If you put a deposit down at a Lexus Dealership because they sell at MSRP…. and you believed avoiding the "Adjusted Market Value” insult will equate to an entirely aggravation free transaction… might want to ask more questions beforehand.
Sure, I was willing to accept the OEM Port Installed Options I have no use or desire for. Even tolerate the Dealership money-grab schemes such as “mandatory” glass protection and paint protection.
What surprised me was the “mandatory” Dealer profit line sold as GPS vehicle protection. Apparently, this Lexus Dealer is installing Stargard GPS in all vehicles they sell. They are so concerned your purchase be protected from theft, and so concerned that you shouldn’t have to deal with a monthly or annual fee… that they charge you once for protection that will “last for the lifetime of ownership!”.
Interesting choice of wording, “ownership”. That caught my attention so I had to deep dive on what is a Stargard and what’s my commitment to having this device installed in an anticipated GX 550 purchase.
My takeaway is a device like the Stargard is how Dealerships keep track of inventory. Seems they recover their cost of installation and use of said device when you pay for it in the form of a Dealer Added Option. Went to the Stargard website and selected “Register Now” to read the fine print. https://d339rrwn0hymx8.cloudfront.net/ssa/stargard_ssa_2.pdf Among their verbiage I found egregious was, “CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITIES: The Stargard service is NON-CANCELABLE and NON-TRANSFERABLE”. No thank you, hard pass.
I assume Dealer would have the Lifetime Stargard Package and registration completed on OTD invoice paperwork. One would presumably be acknowledging acceptance of Stargard terms when they sign-off. Why would anyone agree to sign up for a service they could never cancel in their lifetime? I won’t even tangent on the implications of agreeing to a third party data collecting/selling device.
Anyone here with experience and/or insights on this Dealer Added Option?
TIA
Sure, I was willing to accept the OEM Port Installed Options I have no use or desire for. Even tolerate the Dealership money-grab schemes such as “mandatory” glass protection and paint protection.
What surprised me was the “mandatory” Dealer profit line sold as GPS vehicle protection. Apparently, this Lexus Dealer is installing Stargard GPS in all vehicles they sell. They are so concerned your purchase be protected from theft, and so concerned that you shouldn’t have to deal with a monthly or annual fee… that they charge you once for protection that will “last for the lifetime of ownership!”.
Interesting choice of wording, “ownership”. That caught my attention so I had to deep dive on what is a Stargard and what’s my commitment to having this device installed in an anticipated GX 550 purchase.
My takeaway is a device like the Stargard is how Dealerships keep track of inventory. Seems they recover their cost of installation and use of said device when you pay for it in the form of a Dealer Added Option. Went to the Stargard website and selected “Register Now” to read the fine print. https://d339rrwn0hymx8.cloudfront.net/ssa/stargard_ssa_2.pdf Among their verbiage I found egregious was, “CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITIES: The Stargard service is NON-CANCELABLE and NON-TRANSFERABLE”. No thank you, hard pass.
I assume Dealer would have the Lifetime Stargard Package and registration completed on OTD invoice paperwork. One would presumably be acknowledging acceptance of Stargard terms when they sign-off. Why would anyone agree to sign up for a service they could never cancel in their lifetime? I won’t even tangent on the implications of agreeing to a third party data collecting/selling device.
Anyone here with experience and/or insights on this Dealer Added Option?
TIA
