I'm trying to work a deal with a semi-local dealer, and in the three days it's been since the car rolled off the truck, they've piled on about $1400 of useless dealer add-on crap to an otherwise perfect car: pinstripes for $300, "Protection Package" (wheel locks and cargo tray?) for $400, and an "Upholstry Protection Package" (they call it EPP) for $700. It would cost me about $110 to get the cargo tray AND the wheel locks if I got them from HondaAcuraWorld.com, and the tape pin stripe must be at least $10 worth of materials, right? My question is just what the heck IS the goop they spray on upholstry these days, and does it do ANYTHING? Since EPA more or less declared Scotch Guard to be toxic, I don't really want to deal with something that's "5X better than Scotchguard!!" according to the sales weasel.

I think I can argue my way out of all the stupid add-ons except the upholstry protection, which will probably have to stay in the car regardless of how little I eventually pay for it. I just don't want to deal with some methyl-ethyl-death on a daily basis if I don't have to. Of course that ASSumes that they actually DID apply something to the interior in the first place...

Thanks,
fitless (for now)

 

I didn't get the "EPP" but I do know from experience that the fit's upholstery fends off spills good.... To my horror, my mom managed to spill a whole coffee on my passenger seat but miraculously it didnt leave a stain. it came out easily too.

 

So wait, you reserved this car/put a down payment on it, the price was set, and then they added all this stuff without asking you about it?? If thats what happened, that is really unethical.

 

No, unfortunately this isn't a car I put money down on, it's just a car that had what I wanted, and I happened to see it shortly after it was off-loaded from the truck. I talked with the dealer about it, but never committed to anything. I DID say that I liked it just the way it was and that I hated all the crap that ends up on these cars just to jack the price up. Which is, of course, exactly what they did to this one, too. Now I just have to convince them that they need to peel all the junk off - that can be peeled off - and sell the car to me for MSRP. THey're still making money at MSRP, just not the $1300 of pure profit that they were hoping to gouge some sucker for.

Rushlow, I agree... I don't think fabrics have gotten WORSE over the years, they're certainly better now than they ever have been. That said, even my "new" car is 20 years old, and there are NO stains in that car. It hasn't exactly led an easy life, either. Our 06 Pilot wasn't treated on the interior, and even several rounds of baby barf haven't phased it either. Still looks new.

fitless

 

I am speaking from exp from owning 2 cars with the pro pack. It is worth it. Who cares how good the interior fabric may be...if something gets on it period they get it out or replace the part. ( I had a few claims on my ridgeline and they were on the ball).

Also it does go on your exterior which is BADASS. I never had to wax my ridgeline. It protects the paint better than your warranty does. Also it keeps your resale value up. They aren't trying to screw anyone. They told me if they couldn't get the stain out they would replace my seat. None of this long drawn out deal about let us try again and so fourth.

 

Gosh, a can of Scotchgard has always done it with any car I have owned. And at 10 bucks a can, it works well. "Upholstry Protection Package" at $700? Sounds like a $690 profit to the dealership.

 

It protects up to 5-10yrs. To me having that type of warranty on ANYTHING is good. Not to mention some of hondas interiors are very prone to getting dirty and stained, also they (least in florida) apply a coating to the exterior that protects the outside of the car from bugs, flaking, pealing, whatever may happen to the paint on your car. So to protect interior and exterior for that and it also increases your cars value that is a good thing.

 

i got my interior protection, paint protection, undercarriage, and car alarm for like 600$ total...they wanted between 1.2-1.5k or so for it all. told them no and they came back with the offer of 600 for the whole deal.

havent used it yet hopefully i never do, but if anything ever does happen theyll fix it. even if i drop my cigarette and burn a whole in my seat, theyll fix it. or if im on my way to work and spill my drink and it stains or gets sticky and feels nasty and i cant get it out...no problem. i think its well worth it on the protection end if you can talk them down on the price.

i also have black pinstripe on my fit...didnt charge me for it. dont see why they would. +free wheel locks. thought they were stock on the sport?

 

Ok then really they did nothing wrong. Probably are just trying to take advantage of how hot this car is right now, put a bunch of stuff on it that costs them next to nothing and they can jack up the final price of the car..

 

Yeah, I agree that it's their perogative to do what they think they need to do to sell the car, I was just concerned about what kind of nastiness I'd be sitting on and breathing for the next few years...

Hopefully this will be a moot point in about 28 hours...

fitless

 

If you mean how the propack smells, its perfectly fine on clothes and the smell of it goes away after a week or so.

 

This 'exterior coating' that protects the paint for years better than wax, what is it and why don't consumers have access to it? Sounds like snake oil

 

they fed me the thing about protection/dont need to wax it...i still thinking my car could use some waxing. it doesnt keep it as shiny as a good waxing and im sure it doesnt protect it as much. i have a bug splatter spot on the bottom of my front end that wont go away. i washed it 2 days after it happened. i think the paint protection is crap.

 

Ask if you can watch them apply the protection package on another car. Watch them squirm. Gauge how much to pay by how much they squirm. . .

 

i got the exterior coating. the way they sold it to me was, at the microscopic level, the paint is actually quite a rough surface in which dirt gets stuck. the coating fills in all the lumps and bumps and stops this from happening. it also comes with a 3 year guarentee that i wont have to wax or polish my car. SOLD!

likewise with the interior protection. they guarentee for three years that if i spill cofee or whatever on my seats and it doesnt mop up without staining they will fix it. SOLD!

im sure you can do it yourself with scotchguard, but then it wouldnt come with a guarentee and for me the guarentee was worth it.

but i havent actually washed my car yet or spilled anything so i cant vouch for how good these products actually are.

 

I actually brought up this movie scene when they wanted to add this to my car, and they never brought up the issue again....

YouTube - Fargo (1996) - Part 2/10

 

Only 32 hours later... and I closed the deal on one without ANY extra crud on it. Funny, I guess even knowing that I was looking for a car with NOTHING extra on it, they still felt compelled to send the Accessory / Customer Service Specialist (read: hot chick with (*Y*) in to try to sell me some of that crap. I said "no" enough that the price got down to like $400 from a starting point of $900. Funny how much markup they pile on this stuff. Now to see if I can breathe a sigh of relief after dropping all that coin...

not Fitless any more