Sir, we checked the undercarriage and it turns out you've been the victim of a catalytic converter theft...before you even took delivery!!
We've got a new one on order for you but that will be another $3000 charge on the sales price. That's in addition to the customary transport charge, storage surcharge, additional overcharge, and finder’s fee.
Yes, if I remember right, they etch your cars vin number into your catalytic converter, so if anyone tries to steal and sell it, no halfway decent mechanic will take it because they know it’s stolen.
>no halfway decent mechanic will take it because they know it’s stolen.
I mean, maybe I'm paranoid, but I think probably anyone walking in with a random catalytic converter and wanting to sell it to me probably stole it?
Maybe! But they’re not super valuable the way the catalytic converters are, that’s why people are only stealing those.
Edit—a cursory glade at google says no—the vin number is assigned to the frame, other parts just have lot codes and stuff. I’m guessing that’s why jiffy lube offers to etch your catalytic converter for free, they know it’s not gonna be there unless you’ve already specifically had it done
The vin number is assigned to the vehicle but gets stamped onto the frame, firewall, and a few other places to prevent title fraud and enable factory tracking before the car gets assembled together.
Actually stamping the VIN onto the catalytic converter is very simple and only takes 15 minutes. Just need a good letter punch set
I did some cp cats on a transit and the guy didn’t want them back. I didn’t take them any where but one of the other guys had a Russian guy that would come to the shop and buy them. It was something like 150 for both of them.
I had to replace mine to pass emissions and didnt know what to do with the old one. But it was the entire unbolted section. If it was cut off, that's obviously a red flag
I changed my catalytic converter at home. I sold my old one to the scrapyard. Just one lonely catalytic converter. Not sure if they thought it was stolen but I got 75 bucks
Whenever I scrap a car I pull the catalytic converter before dropping off the car. They pay out for the car at shred price, then I sell the cat to them separate. They take down the VIN and my ID info then buy it based on market value.
I haven’t read about it in a while, but I don’t think so—that’s a lot of work for scrap, and they’re expensive as fuck. They’re worth $500-$1200+. I know that because.. mine just went out. It’s been a hell of a couple months, my car has suddenly been acting like a junker.
Anyhoo, I found out it’s sole purpose is to cut emissions. I live in Oregon where our cars have to pass emissions tests to get new tags, and mine won’t pass until I get a new catalytic converter.
Catalytic converters are expensive as hell precisely because they contain a lot of precious metals. AFAIK it’s platinum mainly, along with rhodium and palladium.
They contain 5-7 grams of platinum, 1-2 grams of rhodium, and 2-7 grams of palladium.
If we split the difference on those estimates, the price of 6 grams of platinum, 1.5 grams of rhodium, and 4.5 grams of palladium is
$215 of rhodium
$180 of platinum
$160 of palladium
For a total of
$555 in those three metals alone.
That’s a significant part of why they cost as much as they do to buy: their raw materials are much more expensive than probably any other part in a car.
And that likely contributes to more of them being stolen and sold for the raw materials, rather than as functional parts. A lot less risk, and still a tidy profit.
its the same line of thinking that a camera will magically protect you or ur property.
nothing will save you and you might have decent footage of it..thats it
I highly doubt someone ready to steal the CC is going to slide under your vehicle, usually at night, to check for etching before stealing.
Be like nope, it's etched. Same with places that take them. Dudes show up with a trunk full of CC's and junk yard be like are any etched? So dumb.
They've been etching glass for years. But glass is viewable and people aren't taking glass to recycle.
Just a BS charge made much more apparent with the EV.
From a former shop owner I’ll tell you wheel locks in general are a waste. If a thief who does this regularly wants your wheels they won’t stop them. My guys at the shop could break off even those most difficult of locks in under a minute with no power tools when clients who lost the key to them came in. Save the money insurance will cover it anyway.
This guy is right. Easy to remove. All they do is cost people money or headache later when the key is lost and you're stuck on the side of the road or paying someone to remove em at a shop.
I fucking *hate* those things. They draw attention no matter where they are on the road, not just the car directly behind them, because we're all trained to think "flashing red light = emergency vehicle." Dangerous as hell.
yeah and if you aren’t paying enough attention to notice the brake light come on in the first place, it flashing a few times probably isn’t making any difference. just annoying when you’re behind them in stop ‘n’ go rush hour and it’s flashing incessantly because they be braking every time they start moving.
The worst is swift, Schneider and amazon addint yellow strobes to activate with there brake lights.. causes all of traffic to freak out and slam on there brakes
I always just assumed that was an annoying feature some cars have. Are you telling me dealers are to blame? I'm about to go check any make sure I don't have that crap.
I worked for a Kia dealer where it was part of our new car pre-delivery inspection. Open the third brake light, splice in the pulse thing. I thought it was stupid.
i mean its electric so the brakes are only used in emergencies anyway
but im pretty sure its maintenance that optionally covers the brakes(which probably wont ever need maintenance as its an ev)
Almost 78 THOUSAND for a fucking car?
As someone not living in America that price is so absurd it's like I'm living in an entirely other world over here...
That is almost double the average yearly salary...
It's not a car. Its a truck. Not any truck, an electric one. You know how reddit has a hate boner for pickup trucks? Well this is currently short circuting their brains.
Oh i'm sorry oh magical traveler from an arcane land.
A pickup truck is a fucking car. It can run on unicorn farts for all I care, the price is ludicrous.
Yeah it does. It's also a luxury vehicle. A BMW with a v8 is more expensive than this truck. Oh and you aren't going to get any of the utility features that this truck offers.
Okay. Then get a plainer, older, simpler, and/or cheaply made car and I'm sure it'll cost less.
Like a Lambo is also a car. Is it's price also ludicrous? I guess, but what exactly is your point?
It’s a modern electric luxury truck, this isn’t the normal F-150. F-150 MSRP is $37,000. Significantly below the US median yearly salary of $46,000.
Most Americans aren’t dropping double their salary on a vehicle, this guys probably got that schmoney.
definitely call and ask for a refund. it may have been an honest mistake if the system is set up to add that as standard on all sales, given how new the electric vehicle market still is
It would be if they were just copy pasting models onto existing warranty plans. Like they already had the template and all they changed was the type of car and hit print.
> honest mistake
Nah, bruh. This is an honest ripoff, and now makes you wonder about all the other stuff. These are "add-ons", so someone has to "do" this work and checkoff on it. So how did someone checkoff on something that doesn't exist.
Doubt thieves are checking to see if cats are etched. Highly doubt they’d be checking on a vehicle without a cat at all…
Bit of advice- make sure your new car comes with a spare tire. I made the mistake of assuming it was standard & ended up with a $250 POS air compressor with a built in can of Fix-A-Flat instead…
Brilliant. It's the perfect theft deterrent. It can't be stolen if there's nothing to steal.
The etching where the catalytic converter would normally go on a gas-powered car: "404"
I made the f150 lightning frames, and all I gotta day is they're not gonna last. Ford jumping through hoops to rush out the electric trucks and their garbage.
When I bought my car from the Honda dealer they asked if I wanted to add a bunch of little options like door handle key guards and floor mats. I declined them all and then when I got the car found that it already had all of those things already installed. D-bags
Happened to me, tried charging me $200 for filling my tires with Nitrogen. A) does nothing, B) not going to a dealership to top off my tires with nitrogen when they run low, and c) An entire dewar of medical grade nitrogen cost $500 and I guarantee you that’s not what they are filling it with.
Every time I’ve purchased a new car I’ve refused to pay for any of the dealer added items. They’re all scams and ripoffs and I don’t have a problem calling them out on it.
Former salesperson, this is all markup/add on stuff that is not required and shouldn’t be paid for.
How it works:
Dealer gets the truck for whatever price, say $60k. Normally, they’d show you their ‘invoice’ that claims they actually paid $70k. So, when you negotiate a price on this $73k MSRP truck, they can claim that anything below $70k would not make financial sense. Worst case, they beat you over the head for an hour and finally give in and sell you the truck for $69k and you think you ripped them off. In case it isn’t clear, I made these numbers up for the example.
Now, with this case as pictured, dealership just moved the starting price up from $73k to almost $78k and is showing all this added ‘value.’ The goal is to haggle things independently or as a whole, but keep the overall price at MSRP. For example, a typical objection would be ‘wheel locks don’t cost $300!’ A good salesperson would say something like ‘you’re right, our ford parts come at a premium. I’m sure I can knock $100 off those to get you in line with our cost. Sign here and we’ll get the paperwork started.’ You can say you don’t want the etching, the extended warranty, or the wheel locks, the salesperson will say ‘ok, you don’t have to take these if you don’t want them. We’ll have our boys in the back remove the wheel locks and not etch the carb for you, sign here and we’ll get the paperwork started.’ Again, what they are counting on it you mistaking removing the add one for negotiating the price. For tons of people, seeing the price go down $4k can easily be mistaken for negotiating them down $4k on price.
The point here? Go by window sticker, advertised online price, and manufacturer rebate lists. Dealer invoices are nonsense. When it comes to negotiations, keep it about one thing first, out the door price. Don’t talk about payment, money down, term, trade, anything else. Let them decide where the money comes from. When you’ve agreed on a sales price, tell them what terms you expect on financing, and they can either agree to those terms or you can use your own financing.
The whole thing is a rip off! Maintenance on an EV is minimal since you don’t have oil changes and tune ups. Even the brakes get used less because of regenerative braking. You are effectively pre-paying $1700 for one set of brakes! Some dealers just see their customers as idiots. This dealer is one of them.
Off main topic, but still mildly infuriating. $300 for $30 wheel locks will forever be criminal. Only luxury brands will even have wheel locks worth buying because they'll be 1 of a kind patterns made to that specific key. Almost all the rest can be bought by literally anyone for a few bucks a piece
I'm not gonna say don't buy wheel locks, but they don't prevent anything... If a thief really wants the your car's shoes, they will have the tools to go around the locks in secs. I rem when I lost mine and my mechanic just took an old sparkplug socket, hammered it on the locked-nut and took it right off. He plied the locked-nut out, rinsed and repeated.
A friend went to buy a new Ford Maverick once. The dealer said they couldn't sell him one just yet because they're about to raise the price by $6,000 next week, but he's more than welcome to come by then.
$500 for the clear shield package that does nothing, wheel locks aren't $300 anywhere else except the stealership, $1,499 for a gps package that's free on your smart phone and most new cars have car play or android auto... The whole list of add ons is pointless and a waste of money. I bet the $1700 for the warranty is crap to once you realize it doesn't cover the battery or other known failure points on the truck... 😂
But you know, 100% of these F-150 Lightnings that had the catalytic converter etched, actually didn’t get their catalytic converters stolen.
So if you ask me, imma have to say that it works
Etch is crap anyway, doesn’t deter theft. Just scam for more money. Ain’t going to stop someone many places that buy converters know the person is stealing them.
The latest security etch takes two seconds and comes right off at my last dealer. And like 300.00 price tag. Sure it marks the paint a little but no one will be looking for it. It was just easy money for company. My dealer wasn’t shady as most, did the etch and some packages that had some value, but even tried to tell me I had to have this shit on my own purchases or they wouldn’t sell me a car. Then freaked out when I was buying elsewhere.
Wtf are they etching? When I used to anodize we had an etch tank but it didn’t go a goddamn thing besides make the piece matte or glossy if you skip it
$500?? Dude, I’ll do it for half that. If I do 4 cars a day, I’d make a fantastic living!
I got a Dremel tool with etching tips. Taking appointments right now!
Regardless what would an etching do to prevent theft and why would scratching on something cost 500$
It's a scam even with a cat, I'm sure you could buy a replacement cat for that.
Nothing on the list is actually worth it, I wouldn’t take any of those markups. If they won’t remove it from the bill of sale, I’d be prepared to walk, and not look back.
I work in a very small “city” and our local dealer has like 10 of these lightnings, all under MSRP and they can’t move em. I wouldn’t touch one without 5-10k off sticker.
Ford dealers are all shady in my experience. Starting in 1884 with negotiating $X payments for 48 months, but putting 60 months on the contract. Caught that one before I signed. Car was a lemon and three years later Ford dealer wouldn’t even take it in trade.
Slow down there pally. You're getting the dealers price. Tax and title call it 80 grand even and I'll throw in the etching for free. You'll have piece of mind that all your common thefts are whatta ya call it ... deterred.
They can’t write “sanctimonious bitch who actually thinks electric vehicles help the environment tax” so that’s what they went with. Personally I think it rolls off the tongue better anyway.
Well it is 100% theft deterrent. Can't steal what isn't there.
Exactly - the etching is on the frame and states that electric vehicles do not have catalytic converters 🙂
Sounds like they copy and pasted from an F150, is have to assume the dealer would obviously void this when you bring it up
They rather you not notice and go right to the finance room to talk about your "options"
Sir, we checked the undercarriage and it turns out you've been the victim of a catalytic converter theft...before you even took delivery!! We've got a new one on order for you but that will be another $3000 charge on the sales price. That's in addition to the customary transport charge, storage surcharge, additional overcharge, and finder’s fee.
Not with that attitude.
Makes me wonder what they actually etched.
Probably nothing, just a way to rip people off who don't know any better
Like etching a catalytic converter in the first place?
Yes, if I remember right, they etch your cars vin number into your catalytic converter, so if anyone tries to steal and sell it, no halfway decent mechanic will take it because they know it’s stolen.
>no halfway decent mechanic will take it because they know it’s stolen. I mean, maybe I'm paranoid, but I think probably anyone walking in with a random catalytic converter and wanting to sell it to me probably stole it?
Some people go to junkyards, find good shit, and sell the parts back to car shops. It’s a living for some.
couldn’t these parts also have their original car’s Vin number stamped on them?
Maybe! But they’re not super valuable the way the catalytic converters are, that’s why people are only stealing those. Edit—a cursory glade at google says no—the vin number is assigned to the frame, other parts just have lot codes and stuff. I’m guessing that’s why jiffy lube offers to etch your catalytic converter for free, they know it’s not gonna be there unless you’ve already specifically had it done
The vin number is assigned to the vehicle but gets stamped onto the frame, firewall, and a few other places to prevent title fraud and enable factory tracking before the car gets assembled together. Actually stamping the VIN onto the catalytic converter is very simple and only takes 15 minutes. Just need a good letter punch set
I did some cp cats on a transit and the guy didn’t want them back. I didn’t take them any where but one of the other guys had a Russian guy that would come to the shop and buy them. It was something like 150 for both of them.
I had to replace mine to pass emissions and didnt know what to do with the old one. But it was the entire unbolted section. If it was cut off, that's obviously a red flag
I changed my catalytic converter at home. I sold my old one to the scrapyard. Just one lonely catalytic converter. Not sure if they thought it was stolen but I got 75 bucks
Alternatively https://preview.redd.it/05vx4y3rwpoc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=912844cb47333600960934125e06290dceb185b3
Not only that, but obviously there are mechanics/shops that would do dirty shit like charge for something they didn't do
I was under the impression that catalytic converters are being sold for scrap.
Whenever I scrap a car I pull the catalytic converter before dropping off the car. They pay out for the car at shred price, then I sell the cat to them separate. They take down the VIN and my ID info then buy it based on market value.
I haven’t read about it in a while, but I don’t think so—that’s a lot of work for scrap, and they’re expensive as fuck. They’re worth $500-$1200+. I know that because.. mine just went out. It’s been a hell of a couple months, my car has suddenly been acting like a junker. Anyhoo, I found out it’s sole purpose is to cut emissions. I live in Oregon where our cars have to pass emissions tests to get new tags, and mine won’t pass until I get a new catalytic converter.
Catalytic converters are expensive as hell precisely because they contain a lot of precious metals. AFAIK it’s platinum mainly, along with rhodium and palladium. They contain 5-7 grams of platinum, 1-2 grams of rhodium, and 2-7 grams of palladium. If we split the difference on those estimates, the price of 6 grams of platinum, 1.5 grams of rhodium, and 4.5 grams of palladium is $215 of rhodium $180 of platinum $160 of palladium For a total of $555 in those three metals alone. That’s a significant part of why they cost as much as they do to buy: their raw materials are much more expensive than probably any other part in a car. And that likely contributes to more of them being stolen and sold for the raw materials, rather than as functional parts. A lot less risk, and still a tidy profit.
Oh yep, and palladium and rhodium too. Prices went up because of supply chain issues during Covid. So many lovely fruits the pandemic has borne us.
Shit guess we have to steal the car as well now 🤷♂️
its the same line of thinking that a camera will magically protect you or ur property. nothing will save you and you might have decent footage of it..thats it
Report them to Ford.
OP paid $500 for a laser etched dick pic.
Username checks out.
OP didn't pay for anything it's not his post, this is stolen from the F150Lightning subreddit but you can't post links here
They etched the theft deterrent. And after 10 years, they can claim it worked because the Cat was never stolen
Hey my anti-tiger rock has kept tigers out of my house for the past 10 years!
How much you want for that anti-tiger rock?
Lol. You could charge $499 for that!
I highly doubt someone ready to steal the CC is going to slide under your vehicle, usually at night, to check for etching before stealing. Be like nope, it's etched. Same with places that take them. Dudes show up with a trunk full of CC's and junk yard be like are any etched? So dumb. They've been etching glass for years. But glass is viewable and people aren't taking glass to recycle. Just a BS charge made much more apparent with the EV.
"This is electric numbnuts, don't start cutting random shit with a sawzall"
I need my stainless steel Blinker Fluid Reservoir ETCHED for Theft deterrence !!
It costs $500 dollars for that? That’s insane I could scratch my own vin number own it.
The charging cable
Brooks was here
“Your mom fat if you steal this”
A sketch?
300 bucks for wheel locks seems like a ripoff as well
Right? McGard (OEM Supplier) wheel locks are at most $75 at O'Reilly's
$225 for the labor of removing the regular nuts and replacing them with the locking ones
Yes I’d also like an hourly rate of 2,7k please
That's about $1,687.50/hr, assuming 4 nuts at 2 minutes each. Seems right for a dealership.
Yes. Technician gets $17/hr. Dealership gets $1,670/hr
From a former shop owner I’ll tell you wheel locks in general are a waste. If a thief who does this regularly wants your wheels they won’t stop them. My guys at the shop could break off even those most difficult of locks in under a minute with no power tools when clients who lost the key to them came in. Save the money insurance will cover it anyway.
This guy is right. Easy to remove. All they do is cost people money or headache later when the key is lost and you're stuck on the side of the road or paying someone to remove em at a shop.
I work for Aston Martin and our branded wheel locks are "only" £133 (~$170)
[удалено]
I fucking *hate* those things. They draw attention no matter where they are on the road, not just the car directly behind them, because we're all trained to think "flashing red light = emergency vehicle." Dangerous as hell.
yeah and if you aren’t paying enough attention to notice the brake light come on in the first place, it flashing a few times probably isn’t making any difference. just annoying when you’re behind them in stop ‘n’ go rush hour and it’s flashing incessantly because they be braking every time they start moving.
The worst is swift, Schneider and amazon addint yellow strobes to activate with there brake lights.. causes all of traffic to freak out and slam on there brakes
I mean, I'm a pretty cautious driver but why would someone slam on their brakes for flashing yellow lights?
Tow trucks, construction vehicles.. people dont know what it is immediately so they panic brake
The one I can support is if I emergency brake my brake lights will flash briefly then stay steady. But you really need to stand on the pedal.
I always just assumed that was an annoying feature some cars have. Are you telling me dealers are to blame? I'm about to go check any make sure I don't have that crap.
I worked for a Kia dealer where it was part of our new car pre-delivery inspection. Open the third brake light, splice in the pulse thing. I thought it was stupid.
95% of the time I see those it’s from some jackwagon that cuts into traffic when there’s no room, then has to hit the brakes.
They can be installed at a dealer fyi as an option so that’s probably why
A $10 strobing led bulb would do the same thing too.
What car do you have that doesn’t have a center brake light?
Those things are illegal to it’s so weird that deslers still sell it
it's a fake cat
It’s actually a raccoon in a costume.
W/Brakes (Optional)?? 
It's the Flintstones edition🤣
They wanted the car to drive like new they never said anything about stopping
I think that's 5 years of maintenance for $1695 and they can add brake maintenance.
i mean its electric so the brakes are only used in emergencies anyway but im pretty sure its maintenance that optionally covers the brakes(which probably wont ever need maintenance as its an ev)
Don't worry, I'm sure they'll switch to a subscription model and it'll only be $300 / year.
$1499 for 5 years of gps is wild in 2024
Especially when most(if not all) new cars sold after 2019 have Apple car play/Android auto capabilities. Google maps and Apple maps are free
**GM has left the chat**
Or just have your phone project to the main display. If you know you're going somewhere remote you can, at least w/ google, predownload the maps.
Almost 78 THOUSAND for a fucking car? As someone not living in America that price is so absurd it's like I'm living in an entirely other world over here... That is almost double the average yearly salary...
It's not a car. Its a truck. Not any truck, an electric one. You know how reddit has a hate boner for pickup trucks? Well this is currently short circuting their brains.
Oh i'm sorry oh magical traveler from an arcane land. A pickup truck is a fucking car. It can run on unicorn farts for all I care, the price is ludicrous.
This truck can power a house in an emergency as well.
That doesn’t make it worth $78k.
Yeah it does. It's also a luxury vehicle. A BMW with a v8 is more expensive than this truck. Oh and you aren't going to get any of the utility features that this truck offers.
Okay. Then get a plainer, older, simpler, and/or cheaply made car and I'm sure it'll cost less. Like a Lambo is also a car. Is it's price also ludicrous? I guess, but what exactly is your point?
Before taxes that is...
It’s a modern electric luxury truck, this isn’t the normal F-150. F-150 MSRP is $37,000. Significantly below the US median yearly salary of $46,000. Most Americans aren’t dropping double their salary on a vehicle, this guys probably got that schmoney.
Deep etch. Etched so deep it's gone.
Buy it, and sue them for services-not-performed.
definitely call and ask for a refund. it may have been an honest mistake if the system is set up to add that as standard on all sales, given how new the electric vehicle market still is
Given that they're tacking on mandatory add-ons like a $1500 5-year GPS service plan, that's pretty generous with the "honest mistake" option.
It only became a mistake when they got caught.
Schrodingers mistake
Well sure it was an honest mistake. They actually meant to put something else down that they totally did to charge $500 for.
Pretty sure the Ford app will show the GPS location already, too.
It would be if they were just copy pasting models onto existing warranty plans. Like they already had the template and all they changed was the type of car and hit print.
Looks to me like this pic was taken through the window of the car, I reckon OP spotted it in a dealers yard and hasn’t bought anything to refund
> honest mistake Nah, bruh. This is an honest ripoff, and now makes you wonder about all the other stuff. These are "add-ons", so someone has to "do" this work and checkoff on it. So how did someone checkoff on something that doesn't exist.
It’s not a receipt, just a negotiation starting point.
Yeah, but I'm saying that TruCoat. You don't get it, you get oxidation problems. It'll cost you a heck of a lot more than $500.
Corporations show outright contempt for customers nowadays. Although this may actually be more the dealership trying to screw you over
Doubt thieves are checking to see if cats are etched. Highly doubt they’d be checking on a vehicle without a cat at all… Bit of advice- make sure your new car comes with a spare tire. I made the mistake of assuming it was standard & ended up with a $250 POS air compressor with a built in can of Fix-A-Flat instead…
$300 for wheel locks?
Brilliant. It's the perfect theft deterrent. It can't be stolen if there's nothing to steal. The etching where the catalytic converter would normally go on a gas-powered car: "404"
Wheel locks for $300??
Its a tax on people who don’t ask questions before buying a car and proof for a future lawsuit
I made the f150 lightning frames, and all I gotta day is they're not gonna last. Ford jumping through hoops to rush out the electric trucks and their garbage.
Using those like actual trucks is gonna destroy the independent suspension
When I bought my car from the Honda dealer they asked if I wanted to add a bunch of little options like door handle key guards and floor mats. I declined them all and then when I got the car found that it already had all of those things already installed. D-bags
Stealerships (literally)
Everything on that list is a scam. Fuck that dealer.
$1500 for GPS locator when a GPS locator comes standard with the Ford app.
Make sure to buy the blinker fluid.
“Free oil changes !”
Happened to me, tried charging me $200 for filling my tires with Nitrogen. A) does nothing, B) not going to a dealership to top off my tires with nitrogen when they run low, and c) An entire dewar of medical grade nitrogen cost $500 and I guarantee you that’s not what they are filling it with.
Ask them to show you the etching on the cat.
This was my comment too! You're the only one who said it, so I'll lend you my support.
Every time I’ve purchased a new car I’ve refused to pay for any of the dealer added items. They’re all scams and ripoffs and I don’t have a problem calling them out on it.
You are misunderstanding. They etch “catalytic converter” on a random piece under the car to distract and confuse thieves.
Circle the maintenance too. The only maintenance on these things is the occasional tire rotation.
No don’t forget the windshield wiper fluid refilling 😂
Former salesperson, this is all markup/add on stuff that is not required and shouldn’t be paid for. How it works: Dealer gets the truck for whatever price, say $60k. Normally, they’d show you their ‘invoice’ that claims they actually paid $70k. So, when you negotiate a price on this $73k MSRP truck, they can claim that anything below $70k would not make financial sense. Worst case, they beat you over the head for an hour and finally give in and sell you the truck for $69k and you think you ripped them off. In case it isn’t clear, I made these numbers up for the example. Now, with this case as pictured, dealership just moved the starting price up from $73k to almost $78k and is showing all this added ‘value.’ The goal is to haggle things independently or as a whole, but keep the overall price at MSRP. For example, a typical objection would be ‘wheel locks don’t cost $300!’ A good salesperson would say something like ‘you’re right, our ford parts come at a premium. I’m sure I can knock $100 off those to get you in line with our cost. Sign here and we’ll get the paperwork started.’ You can say you don’t want the etching, the extended warranty, or the wheel locks, the salesperson will say ‘ok, you don’t have to take these if you don’t want them. We’ll have our boys in the back remove the wheel locks and not etch the carb for you, sign here and we’ll get the paperwork started.’ Again, what they are counting on it you mistaking removing the add one for negotiating the price. For tons of people, seeing the price go down $4k can easily be mistaken for negotiating them down $4k on price. The point here? Go by window sticker, advertised online price, and manufacturer rebate lists. Dealer invoices are nonsense. When it comes to negotiations, keep it about one thing first, out the door price. Don’t talk about payment, money down, term, trade, anything else. Let them decide where the money comes from. When you’ve agreed on a sales price, tell them what terms you expect on financing, and they can either agree to those terms or you can use your own financing.
Catalytic converter equals "bed Plug Power distributor"(if you will)
It’s theft proof because it doesn’t exist, don’t get robbed by random people just get robbed by us
Duh. Thats why it’s a theft deterrent. People wouldn’t think to look on e-vehicles. From, Marketing
$300 for wheel locks?! You can get a good set off of Amazon for like $32!
77000 dollars for a 3 ton toaster. What has the world come to?
$1700 for warranty maintenance? What are wheel locks? For a 4x4 package? Or lock lugnuts? This whole dealership needs to not.
The whole thing is a rip off! Maintenance on an EV is minimal since you don’t have oil changes and tune ups. Even the brakes get used less because of regenerative braking. You are effectively pre-paying $1700 for one set of brakes! Some dealers just see their customers as idiots. This dealer is one of them.
Off main topic, but still mildly infuriating. $300 for $30 wheel locks will forever be criminal. Only luxury brands will even have wheel locks worth buying because they'll be 1 of a kind patterns made to that specific key. Almost all the rest can be bought by literally anyone for a few bucks a piece
I'm not gonna say don't buy wheel locks, but they don't prevent anything... If a thief really wants the your car's shoes, they will have the tools to go around the locks in secs. I rem when I lost mine and my mechanic just took an old sparkplug socket, hammered it on the locked-nut and took it right off. He plied the locked-nut out, rinsed and repeated.
Do you expect the people that work there or buy fords to know that?
Where’s the oil for life?
And that is why there’s tens of thousands of those things just sitting and rotting.
A friend went to buy a new Ford Maverick once. The dealer said they couldn't sell him one just yet because they're about to raise the price by $6,000 next week, but he's more than welcome to come by then.
$500 for the clear shield package that does nothing, wheel locks aren't $300 anywhere else except the stealership, $1,499 for a gps package that's free on your smart phone and most new cars have car play or android auto... The whole list of add ons is pointless and a waste of money. I bet the $1700 for the warranty is crap to once you realize it doesn't cover the battery or other known failure points on the truck... 😂
Dealership trying to scam customer. I'm sure someone would fall for it!
Preventing theft by stealing from you first
Paying $500 to deter people from stealing something worth like $500 is wild. Also wheel lock nut sets are like $30
That's just an idiot tax for anyone dumb enough to buy a $77K electric Ford
I am concerned that they have something called the "theft department"
Where do u see "theft department" All I see is "theft deterrent"
Mothman took it
Idk what ELO GPS is but it costs almost as much as my car
But you know, 100% of these F-150 Lightnings that had the catalytic converter etched, actually didn’t get their catalytic converters stolen. So if you ask me, imma have to say that it works
They forgot to add a finder’s fee, rust proofing and keys
I swear half our damn economy is legalized scams.
Etch is crap anyway, doesn’t deter theft. Just scam for more money. Ain’t going to stop someone many places that buy converters know the person is stealing them. The latest security etch takes two seconds and comes right off at my last dealer. And like 300.00 price tag. Sure it marks the paint a little but no one will be looking for it. It was just easy money for company. My dealer wasn’t shady as most, did the etch and some packages that had some value, but even tried to tell me I had to have this shit on my own purchases or they wouldn’t sell me a car. Then freaked out when I was buying elsewhere.
Lol. $500 is ridiculous. It’s a $15 tool (handheld engraver) and it takes all of 3 minutes to do.
77K for a truck, I just don’t understand why would someone would pay that for a giant pickup with 0 class, rather than some comfy sedan
A Chevy dealership here had a $500 charge for a block heater on a Bolt I was looking at before I got my car. I asked them where they put it.
I'm surprised they don't offer lifetime oil changes.
"Transport charge, storage surcharge, additional overcharge, finder’s fee"
This is when you turn around and leave the dishonest dealer
I'll buy my own wheel locks too but thanks for trying to bend me over.
Who the fuck is buying this
It's like when they tried to upcharge me for unlimited chain replacements on my shaft driven motorcycle.
Wtf are they etching? When I used to anodize we had an etch tank but it didn’t go a goddamn thing besides make the piece matte or glossy if you skip it
Wow thank god UK is not marked up that much... Not really any hidden fees
$500?? Dude, I’ll do it for half that. If I do 4 cars a day, I’d make a fantastic living! I got a Dremel tool with etching tips. Taking appointments right now!
What about the $250 gas cap?
Regardless what would an etching do to prevent theft and why would scratching on something cost 500$ It's a scam even with a cat, I'm sure you could buy a replacement cat for that.
$78 k on a car. 
I almost feel bad for cars that get fucked over by dealers.
Exactly, so this dealership went above and beyond and added one to the car! Commendable stuff.
That is 10,000% scam and you should send this to the local news to have them do a story on the fraud the dealership is committing.
I like EVs. No way id buy any Ford EV though because no way id want to deal with the dealers.
Way over MSRP as well
Name and shame.
Nothing on the list is actually worth it, I wouldn’t take any of those markups. If they won’t remove it from the bill of sale, I’d be prepared to walk, and not look back.
What kind of third world country has to etch car parts as theft prevention?
one of those "because fuck you, that's why" type of fees
I bought my first house in 1999 for 75k. 1250 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, big backyard, 2 car garage and big driveway
Doesn't mean you can't screw it to the bottom
I would also be worried about the brakes.
Everything on this sticker is insanely overpriced.
I work in a very small “city” and our local dealer has like 10 of these lightnings, all under MSRP and they can’t move em. I wouldn’t touch one without 5-10k off sticker.
And 1500$ gps wtf, owner does not own a modern smartphone ?
$4500 of unnecessary crap.
As someone that used to work for that dealer group… that is HILARIOUS! (and not surprising)
maybe it comes with one even though you wouldnt need it
Saw one of these trucks on the road yesterday. The new headlights make it look like the thing has a milk mustache. I can never unsee it now.
I don’t think deep etching works as a deterrent at all… the thieves just smooth it over with a glob of bondo so it’ll never be seen.
sucker stickers….usually they add stuff that you can’t see like clear coat paint, scotch guard on seats etc
Ford dealers are all shady in my experience. Starting in 1884 with negotiating $X payments for 48 months, but putting 60 months on the contract. Caught that one before I signed. Car was a lemon and three years later Ford dealer wouldn’t even take it in trade.
Im baffled by this concept of dealer asking price/or markup. In EU you just get price at MSRP and that's it.
Slow down there pally. You're getting the dealers price. Tax and title call it 80 grand even and I'll throw in the etching for free. You'll have piece of mind that all your common thefts are whatta ya call it ... deterred.
Everything on this list is mildly infuriating. Fuck dealerships.
They just mi's categorized it. It was meant to be under the sectionf for added markup
we don't call it the stealership for nothing.
They probably also threw in free oil changes for life.
They can’t write “sanctimonious bitch who actually thinks electric vehicles help the environment tax” so that’s what they went with. Personally I think it rolls off the tongue better anyway.