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Email templates · Car dealer

Email template to ask a car dealer to remove add-ons and extra fees

The dealer's quote or buyer's order has lines you did not ask for: nitrogen-filled tires, paint sealant, fabric protection, VIN etching (the car's serial number scratched into the glass), a wheel-lock kit, or a "protection package." These are dealer add-ons, products the store installs or applies itself and marks up heavily. They are separate from the manufacturer's price and from the taxes and registration you cannot avoid. Some of them can be removed and some are already on the car, but either way the charge is negotiable. Asking by email gets you a revised total in writing instead of a shrug at the finance desk, where it is easy to give in because you have already spent three hours there.

Before you send

  • The quote or buyer's order with every line item visible. If the dealer only gave you a total, ask for the breakdown first.
  • A list of the exact add-on lines you want removed, with the price shown for each. Naming them one by one is harder to dodge than "remove the extras."
  • A clear picture of what is not an add-on. Sales tax, title and registration are government charges. The documentation fee is a dealer fee too, but in many states it is a fixed amount the store charges everyone, so aim at the add-ons first.
  • Your position if the dealer says an item is already installed and cannot come off: you are willing to keep it but not pay for it, or you will look at a different unit.
  • A date by which you plan to buy, so the dealer has a reason to send the corrected number quickly.
Subject Revised quote without add-ons, [year make model], stock #[stock number] 
Hi [salesperson name],

Thanks for the quote on the [year make model trim], stock number [stock number]. Before I move forward, I'd like these dealer-added items removed from the total:

- [Add-on name], [price shown]
- [Add-on name], [price shown]
- [Add-on name], [price shown]

I didn't ask for them and I don't want to pay for them. If any of these are already on the car and can't physically be taken off, I'm fine leaving them in place at no charge, but I won't be paying extra for them.

Could you send me a revised out-the-door price with those lines removed? I'd like it to show the selling price, documentation fee, tax, title and registration separately so I can see the full total. I'm planning to buy by [date], and if the revised number is right I'll come in and sign.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • The good reply is a new quote with the lines gone. Check that the selling price did not quietly go up by the same amount.
  • A common reply is "those come on every car we sell." That is a policy, not a law. Say you understand, and ask them to price the car with those items at zero. Many will.
  • If the dealer says the items are "mandatory," ask whether another unit on the lot or in transit does not have them. Cars still on the truck usually have nothing installed yet.
  • If the add-ons stay and the total is still above a competing quote, walk. Another store with the same car will not have the same padding.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get the add-ons taken off my car quote 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to get the dealer to remove the add-ons from a car quote and send me a corrected total in writing.

The car: [year make model trim, stock number, dealership].
The quote I have: [total quoted, and the date I got it].
The add-ons to remove: [each item and its price, as listed on the quote].
Where I'll bend: [keep pre-installed items at no charge / only buy a car without them].
When I want to buy: [date or timeframe].

Push for every one of those lines to come off or drop to zero, make sure the selling price doesn't rise to make up for it, and if this dealer won't budge, ask the nearest dealers with the same car whether they'll sell it without add-ons.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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