[Kaotic Lazagna]

Pretty sure every new car must have the Monroney sticker on the window.

Well, might as well add my story. I was looking for a GR Corolla and at the time (and still to this day), every dealership had insane markups, plus long wait lists. That actually brings me to another story...so I called a "local" dealership to me to see if I can get on a wait list (this was shortly after it was announced). I called this dealership only as I know they don't markup cars. I was told they will not be doing a wait list and it will be first come, first serve. So I gave my info to the girl, and I never hear back. So I called a month later to see if they received any allocations. I asked for that girl, and was told she no longer worked there, but this girl can help me. She says she has no further info, so I told her to keep me updated. Another month passed by, and I call in and ask for this girl. She was off, but now this third girl can help. So I told her I was looking for a GRC...she said she can put me on their wait list. BUT WAIT a minute, they said they weren't doing a wait list. So I told her that that was what they told me. So I told her to put me on their wait list, and that I was #30 (so basically never at that dealership). I asked when did they start the wait list, and this girl told me the month before. So I then, irritated, I asked why didn't the second girl say she could put me on the list then when I had reached out a month prior! She couldn't answer.

So that brings me back to my original story. With no other local dealerships that I knew of that did not mark up their cars, I reached out to the dealership I used to sell cars at. I knew they never sold for more than sticker and always had a discount. I never sold a car AT sticker before, even the Tundra and Tacoma TRD Pros I sold, as it was the policy then. Anyway, my previous coworker there told me they had a red one in allocation, and that it's mine. Gave him my deposit. He said the car will be at MSRP, BUT will have two dealer add ons that are a must have, and were an additional $3k. That was weird because when I was selling cars there, add ons were there, but ultimately were not a requirement, and I never pushed them unless I knew it was something that my customer would like/benefit from. So I asked if I can replace them (it was some kind of security system, not lo-jack; and some kind of paint sealant). I asked him if I can substitute those for something else, like an extended warranty and something else, which cost more, but I find more use for. I just didn't want the electrical system being messed with, and a crappy coating put on a non-paint corrected surface. He said he'll ask the manager (someone new who was not there when I sold there).

So the car is in transit now, and he calls me to tell me that. I asked about the whole switching the two items thing. He goes, "about that...the manager is now adding a third item, and it's an additional $10k" So I asked wtf could that be. And he tells me, that he "wasn't told what that item is, but it's only worth $1k." So I straight up yelled, "that alone is $9k pure profit!" And he tells me that the manager would not switch the other two items either. So I told him forget it and to give me back my deposit. Just getting my deposit back took over a month, and I had to call my CC company and open a dispute.

I did end up getting a GRC and the most local dealership to me. They originally wanted either $11k or $13k over, and they low balled me on trading in my FR-S. Oh, and they wanted all the mods PLUS the stock parts. So I walked. Got a call back the next morning and they said they can do $5k over if I bought it immediately. I wasn't and still am not sure if the GRC would go the way of the Focus RS, so I agreed. The $5k markup did include some crappy coating (the one that we were trying to sell when I was selling cars, but I never pushed since I knew it wasn't worth it) and lock nuts. Fortunately for me, this dealership did a FANTASTIC job at paint correcting before putting the coating on. So that saved me a bunch of DIY time. Even though I hated paying over, I think it was worth it in the end since I knew by then that any "MSRP deal" will most likely have some dealer add on, and I really don't want the electrical system being messed with by adding some kind of security system, or some other BS like pin stripes, crappy low quality tint, etc.