Almost $9k in dealer add ons at Burt Toyota here in Denver,they called it the Burt RockCrawler package. Total price: just $38,404.

OME Suspension
ARB bumper w/Warn Winch
Sliders
Really nice 17" alloy wheels with pretty agressive A/Ts on 'em
Also had some $1100 paint protection package.

Nice looking but man are they making some cash on that deal.

 

Yes they are!
But there are some that will scoop them up with all the goodies already on them.

My dealer does it too.

 

financing the whole shebnag might be cheaper than financing the add ons via a credit card.... or not

Me thinks anyone doing it that way probably doenst know how to do a PV calculation...

 

This man speaks the truth. Just ask my Discover Card when I had my TTZ.

 

Yeah,everybody does argue you can do it cheaper but not everybody has several grand available to throw in mods at once so it is convenient to just finance it all.

 

True - thats why dealers do it.

The question is - is the financing via the dealer at a markup cheaper than the financing via a creditcard? Maybe or maybe not.

Only one way to tell - price out the add ons, and then the markup and the calculate wich one
... pays more to the bank in interest

But if the buyer is the type that walks in and says "I can afford X a month".. the dealer's finance persons LOVES you!

 

I don't know how many of us can finace a car on our credit cards;I can't but I know my mom considered putting a Porsche Boxster on her Visa a few years ago but she still thinks she doesn't need anything beyond her '99 4Runner right now.

 

I am a Toyota salesman and we are constantly dealing with add-ons and such. My dealership doesn't do much with them as we find the vehicle that you modify usually has a hard time going away, but it does help sell individual accesories on other vehicles. My wife works for an insurance company here and in the last year had to do a lot of work with the policy language.

This brought out an interesting discovery on these add-ons. Not all companies are the same and hers is pretty selective about what they cover. The language excludes from coverage anything that it considers customization. Essenstially they agree to set the vehicle back to its original condition(you know before the 4in suspesion lift, custom bumpers, and assorted who'syadaddies) unless you specifically added coverage for a given item and there may be limits on those as well.

However we discovered that it listed as factory equipment anything that is dealer installed, hrm, kinda changes things. I am not saying it makes total sense to buy a $38k FJ, but it may be worth considering asking your dealer to install that trailer hitch or TRD accesory that you know you are going to add on. hint hint, they may be more aggressive with pricing than you think.

Also TRD accesories are warrantied through the 3/36k warranty(or 1/12 if that is expired).

I just thought it was interesting.

 

IMHO people forget that Insurance is just a reverse "bet".

Alot of people shop for insurance based purely on price.

Some of us shop based on what we determine our needs are and also for service after the "accident". (Budget insurance isnt worth much if the company wont pay out if you suffer a loss)

Read the FINE print. It does vary.
One comapny I worked with covered anything "bolted" to the vehicle. everthing else was covered as "homeowners/renters". Dont forget that there are IRS things too (itemize as a loss - ask your tax preparer)