Dealer Add-ons that Made Our Car Purchase More Expensive

My husband and I have been in the market for a new car for some time now. We had saved enough money to cover at least two-thirds of the price of the vehicle, or so we thought. However, we then met with the sales manager, who offered us several programs to protect our car, if we were willing to pay. Ultimately, we did opt for some, though we refused many dealer add-ons.

What Dealer Add-ons Were Offered

I couldn’t believe how many dealer add-ons we were offered! Here’s just a small list of add-ons we were offered that we refused:

Key Replacement

This service will replace your key if you lose it. This add-on was nearly $700.

Dent Removal

With this add-on, bring the car in and have any dents in your vehicle removed. I can’t remember how much this one was.

Window Tinting

We could also choose to get our windows tinted, but we did not care to get that done and certainly wouldn’t pay $400 for the service.

Dealer Add-ons We Bought

Extended Warranty

Some people say that only suckers take the extended warranty. However, we chose to buy one when my husband bought his used car in 2016. Within 18 months, we knew the car was an oil burner, and the dealership took care of the problem thanks to the extended warranty.

Our extended warranty cost us approximately $2,400 and will last us 96 months or 96,000 miles, whichever comes first. We signed up for the extended warranty because this vehicle has many more electronic components than are 18.5-year-old car it is replacing.

Simoniz Glass Coat

We also paid $700 to get a glass coat applied to the outside of the vehicle and upholstery protection on the inside. We did this because we live in a harsh climate with four seasons. In addition, our area uses copious amounts of road salt, so we want to protect the vehicle.

What Add-ons We Got from the Credit Union

After taxes and dealer add-ons, our balance left on the vehicle was bigger than we had prepared for, so we took out a loan at our local credit union for 40 percent of the price of the car.

We wanted gap insurance, but instead of getting it from the dealer at a higher markup, we got it from the credit union. Our gap insurance cost us $290 total and is good throughout our five-year car loan.

Final Thoughts

If you’re preparing to buy a new or used car, don’t simply look at the sticker price. You will also need to plan for taxes and dealer add-ons, depending on how many you want to purchase. However, we turned down six different dealer add-ons and chose the ones we felt were essential—an extended warranty and Simoniz Glass Coat. In addition, we saved money by getting gap insurance through the credit union rather than the dealer.

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