So I just purchased a 2021 RDX AWD Technology and looking over the paperwork to file I found several things odd. One was the registration and warranty for Zurich Shield which was the first I had heard of it. There was also a charge for $500 mentioned. I also saw a charge for window etching for $499. Neither of these were seen when we signed the paperwork. I do see that the signature for at least the Zurich Shield was electronic, but the point being, I made the saleswoman and the finance gentleman abundantly clear that I didn't want any extra warranties or packages. I called the office and the finance gentleman reviewed the sales agreement and pointed out that the sales price had been adjusted down $1,000 so that the final total was the same that we had been discussing all along. While the end number is the same, I find this very unusual and frankly if they could adjust the sales price down $1,000 without my having the shield product or etching I would have taken that.
The other thing I find odd is that the etching was not actually done. My saleswoman is off until Tuesday and the dealership is closed on Sunday, but I was interested to hear if anyone had encountered something similar. I don't know the mechanisms of how dealerships and Acura interact, but these items being included, but not discussed, and in the case of the etching, not being done seems super shady.

 

Dealers have become more shady than usual. I think currently, many dealerships will not sell a vehicle unless they make a substantial profit.
I had a Genesis dealer show me his computer screen, where the total price on the lower right of the screen was $56k. I asked to remove the car loan and the number on the lower remained $56k. I said how can that be. I thought other charges are being "introduced" into the computer's calculation to make up any benefit negotiated by me. So sleazy. One has to be extremely careful that unwanted items are added. Of course they will also say "important protections" were already installed or added and they had to be paid for by the buyer. So many "dealer fees" and additional fees that are also included when getting title/tags. These add-ons are essentially a dealer markup. It's an awful time to buy a new car. I will probably have to wait until end of December and hope for a better buying experience.

 

Sometimes, a dealership will "apply" these warranties and protections to every car on their lot, in hopes that they can get every buyer to pay for them. I have had this happen, and then receive the paperwork confirming the protection, without ever paying for it. I think you are fine.. if they said you didn't pay, and the numbers you have confirm it.

Edit to add: These protections and etchings have huge markups, so I think the dealerships feel if a few buyers don't actually pay for them, the ones who do, actually more than cover their costs to have the protections in place on all the cars.

I NEVER buy them and often get paperwork showing I am covered for interior protections etc.

 

I agree that I'm fine either way because I didn't pay more than I should have, but it took some internet searching to determine that the Zurich Shield is apparently an applied product to the paint and leather surfaces vs. an extended warranty product. Perhaps that would have been a discussion point at the dealership instead of three separate conversations regarding the satisfaction survey that would be coming via email. From my standpoint, since the window vin etching wasn't done, by the letter of the contract they should refund the $499 charge and honor the same altered sales price. That isn't a feature that I would return to the dealer to have done.

 

I don't know much about these things but if I had to guess, it's because there's some kind of kickback arrangement with these add-ons that actually make it more profitable to the dealer than just taking a $1000 extra on the sales price. With all the rebates, kickbacks, etc, car prices are intentionally obtuse.

That said, if they charged you for it, they should do the work whatever it is. At the end of the day though, it comes down to how much effort you want to put in and what it's worth to you.

 

What JB says. These things dealers do have huge markups. So the $499 window etching you get zinged for really only cost them $50 (guessing). Our RDX had about $1000 in add-ons (the window etching, door trim guards, wheel locks, and so on. ) The agreed to lower tyhe price of the car to MSRP and drop the cost of the add-ons. So the $1000 they added on and then retracted, was really on a hard cost to them of a fraction of the $1000, so they got full MSRP and lost from that MSRP maybe $150 in the actual cost of the items they added. I was supposed to feel good, I guess, that I scored a $1000 worth of stuff for free (I paid MSRP). Out of all those 'extras' I probably do like having the wheel locks, but thats it.

 

The salesman is usually an informative and straightforward guy. Then they send you over to the finance guy, he is the smoke and mirrors guy, sign this, and this, and this one, and that one. you can't possibly read all that. If they work on commission the finance guy is the best paid at the dealership. I live in Canada and paid $575 for my useless etching and it was never mentioned to me. All this after I had knowingly paid $2000 over msrp. I'm hoping to buy my next car online.

 

Now, that's funny!

 

Quick snippet on this - Way too many dealers do this, (either by already having the windows etched, or tacking on the charge and waiting for PDI to actually do it). Never pay for this, regardless of whether or not it's been done already. Aside from the typical, "Just because the dealership opted to do add-ons once a vehicle hit their lot doesn't mean I wanted them, let alone am going to pay for them", it costs nothing, and many times they have the porter kid do it.

Virtually any municipal or county LEO agency offers this service for free. If a particular one doesn't, there is usually a conglomerate of agencies which participate in a task force for auto theft prevention that they can refer you to. You may not be able to head to a local substation and get it done, but many of them either host their own events several times a quarter and/or are invited out to community events and even car shows by the organizers.

Source - Was a civilian crime prevention specialist in a former life and assigned to an 18 county Auto Theft Task Force in Texas. I set up many of these events, and routinely etched a crap-load of vehicles at them. Takes 10 mins per car, and uses ~$2 worth of materials.

Edit - For anyone in Texas, here's a list of all the task forces in the State and their contact info - https://www.txdmv.gov/mvcpa-grantees (Note that some may still be limiting events due to Covid of course).

 

Dealers got upper hand, they are having record profits thanks to shortages in supply. Not a good time to buy a car, unless you must…. They dont care if you dont like it, they will sell it to another sucker that cant wait

 

OP, it's probably too late to complain and you did get the price you wanted. Your window to complain disappeared the moment you drove off the lot. Any change at this point directly hurts dealership margin more than if it was on the price of the car itself.

Although I'm not a dealer sympathizer, consumers need to be smart about these transactions.

 

I disagree, @ELIN. Being charged for work that wasn't done is fraud, and that doesn't just go away because the OP "drove off the lot."

 

Yes it probably is fraud. But addressing this fraud now would cost a lot of time and effort. If OP wants to get a lawyer to scare the dealership, it would also cost money, just to get back $600.
It's probably best that a lesson was learned and to assure this mistake is not repeated.

 

I agree with you but I do think Steeltitan could've scrutinized the final paperwork a little more. For most people, the largest purchase you will ever make is a house. The second largest purchase is typically a car. Don't folks read before signing anymore?

 

How much did you pay? Was that in line with the price you negotiated? Did you get AT LEAST the vehicle and options you had set out to purchase?

Ultimately, that's all that matters. If you got more and/or paid less, you're the winner in the deal.

 

I paid msrp which I was fine with and for the options I wanted. The vin etching was an added line item not discussed and the sales price was adjusted down to account for the extra charge, but the issue is the vin etching that was paid for, was not done. I don’t want the vin etching done and I mentioned that I didn’t want any of the extras thrown in.

 

I think you missed the point...

Did you pay what you expected to pay? Or, did the dealer add those charges back in after the fact? If the price paid is what you negotiated, then who cares about what paperwork you got and whether the items (that weren't paid for) weren't actually done?

 

I didn’t miss the point. The etching was charged and never done. The fact that the sales price was adjusted doesn’t negate the fact that the vin was a separate charge

 

Perhaps it's simply easier at an administrative/clerical level to simply deduct the price while leaving the "extras" in there? They're probably two things that every sales person is required to attempt to sell, so it's in every sales order, and needs to be retracted if the customer doesn't want it.

If you agreed upon a price with no extras, I don't see why you really even care if the extras were on there or not. You didn't want them, nor did you pay for them, and now you suddenly want them for nothing simply because they're on the receipt? It's a bullshit spray-on wax that lasts a week and window etching is literally the dumbest shit that absolutely no criminal involved with stealing cars gives two fucks about. You're not missing out on anything.

As an aside, I declined wheel locks, because they're literally worthless. Not a single person who steals tires and rims has ever been stopped or slowed down by wheel locks since the turn of the century. They just make a mechanic's life miserable when the dumbfuck owner doesn't know what they are and has no idea what or where the wheel lock key is. And it's always under the cargo tray, which is covered by two laundry bags of clothes, three lawn chairs, a random kettlebell, a tray of asssorted knicknacks, bags of gardening tools, 12,000 loose papers and chew toys for dogs (fuck, I don't miss wrenching on other people's cars). Back to the point, they "threw them in since I seemed like a nice guy" (said nobody ever), but it's because they all come from the factory like that ... it would be more work and cost them to find non-locking nuts.