Yea, window etching was added to my car without my request. I was told this was done to all the vehicles they sell. I think it only added like $150 or so, so I didn't gripe, plus it knocked a couple of bucks off the insurance.

 

I've never heard of a master value adjustment, but around this area a LOT of dealers have Market Value Adjustments. Like someone else said, the day the EVO8 came out, it had a 10K premium. The 350Z also had a 6K premium when that was released. The Lamborghini Gallardo here is going for well over $200K and you know what... people will still pay it. It is a sick game to play on people who are buying Scions though. The tC is very hot on the market right now, but the kind of people who are buying these cars aren't the same kind of people who are willing to pay the extra 10 grand because they want to be the first person on their street with an EVO MR. Scion is supposed to be a good value for the money. At 17K a tC is a steal... once it's up in the 20s, I wouldn't even look twice at getting a tC.

 

DO NOT EVER PAY FOR WINDOW ETCHING!!! If you contact your local police department and ask if they do window etching. More than likely they will do it for free or small fee (about $5 to $15). Be carefull buying your cars know exactly what your paying for and how much fees are, as in hold-backs (money the dealer pays to Scoin at invoice, but they get that money back at the end of the year or quater) = more profit. Most dealerships will be happy to take a 3% over invoice for profit. Your county tax office will tell you how much T,T,L are.

In Tarrant Co. (Fort Worth),Texas: (For a new car)
Tax: 6.25%
Title: $33.00
License: $70.80

 

There is no holdback on Scions. Also when you pay for window etching you are not actually paying for the etching, you are paying for the warranty that goes along with it.

 

Now what warranty do you get with window etching?

 

Depends on the dealership. We actually have two that we use, one being permavin which is $199. If your car is stolen and you is not recovered then permavin will give you an extra $5,000. Do you really think that people are just paying $200 to have there VIN number etched in the glass?

 

Hey Jeff I was just thought that was what car insurance was for, but if some people want to pay for it is their choice. Have a great day.

 

Its simply an extra insurance policy. It pays you an extra $5,000 over what your insurance company pays you. Some people see the value in and they buy it, other people (like yourself) don't and they don't buy it.

 

Fine dealerspeak! There is no "value" in insurance from a company that nobody has heard of and is very likely to be defunct within months, to be replaced by the next fly-by-night etching outfit.

My car had the windows etched, but the salesman was perceptive enough to realize that I wouldn't buy that sort of horse droppings and didn't even mention it.

For those who would really want to etch their windows, you can get the etching solution from just about any craft store. However, I've _never_ heard of a car being recovered because of the windows being etched.

 

What dealerspeak was in there? First of all Permavin has been around for as long as I can remember so its not some fly by night company thats going to be defunt in months. Second af all I said that some people see the value in it and buy it. As with anything if you don't see it as a value then don't buy it.

 

Joe Myers down in houston, right? yeah i went there a little over a year ago to try to get a used celica and caught hell. that was the worst dealership experience ive ever had. i was told i HAD to sign a temporary contract and take the car home for a day since i had wasted all of their time. they attempted to charge me an insane interest rate when, at the time, my credit was quite good. when i asked about the interest rate i was told, 'Look its illegal for me to talk to you about interest rates. You have to have a college degree and experience in accounting and such for me to tell you.' i told him that in my job (customer service) i told people their interest rates all day long. he told me i was breaking the law. this was quite amusing. then when i continued to try to get him to lower their insane interest and price on the car, he told me i had champagne tastes on a beer budget. this was also quite amusing since the car was being sold for 11K and i was offering a ~$2500 trade in and between $500-1000 down payment and i was making $2900/month with a credit score in the high 700s. i hope some serious changes have taken place there in the last year.. anyways, the celica had dents and trouble starting so i was better off not getting it..

 

In the past couple years our dealership has hired some complete morons like whoever did that to you. I guaruntee that whoever it was no longer works here, at least I hope not. This is not the normal practice here and if you check the BBB Joe Myers Toyota has the best record with them among Toyota dealerships in Texas. The beauty of all this though is that the way the Scion sales process is set up the customer should not have to go through that. What does that have to do with this topic though, come to think of it what does any of the last few posts have to do with this topic?

 

Well im glad to know there has been some changes made. The main person who did it was the finance manager. Anyways, as far as what it has to do with the topic, the topic is about how some dealerships are dishonest and will try to cheat you. I do agree that I am a bit out of place with my comments, but with how upset that situation made me I couldnt resist posting when I saw that you were from Joe Myers. I still would never step foot at that dealership again, but thats my own opinion from my own experience.

Sorry for getting off topic.

 

I think I was reading somewhere that it's illegal for dealers to do that now in NJ.

 

lol i wish it was illegal before i bought my tC
mor than just 150... friggan 1K 1G $1,000 One Hundred C-Notes!!! 1Kilo!!!!
...for me its kinda much.. but ive B****ed about it enough...
and im learning my lesson.. im here to let people know
and not to purchas from this dealership..
have a nice day

 

NoShio. I dislike my dealer as well. they d!cked me around on several occasions. Anyhow, I think that they may have felt bad for me having to come into their dealership more than 8 times just to buy my tC, but I asked the head service tech. about going to synthetic. They have three free oil changes over the life of the car. He said that he could do them as synthetic. To have them do it normally would cost upwards of $80!!! I think after I get my free ones, I'll be changing it myself!!!

 

Agree! For about $20, you can buy a Vin Etching Kit and DIY easily. Forget about that redundant insurance that essentially add no value. To me and many others, vin etching is just an unfair and distorted dealer markup. It is a popular scam! I have a friend in Texas who got suckered into it because the finance manager told him the bank need it for finance apps. Now, is that's what we call "value added" insurance? I heard there are cases where vin etching was added to the total cost and many do not know because the monthly payment hardly reflect the "value added" adjustement. Well, the next time when I go to a dealership, I will still bring my laptop with me.

 

We actually provide FREE window etching and FREE road hazard coverage for our customers. It costs the dealership an extra $200 per car, but nothing for the consumer. It is just something we do to give our custmers something.

We know that most customers do not see any value in window etching besides an insuarnce discount, and will not pay for it givne the choice. There are, however, several people I have talked to that have had to use it for a stolen car, and the extra money really helped them when they needed to buy a replacement vehicle.

Bottom line: If you don't want something, don't buy it. So simple it just has to work.

 

this is a tactic to either increase sales to supply and demand and increase profit or to creat the illusion of higher qaulity due to price ( I have two friends that are car dealers) and also my fam owns a dealership but we dont pull jacked up moves like that

 

Yeah I researched stuff like that first...I feel for ya, but either way, even paying an extra 1k for a tC you still got a great car and in 5yrs when re-sell value drops you'll still be up in the long run.

I guess this is where I thank JP and Mark @ Camelback in Phx for treating me great!