Jh23job

I have heard of a dealer that is insisting on an "ETCHING" fee on a new C8... What kinda scam is that ?

Has anyone else been approached by your dealer with this, or have they tricked you into paying for this ridiculous add on ?

Can this be thwarted at the point as they're unloading the vehicle into the dealer lot ??

Please advise...

Mitt11

Etching gets done when the car goes in to be washed and prepped. You can absolutely tell them to not do it, but do what you can to be there when the car is off loaded from the truck, as it may not get communicated from your sales person to the lot techs.

TexasMark

If you plan to apply your own ceramic or graphene coating, make sure they do NOT prep the paint finish.

Such coatings must be applied with all wax or other coatings removed from the original paint.

Iconic

There is not enough info given on this dealer add on in the OP example/hypothetical.

If you ordered this Vette, the etching fee would have to be on the purchase agreement and thus part of the signed agreement between the dealer and buyer before the car was even built. If it is a lot car ordered for showroom stock and hasn't been etched when the prospective buyer is negotiating, then the proposed buyer should have final say of weather he wants the etching job done or not. If the lot car already has etching prior to when the potential buyer starts negotiating, he can either pay for this dealer add on, negotiate on the price of the etching fee, or not buy the car.

This is not legal advise, rather just a guy who has told dealers to pound sand for lesser "forced" add ons.

Iconic

I think the OP is referring to the VIN number etched onto the glass.

Jh23job

If this gets "Etched" into the new C8 glass right off the truck, and they hit up the customer with that cost at time of financing, can you fight it ?

Refuse to pay ?? or just pay for it, get the car in possession, and then fight it, or ??

There must be well educated dealers on this sight with some insight on this, or buyers that have been down this road.

Big problem is making a stink on a car that they know damn well you're not gonna walk away from for a 400 dollar add-on.. thinking they have you by the pelotas...lol

Mitt11

Your dealer may be different, but when I used to work as a lot tech/car prep, not every car got etch, but most did. The cars would come in on the truck, be offloaded, and sit for a while. Once service was ready, they would go through service and then wait to be purchased. Only once the car was being washed, gassed up, and cleaned would we do etch.

You bring up a good point, that a dealer may not be willing to negotiate with you when they know this car is in such high demand right now.

I would talk to your sales person before the car arrives, and make your expectations clear. At the very least you can still pay for the etch but ask they don't actually do it.

Hope this helps.

vetteish

I used to be an auditor at dealerships. A few stores would etch all new ones when they came in so they could go ahead and have it on an addendum and be able to charge more and keep the markup since it was already done. I think they got incentives on how many the store would sell. I also think that if the customer refused it, they would just take money of the etch from the holdback or the deal so no money was lost.

b4i4getit

The forced add-ons that some dealers impose keeps getting larger. Some are downight ridiculous. The only way to stop this is to make your needs known upfront before the purchase and refuse to play this game.

Some of the add-ons I have encountered are -

- wheel locks (price inflated)
- nitrogen filled tires
- black tire dressing and wheel polish
- glass etching
- paint protection
- rubber seal conditioning
- ozone treatment (remove new car smell)
- critical component rustproofing
- interior Scotchgard and detail
- engine detailing (blowing the dust off)
- radio station preset configuration
- Bluetooth phone setup

JK 23112

That is a very comprehensive list. It just goes to show you that some people not only exist at the bottom of the barrel, but they swim around in the ooze that is actually underneath the barrel when you pick it up.

My favorite one is the upcharge for nitrogen in the tires.......since the air we breathe is mostly nitrogen anyway. I suppose there are a few dealerships who even charge extra for rust-proofing on Corvettes - which are made of fiberglass.

MIREDVET

Do they program the Brewers Retail outlets in the GPS too?

Greg00Coupe

We just car shopped for the wife...... another was $500 pin stripping, don't forget mud guards and door guards.... she ended up buying a Hyundai Palisade.......another story but very popular cars....... First round of negotiations dealer pulled the $1200 of dealer ad ons right off.

MAD Matt

At the end of last year, I bought my wife a new 2019 Honda CR-V. The dealer tried to stab me for a $1000 for floor mats! It never ends........

JK 23112

I absolutely dread the next time I have to buy a car. Hopefully, it is a ways off. My girlfriend has a 2016 Audi TT and my 2018 Honda Accord ought to be good to go for awhile. We will likely keep our 2017 & 2019 Corvettes a long time, but perhaps Mike Furman might still be in the business by the time we seek to replace one or both of them.

C8 Gator

The more I hear about this Dealer BS the happier I am that I chose Museum Delivery!

RussM05

F*** that. If you ordered that car, total bull sh’t. If you walked in the dealership and the car was already there and had the etching, they can insist payment.

hamta

Another GREAT reason for R8C Delivery. I'm doing my second Museum Delivery (first one was on my C6 ZO6) on my C8 from MM, hopefully in the March/April delivery timeframe...It is a fantastic experience and well worth the price, IMHO.

QuickSilver20

Unfortunately this is becoming more and more common. When we were car shopping for the wife most dealerships were anywhere from 3-5 hundred in add one for some kind of shield protectant, nitrogen filled tires and wheel locks.

the Chevy dealership here is 800 on cars and like 1700 on trucks for the crap that they add. Clearly a way to increase margins and get people into the dealership since it is not advertised in the online price and noted in small print on their website.

DTOM

It's unfortunate the dealerships are still trying to pull these ADM scams

The absolute worst part of the Corvette experience, is the dealership purchasing experience.

Red C8 of Jax

Unfortunately, if you don't want all the dealer's addons on the car that you have been waiting on for around 12-14 months, your dealer sure want's it. He will place it in his show room and get a 10K-20K markup including the addons. If you can convince your salesman to remove the addons, the Sales Manager might override your Salesman and insist on them. I have heard of that happening more than once. If you still want the car and you are faced with paying for the extra addons, you might try to make yourself feel better by (hopefully) getting the car at MSRP.