Posted on 04/03/2012 7:05:58 AM PDT by BO Stinkss
Reader Darrell was shopping recently for a new car and snapped a picture of the College Park Hyundai dealership in Maryland that's charging $1495 for dealer-installed door edge guards. "They were on every car on the lot," wrote Darrell. And at that price point, they better be filled with pearls and caviar drenched in panther blood.
Let's call and find out. When I called College Park Hyundai's General Sales Manager, Sudip Gutpa, he was guarded and asked what I was investigating. I noted that the markup on the door edge guards seemed pretty high. "What's your point?" he asked. I pointed out that you could get door guards for $8 on Amazon, and I asked what his rationale was for the pricing.
"In the state of Maryland, it's legal to have dealer markup due to vehicle demand," said Gupta. "I suggest you call up 300 other dealerships around the Beltway."
(Excerpt) Read more at jalopnik.com ...
I suppose I might buy a Ford if forced into it but other than that, I won’t buy anything made by union pukes.
Well Bo you are wrong, alot of dealships add that type of crap, Ford and GM add a lot higher price to the MSRP so dupes can be told they are getting a $4,000.00 savings on the car they are buying. There are several GM and Ford dealers in the DC area that add the same crap to their cars. I know of one dealership that charges $2,995.00 for those strips.
I know because I am in the car business in the DC area. The other thing is rebates, when a company gives a rebate on a car it lowers the value of the used car by that amount too. So if your new car you just bought will go down next year by whtever amount the Ford rebate on it will be next year plus whatever it goes down for miles and age.....
Hyundai could do the same crap with MSRP as American car companies and lie about MSRP but instead their markup is lower, and give you a better car and warranty....
The fail is strong on this thread for so many reasons.
“Hyundai and Kia are notorious for this kind of stuff...”
Did you even read the blog (not news) you posted? Why are you blaming Hyundai and Kia when it’s a reportedly sleazy DEALER that is adding these high priced items?
And the reason you bought a Ford at $4000 below MSRP is because they first jacked up the retail value $4,000. Then suckered you into believing you got a great deal as they lowered the price.
We bought a 2011 Hyundai Elantra in mid-February with 17,000 miles on it. Great car, the price was right, and we’re getting 36-38mpg combined. The 2012 models were higher by about $3,000 but I didn’t see anything on the sticker like you’re suggesting. Those on the lot had “packages” that our vehicle didn’t. Including, leather, GPS, etc. Don’t care whether we have leather or not, and we already have a Tom Tom...
No Cornel Sanders, you’re wrong!
Have you paid 2 cents for everything else?
No Cornel Sanders, you’re wrong!
Reading the rest of the article, seems that one dealership is the only one in the area charging that. One said $100 and another offered to throw them in for free.
My 2004 Hyundai has had the suggested maintenance, front brakes and new windshield wipers. Never had a vehicle out of Detroit that came close to that for low maintenance costs as well as reliability.
Yeah, right. Next thing you're going to say is that we can't trust a used car dealer or Obama...
What kind of Ford - do you like it?
That should throw a huge signal that if you decide to buy there every part of the transaction will become as contentious as that ADM on the sticker. Frankly, I believe that any dealer who puts ADM on every car on the lot is sleazy as hell.
These are called “bump stickers” and can be safely ignored. I recently purchased a new Hyundai Tucson and it went away without even me asking and I bought it at a reasonable margin over invoice and got pretty close to the NADA trade-in value for my vehicle. This was done over the internet and there was no haggling. This is purely a dealer deal. The manufacturer, to my knowledge, has nothing to do with this. Generally speaking this will be on hot sellers where the demand is high and some unwary buyers will pay that price. I would pass along this tip for any buyer of any make or model. Never make an offer. Always let the dealer negotiate with himself.
I took my Mini into the dealer last week for state inspection and they wanted me to pay $512 for two new front tires even though the ones on the vehicle were still legal.
That pissed me off. I've never paid $256 for a tire in my life!
So when I received the follow up survey from Mini, I rated them unsatisfactory. They really hated that. The service manager called me and explained that I just didn't understand.
End of relationship with those guys.
“What kind of Ford - do you like it?”
2011 Focus SE - It’s well built and gets 32 mpg to and from work. It’s got all the bell and whistles minus leather. I really liked the Elantra, but I couldn’t justify paying $19,900 for it versus the $14,400 for the comparable Focus.
Now wait for all the “Ford sucks - you got screwed” replies. I don’t care- I like the car.
I’ve head Chevys (years ago), Hyundai, Subaru and Toyota (the last three all since 2004).
All were miles behind Ford in quality & comfort.
Though I am p.o.’d that they dropped the Mercury line—better looking than the Ford counterparts. My wife now has an ‘09 AWD Merc Milan and it is a safe, classy, great small car.
I'd trust a used car dealer before I'd trust a politician.
The dealer at least works for a living.
“...General Sales Manager, Sudip Gupta...”
Heh. Made my day.
I wonder if their customer service line is routed to Omaha?
personally, i rank car dealers/salesman—along with all merchants—one click above/below politicians, depending upon which way the wind (stink) is blowing at the time...get my drift....there might be an exception here and there...but check twice...
Semper Watching!
*****
Well, there was your first mistake. :-)
Recently, I took my 12-year-old Ford to the dealer for some warranty work. The dealer "found" a list of problems that "had to be fixed, right now". Car wasn't safe to drive, without performing the work. Total Cost? $1900. I'm not sure if my car is worth that much.
I smelled BS. I'm not a mechanic, but I generally know enough about cars to be dangerous. I took the car over to my regular mechanic, showed him the list, and asked what he thought.
He said, "Well, your car has 130,000+ miles on it. Stuff *is* going to be worn. It's not a new car, but it's perfectly safe."
End of discussion.
As an aside, I had the brakes done, by the same guy. Before working on them, I asked "What do you think? Is it drivable?" His reply: "Sure. You can drive it off the lot, but I wouldn't be riding in it."
I had the brakes done, right then. :-) It's nice to have an honest mechanic.
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