Free preview · from the dealership side of the desk
You find the car, the website price looks right, and then you see a second sticker beside the factory one. ‘Market Adjustment: $5,000.’ ‘Dealer Protection Package: $1,995, already installed.’ Suddenly the car is about $7,000 over sticker, and the salesperson says every car on the lot has it. On the dealership side, that addendum sticker is one of the most profitable pieces of paper in the building.
Here’s what’s behind it. A market adjustment is pure markup with no product attached. The packages are usually things like nitrogen in the tires, wheel locks, VIN etching and fabric protection, where the dealer’s cost is typically a small fraction of the price. Asking is legal in most places; paying isn’t required. Below: why dealers do it, what the rules say and don’t, a worked example of cutting an addendum, how to avoid it, and the exact words to get it removed or reduced.
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In the full guide
- What these charges really are
- Why dealers do it
- What the rules say (and don’t)
- Worked example: cutting an addendum
- How to avoid it in the first place
- How to negotiate it when it’s already on the sticker
- What to say
- Your game plan
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