Re: Low Tire Pressure Warning

That might be true, but somebody needs to explain to me why after spending x
thousands on a new product, extra money should be charged to put it in
presentable shape.  It's a BS charge.

mg

yes,the product should already be in presentable,salable shape.
It's not IKEA ready-to-assemble furniture.

But these days,everybody is adding extra fees for things they should be
or were doing anyways,not that that makes it alright.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

There wasn't a "dealer prep" charge on my invoice. There was a "destination
charge" built into the MSRP, which I assume was intended to cover
transportation and dealer prep, but as far as I can recall that has always
been listed as a separate item on the window stickers for all cars. The
charge that drives me crazy is the "documentation fee." They didn't try to
hit me with that one on the Fiesta, but it seems to be the norm now for
dealers to add that one. For the last car my Mother bought by herself, she
told them to give her the paperwork and she would take it to the DMV
herself. They dropped the charge that time, since she was going to walk away
if they made her pay it. A lot of those sorts of charges would go away if
people walked away more often.

Ed

Just offer them a bottom line, out the door, keys for title dollar
figure.  You don't really care how they do their internal paperwork to
make it happen.

Out the door--no additional anything.  If that's what the car is worth
to you, and if making that deal happen benefits their business, then
everyone is happy.

That whole "documentation fee" bullshit is nothing more than what the
airlines and cell phone companies do to try to put forth a more
attractive price that you can never buy the car for.

I'm always amused at the sales-weasel's response when I tell him I'm not
going to pay any $298 "title and documentation" fee. "Just give me the
MSO after the check clears-- I'll take it to the tag office myself, pay
the $18 title fee, and get the title in the mail in a week or two," I say.

At this point, they pompously point to the box on the sales order where
$298 has been pre-printed. I take out my pen (or even better-- ask to
borrow his), lean over, and draw a line through the $298.

They sputter, fume, and say "you can't do that." But I just did, I tell
them. And when they tell me the computer always adds the $298 in when
the sales contract is printed up, I say fine, take $298 off the price of
the car-- or increase my trade in by $298-- whatever you want. Sometimes
if I'm feeling especially sarcastic, I throw in "Who runs the business
anyway-- you or your computer?"

Occasionally you'll have to head for the door to get them to agree. The
furthest I've ever had to go was back to my car in the parking lot (seat
belt on but engine not yet started) before the guy ran up to my window
with an "approval" from the "sales manager."

Such a silly dance...


--
These are the charges as recorded this day.

Faithfully submitted,
Douglas C. Neidermeyer, Sergeant-at-Arms.

At delivery all four tires on my 2010 Accord turned out to be about
6psi below recommended, too, which I discovered only when the warning
went on a few weeks later.  

So I suspect this is dealer standard practice, and not just laziness,
though just why I can't really say.

This in Los Angeles where outside temperature was not a significant
factor.

J.

Had the opposite problem myself.  Took a 2012 Accord 2 months ago that
was 10 psi high.  Annoying they don't check this stuff.

the guy at the dealer probably used one of those shirt-pocket stick-type
gauges. they can be inaccurate.
there's no excuse for not checking yourself.


overpressure is not as big a danger as underpressured tires.
sure,your tire will wear more in the center,if they keep that overpressure
too long.  
Especially on SUVs,that can roll if a tire blows.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

My wife took delivery of a Mitsubishi SUV several years ago with the
tires inflated to the max inflation pressure listed on the sidewall-- I
think it might have been as much as 45 psi or so. The first clue was the
vehicle rode like it had wooden wagon wheels! I mentioned it to the
dealer next time we were by that way and he said the prep guy must have
misunderstood how to inflate the tires.

He started to squirm a bit when I asked what other tasks that guy was
responsible for when getting the new car ready for my wife and kids to
ride around in-- things that I couldn't readily see and measure. He did
eventually apologize and offered me 2 chits for free oil changes, also
saying he would make sure the guy got some more training. "More," I said....


--
These are the charges as recorded this day.

Faithfully submitted,
Douglas C. Neidermeyer, Sergeant-at-Arms.