The addons that get me are the ones that are status quo items that they try to charge the customer for.
Like $1000 for PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) or a “premium” block heater for $400 that I am told I have to pay for because they install them on all their cars.
That stuff made me walk away and go to a no-nonsense dealer.
During my first visit to a KIA dealer the salesman showed me their 'standard' bill of sale form that had an 'Alberta Package' pre-printed on it, which included nitrogen in the tires and various other fluff for some ludicrous amount - I think around 1800 dollars. He assured me that this was a mandatory package that was applied to all their cars.
I laughed about the nitrogen just long enough that he started looking sheepish. I told him, as well as all the other dealers I talked to, that they could put as many additional charges for add-ons, levies, documentation fees, etc. they wanted on the paperwork - as long as the bottom line was what I wanted for an all-in, out-the-door, before tax (GST) price. There are certain government mandated fees like tire tax that everyone legally has to add, but this made-up crap is plain and simple 'added dealer profit' by another name.
After negotiations with a number of dealers, I actually ended up buying from that same dealer not too long afterward, and got a truly excellent price. (Strangely enough, the bill of sale I ultimately received had no trace of their 'mandatory' Alberta Package on it).
Same thing happened when I bought my last car (not a KIA). Everything was settled for an 'all-in' price, and the salesman comes back with a bill of sale that had a pre-printed 'security engraving' fee of 395 dollars tacked on above our agreed figure, which he assured me was mandatory and could NOT be removed. I told him they could leave it on there if they wanted, but had to rework the car's sales price to get back to our agreed on out-the-door number - and they did.
Those tacked on fees used to bother me, but I've found that focusing only on the bottom line price completely levels the playing field between dealers, and alleviates all that stress. I don't care what math they use to get there, that's the only number that counts.
