final contract was drawn up. These "forced upsells" are what drives a great deal of margin for this dealership.
Buyer beware! And insist on removing these useless features from your price discussions in the very beginning. Otherwise, they will trap you deep into the process, hoping you won't notice.
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