A customer at a dealership has taken to Reddit to voice their displeasure at the price they were told a Toyota would cost them. Not because the price was extortionate, but because of add-ons placed on the price by the dealership in question.
A photo of the problem was posted to the r/Toyota subreddit by user smftw. The title of the post read, “This is a deal breaker for me, how about you?” and they posted an image of a dealership sticker that broke down the cost of what was being asked for the car.
The car in question was a Toyota CH-R, which, according to the sticker, had a manufacturer’s retail price of around $39,700. This does not appear to be the issue with the car that the customer had. Instead, it was below this price that the problems arose.
Upon closer inspection, we can see that there were dealer-installed options on the car that added nearly $2,000 to the price of the car. It is with these extra charges that the Reddit user didn’t seem to want that they had the problem. And the topic caused plenty of debate on the subreddit.
What Were the Toyota Corolla’s Extra Charges?
This is a deal breaker for me, how about you?
by
u/smftw in
Toyota
In the photo uploaded by the poster, the car is a 2026 model year Toyota C-HR, with the manufacturer’s retail price listed by this dealership as $39,718. That is not what the original poster is annoyed about. It is the “Dealer Installed Options,” listed below the retail price, that annoyed the potential buyer of this particular Toyota.
Here we see a Forever Start added as a $495 option. A Perma Plate option for a year has been added for another $495, while there is a further $495 addition for one year of Nitrofill. That led to a subtotal of $1,485 for the dealer-installed options and led to a new dealer asking price of $41,203, which the dealership was keen to stress was “Not the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.” These additions really did not go down well with the Reddit user.
“Shopping for a brand new Toyota right now, but this is a massive red flag and an instant dealbreaker for this dealership. Thoughts?” they asked in their Reddit post. It didn’t take long for other Reddit users to wade in on the matter, as there were a lot who seemed to agree with the original poster. When the top comment reads, “Typical dealership scumbaggery. It’s not a red flag so much as them letting you know you are dealing with scumbags – so stay on your toes,” you know what vibes the debate will have.
Reddit Users Were on the Side of the Original Poster
It seemed almost unanimous in terms of dealers who agreed with the original poster that these random dealer add-ons were an instant red flag. “$495 for 1 year of nitrogen is pretty steep when it’s free outside,” joked one other user. “Not gonna lie, that’s pretty light when it comes to the [expletive] add-ons; just negotiate your out-the-door price without it,” one user suggested the original poster do.
“Use the Costco car buying program if you have a membership. It found us the best price a few miles away from our home. You can also use that for shopping around,” said another Reddit user. “During COVID, Subaru actively penalized dealers that did this. If Toyota USA wants to, they will find ways; it’s just that they don’t care. Also doesn’t help that many uninformed buyers are willing to pay these markups,” added another.
In short, then, nobody seemed to think that this dealership was doing the right thing with these optional extras.