The last time I checked, a Chevrolet Bolt does not have tailpipe emissions.
Redditor and new car shopper /u/Gusinthemguts was in the market for an electric vehicle with the goal to only spend up to $33,000.
With a starting MSRP of less than $29,000 the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt seemed to be in his budget, that is until he started shopping around.
OP got an out-the-door price for said Bolt at a local SoCal dealership in the Santa Clarita/Valencia area and was shocked to find out that his new Bolt with a Market Value Selling Price of $29,875, with all the dealership add-ons, ballooned to over $45,000.
A handful of dealership add-ons is to be expected, but this SoCal dealership had the audacity to include a $899 charge for a SafeCat Catalytic Converter?
Check out a screenshot on the Reddit thread of his out-the-door price below.
As mentioned, the Bolt is a 100 percent electric vehicle with no internal combustion engine to produce dirty emissions out a tailpipe.
That means a SafeCat Catalytic Converter is totally unnecessary because…there is no catalytic converter.
As an aside, the SafeCat isn’t even a sturdy, bolt-on shield like what would normally come to mind when you think of catalytic converter protection, it’s literally a sticker and some self-etching fluid that anyone with two hands with thumbs can put on.
As comments in the Reddit thread point out, except for the sales tax and doc fee, the rest is a bunch of unnecessary add-ons to pad the dealership with profit.
And while haggling over what add-ons will make the final cut is unfortunately part of the car buying hassle, to include something useless is just plain lazy and borderline criminal.
Either that dealership was adding add-ons on autopilot or they willfully and wantonly added that line item just to see if they could get away with it or, at worst, plead ignorance.
Regardless, OP’s been steered away from that dealership and was thankfully educated as to what is and isn’t necessary on an out-the-door price.
When it comes to making the second-largest purchase in your life, it pays to do your homework and, if you need help, to ask for a second opinion, even if it’s from a bunch of random Redditors.
I buy my new cars from a dealer that doesn’t do this. You can even haggle over the MSRP. PROFIT TO A DEALER COMES FORM TWO PARTS IF YOU HAVE A TRADE. How much they sell the new car for.What they sell your trade for. In many cases they make more on the trade than the new car. That is why it is important to know what your trade is worth.