Thought you'd enjoy my email exchange with a dealer's internet dept. while negotiating yesterday on a new Prius: "Please confirm price without cable/charge package, and confirm included packages/accessories." And the response: "We cannot remove anything that is already built into the MSRP. This prius also has All Weather Mats." I'm guessing the responder didn't take the time to look at the vehicle's Monroney sticker and realize I was talking about the $73 pouch of accessory cell phone charging cables that plug into the USB jacks, you know, the pouch that is sitting in a desk drawer in the dealership, and not actually physically wired, glued, or screwed onto the vehicle. Or maybe they did know, and just wanted to see if I'd give in. I bought elsewhere.
While they "can't remove it", you can tell them to knock it off of the price if they want to make a sale...
I remember buying a car once (not a Prius) where I didn't want to pay the $50 for the carpeted floor mats. The discussion went as follows: Dealer - "Are you going to let $50 get between you and this beautiful new car?" Me - "Are you?"
My last purchase ( Honda Fit ) I let myself get somewhat swindled. The dealership had BOTH all-season mats and carpeted mats included. I only use and want the All-Season mats. But when I mentioned this, I got the they.re just part of the total package spiel. I should of been more adamant that they keep the carpeted mats, and deduct the cost, but I wasn't, nobody to blame but myself. But I kinda thought maybe I would seasonally change the mats out. It's been 3 years and I've never used carpeted mats at all. So anyway, I think too often dealerships will look to add anything or everything they can to the price, so a keen eye to what you are paying for is important, as well as communicating strongly you don't expect to pay for anything you don't want.
I would reply to their reply with a link to this thread! hahahahahaa! Congrats on the purchase of your new PRIUS!
I replied several hours later that I had made a purchase and thanked them for their help. I did the same to all other dealers I had surrendered contact info to. And I even got a “congratulations” from one. That was nice.
The last two cars I bought both included a "prepaid maintenance" package. Essentially 4 oil changes and tire rotations.......for a bit OVER $600. One Toyota and one Ford. When I got up and headed for the door, an equivalent $600 discount magically appeared.
