Useless Extras Your Sales Rep Is Trying To Sell You

The moment you walk into a dealership, the negotiation of a new-to-you vehicle has begun. The goal of a dealership is to maximize the amount of profit they get out of every car. One of their most common tactics is known as upselling. First, they will try to sell a car more expensive than what you were planning on either spending or financing. Second, even once you’ve selected a vehicle you would like to buy and are negotiating a final price, the dealership will try to sell you other things to go along with the vehicle. This is why the following list of useless extras that dealers will try to add on to the purchase of a new vehicle has been created.

Extended Warranty

An extended vehicle warranty is designed to extend the period in which a warranty will cover a faulty part. The problem with it is it requires either a bigger payment up from or a higher monthly payment over the term of a car loan. The fact of the matter is, most car buyers do not keep a single car long enough to even take advantage of an extended vehicle warranty. It may only be applicable for those who have an extremely long commute to work or are frequently putting hundreds of miles in a single drive at a time on their vehicle. The average car buyer, however, would end up paying for the extended warranty on a car, only to never even have the opportunity to use it. Typically, the standard warranty is more than enough to cover any faulty parts in a vehicle. If there is going to be an issue with a vehicle, it will usually arise in the first few years of owning the car, not later in the car’s life. By the time most car buyers are ready to trade in the vehicle for a new one, the longer warranty will have gone wasted and only padded the pockets of the dealership.

Continue reading to learn about the unnecessary extra related to rust next.

Rust Proofing

While this may have been a useful practice in the past, it is no longer necessary for modern cars. In the past, much more of a vehicle was made solely from steel or other metals that can easily rust if exposed to too much moisture over time. Modern cars, on the other hand, have many more non-rusting materials, such as carbon fiber and other composite materials. Paying for this service is actually paying for a service on a very small percentage of the modern car. To avoid rust on your own, be sure to wash your car regularly, especially during the winter months when salt buildup can occur from the winter roads. Rust proofing will do little to nothing to prevent against this type of corrosion, and thus it is best to skip this addition and save the money up front when purchasing a new vehicle. Preventative measures taken on your own are the single best way to prevent rust from forming on your car, and it is far cheaper than paying a dealer for preventative measures that may or may not work.

Protecting from spills? Read on to reveal why this isn't needed.

Scotch Guard

While this is an extremely effective tool to help maintain the interior of the car from spills, it is never something a customer should pay extra for the dealership to do for them. All that will happen is one of their service technicians or detailers will spray a coating of it on the interior of the car. This is not a process anyone needs to pay a trained professional to do by any means. A dealer may offer to perform this service for a small fee, but let it be known the fee the dealer will charge is far more than the cost to do this job yourself. Simply thank the dealer for the advice and let them know you are more than capable of scotch guarding the interior of the car yourself. The product can then be purchased at any store and applied to the interior of your vehicle at your convenience which keeps more hard-earned dollars in your wallet.

Continue reading to reveal the seal that doesn't matter nearly as much anymore.

Paint Sealant

This is yet another product that may have been useful in the past but is far from it on modern cars. Older cars had much more simple paint jobs than the cars of today, but modern automobile grade paints are designed to have a sealant of sorts already mixed into the product. In the past, car paint jobs were a much more complicated process that required many separate layers to achieve the same glossy finish we all know today. Unless you are competing in a car show where every little detail matters, it is a good idea to skip this additional service. If the extra cost is included in the total price you finance, you will have to pay additional interest on this value as well. Your car will look just as good with a normal coat of paint over time and you’ll save a ton of money up front.

Continue reading to learn about the service car owners should have, but should not get from the dealership.

Life Insurance

Driving can be dangerous. In fact, it is the leading cause of death for those under the age of twenty. But this doesn’t mean you should also purchase insurance when you go to buy a new car. Car dealers are not insurance salesman for a reason. They understand cars well but different types of insurance, not so much. Odds are, they will not be able to provide an adequate amount of information about the policy for you to make the most informed decision possible. Also, you are more likely to find a much more affordable insurance plan elsewhere at a firm that specializes in these types of policies. While getting life insurance may be important to some, don’t let a dealer scare you into making a purchase that isn’t in your best financial interest. Feel free to search for a policy elsewhere to save you thousands over the course of your life.