Excess wear and tear insurance

[outdoor7556]

I leased a 2019 VW eGolf SE last week. Right at the very end the finance guy tried to offer my husband and I a warranty. We didn’t get one for our 2016 eGolf SE but I wanted to hear the pitch. The comprehensive warranty had a price on the brochure of $1,500. Our finance guy offered it for $1,200. I said no. At another VW dealership the salesman told me it wasn’t worth it for the price. He said he would get the Windshield Protection though. I asked how much that was alone and was told $300. I was going to say yes, but my husband said no because he would fix any windshield cracks or issues right away for less than $300. In a last attempt, the finance guy offered us a “Three for One” protection warranty (through assurance/The warranty group) that covered windshield repair, tire and wheel, and paintless dent repair.. We signed up for a 30 month lease on our 2019 and the threeforone was being offered at $650. I was interested but my husband said no. The finance guy tried to sell it as a peace of mind but my husband said he wasn’t buying it.

I was okay with not buying the warranty since we didn’t have it for our 2016 and it was ok. The factory warranty should work for us.

This was the pricing I received in Southern California.

 

[manybees]

The Finance (F&I) office's sole purpose at the end of any deal is to maximize the dealership's profits by aggressively upselling overpriced services and other items that are utterly useless in the vast majority of cases. Dealership profit on new vehicles is not usually very high, so they try to make it up on the "backend" with mostly useless stuff like rustproofing, VIN etching, fabric protection, windshield protection (your insurance usually covers this, btw), wheel protection plans, prepaid service agreements, and extended warranties that you don't need. The F&I person is usually the slickest and most adept salesperson at the dealership in order to make sure that some of this stuff happens on nearly every sale.

My approach has always been like your husband's: walk into the F&I office and be prepared to say "no" over and over until they finally just let you sign the papers and get the heck out of there. When I bought my e-Golf, the finance guy tried to sell me a "prepaid service agreement" that would cover standard maintenance like "oil and filter changes." I literally laughed out loud and asked him if he knew anything at all about the car I was buying.