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| - Most car dealers will get a low number of stars from me in general (truly helpful salespeople are rare). I was in the market for a new VW, and I shopped at Camelback VW. After looking at their selection, I noticed something concerning: all of their cars had a dealer "add-on" package that added between $1000-2500 (depending on the model) to the MSRP of the cars. I quickly walked off from the salesperson and left the dealership to look up the actual "value" of this package. Unfortunately, as you might imagine, it is a true waste of money. The package is supposed to protect your new car from the elements, but as most folks have found, regular waxing does the same thing for thousands less. Even without wax, if your car will spend a lot of its time in a carport or garage, there's no reason to worry about the paint for many years, even in Phoenix. Plus, this "package" adds exactly $0 to the resale value of the car, meaning that your money vanishes the second you drive it off the lot.
And here's where they get you: Since this "package" is nearly 100% profit for the dealer, they are willing to negotiate way down on the price. Say a car MSRP is $25K, and they add a $2K package to it to make the total sticker price $27K. If you talk them back down to $25K, they'll act as if they're doing you a huge favor. IGNORE THE PACKAGE PRICE and negotiate down from the factory MSRP sticker.
As for me, I'm avoiding any dealer that would try to fleece its customers like this.
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