Dealer markup vs options

[Kablooie]

When I ordered my Prius the salesman told me that there was no markup. Package 9 was 26.000 something. When I got the car he told me it came with Lojack, ChopCop and First Class Finish. I took the car and made an appointement for these extras to be installed. Thinking about it I decided I didn't want these extras and called but was told that there was a $5000 dollar markup on Prius's and they threw in these extras to give you something for your money. If I didn't get the extras I still had to pay the markup.

This was never explained to me by the salesman.

Do you folks think I have a case here that deserves some reparation?

[Tempus]

It's not really clear exactly what the situation is here.

If you haven't taken delivery of the car, you can negotiate, pay, or walk.

If you've signed the papers and taken delivery, then you're pretty much toast. That's why you have to be very careful before signing on the dotted line, because then it's a done deal.

In some states, you have, by law, a 72 hour "Buyers Remorse" grace period in which the dealer must take the car back. Check your state laws. They will of course try to stall you til the 72 hours is past then say tough luck.

If you have signed, and the option is to get the stuff or not get the stuff, may as well go ahead and get it. You may get an insurance break for the Lojak if nothing else.

You can talk to your local Consumer Protection office to find out if there is any other recourse, but short of alleging fraud of some kind it's unlikely if the dealer doesn't want to cooperate.

Your best bet for an arguement would be if the Sales Contract lists the items with costs. Then the dealer would have a hard time arguing that they aren't itemized prices and that the 'dealer adjustment' is in force regardless.

However, in theory even if they are itemized, you signed a contract agreeing to pay for them, and short of the dealer not providing them, they can hold you to the agreement you signed.

Look at the contract, see how things are itemized.

If it just lists those items then has a 'dealer adjustment' for $5K your case is a lot weaker.

[cybele]

Originally posted by Kablooie
When I ordered my Prius the salesman told me that there was no markup.

This is the same dealer that called to say your car was in and then sold it to someone else?

If they told you no markup, then that's what it should be. But you said you didn't put a depost down and had no "agreement" with the dealer, so it's hard to make a case for something like that.

If you paid the markup or for these extras and took delivery of the car, I don't know if there's a way out of it.

You've never told us what state you live in (it helps when dealing with these sorts of things, California has no cooling off period) so I can offer limited advice on this.

If your state does have a cooling off period, I'd say invoke it now and return the car and go to a real dealership that won't pull this sort of thing.

If you can't do that, then I'd say take the stuff ... you've paid for it and you may as well get something for the money instead of just giving them a courtesy profit of $5K.

As Tempus advised, look at the contract and see if the stuff is itemized.

[Kablooie]

Nope, not itemized. I was negligent in not reviewing the paperwork throughly. I had to wait 2 hours before they got around to doing the paperwork so by the time I was signing, I was anxious to leave.

Oh and this is in California. Los Angeles area.

Bob Smith Toyota in La Crescenta.

I was also on the Longo waiting list and I sure they don't have any markups or hidden costs, they've always been straight forward when I've dealt with them before. I had a few months more to wait on their list though.

[cybele]

Originally posted by Kablooie
Nope, not itemized. I was negligent in not reviewing the paperwork throughly. I had to wait 2 hours before they got around to doing the paperwork so by the time I was signing, I was anxious to leave.

I expect that's why they do that ... make folks wait so they're anxious or in a hurry and they're more likely to miss that kind of stuff.

I hope this means that you're going to go back and at least get the LoJack (that may save you some on your insurance, at least).

I'd say stick with Longo for your service though, if they've always been on the up and up with you. I'll add Bob Smith to my list of poopy-head dealers.

I hope you won't let the buying experience won't detract from the owning experience. It's a sweet ride! Congratulations on finally getting yours.

[peart75]

i experienced a similar situation earlier today. a dealer called me up and said they had a black 2004 #9. it had rim upgrades and tinted windows, bring the car up to $29K. well, i don't want those things and i don't want to pay $29K for this car. i politely declined and asked how long until the next one that would be available to me. he explained that future prius they sell will have these options and that any dealer i call will be marking up the cost $3-5K and i might as well get something for it.

what a scam!

i informed him i would call them back if i was interested. the dealer was I-10 Toyota in Indio, CA. I don't advise anyone dealing with these people.

luckily i got an email from a different dealer with a 1-2 month wait list (the shortest one i could find before was 6 months) and they are selling @ MSRP! hopefully this works out and i can get my prius soonoer than later =]

-drew

[niferbee]

It really is sad that with this huge waiting list, it's hard to know if the dealer you order with is going to be honest and upfront.

I think it's one thing to add on the price of any Toyota accessories (i.e. carpet mats, etc...) that came with the car, but it's a completely different (and uglier) beast to add on $5000 and add on items that the consumer never wanted in the first place.

I wonder if people think this is the norm and they *have* to spend the money above MSRP? I think paying MSRP (and not being able to haggle at all) is hard enough to accept, but paying an additional markup? I hope people don't think this is the norm and don't think that this is what they have to deal with to buy a Prius.

[genalex]

It may only provide you a chance to blow off steam *but*:

Call Toyota's 800 customer support number and pour out your heart about how badly this unethical dealer is abusing his franchise and tarnishing toyota's rep. Name names and be specific. They will take notes and express sympathy and tell you that they will feed this back with criticism to the dealer, although they cannot control an independent dealer's business practices.

Nevertheless, it does some good because the dealer's franchise could be jeapordized if there are too many such complaints.

I did this when my local Toyota dealer's service manager pulled some shabby billing practices after servicing my Camry. I subsequently got an apology and a credit for the charges in question.

[genalex]

Now listen, children, while an old-timer tells you how it was. After the big war, the auto mfrs dug out the tooling for the '41 cars and starting stamping out the '47s and '48s. Dealers took orders and deposits and created waiting lists typically 2 years long. But when the cars began to arrive they went to people who paid sizeable premiums "under the table". It was referred to that way because, as I remember, war-time price controls were still in effect.

Ah, well, nothing new under the sun.

[ggarb]

FWIW, note that both "ChopCop" and "First Place Finish" are
made by the same company.

http://www.chopcop.com/

/Gordon