I Tried To Buy The Same Car At Five Dealers—It Was A Disaster
I tried to buy a new car from a dealer, and it was far worse than you can imagine.
I went to five different dealers to buy the same car, and I got five completely different prices. Buying a car from a dealer resulted in mind games, price gouging, unnecessary dealer fees and add-ons, and getting ripped off.
Let me show you what to watch for at dealers so you can avoid buyer's remorse!
Exposing New Car Pricing: 5 Dealerships, 5 Wildly Different Quotes
How badly can a car dealership rip you off? As part of a widespread consumer protection investigation across 60 new car dealerships, we mystery-shopped five different Toyota dealerships in the Greater Toronto Area to buy a brand-new Toyota Highlander.
Even though every dealership was selling the exact same vehicle, the quotes we received varied by thousands of dollars. The mystery shopping results reveal how pervasive mandatory add-on products, hidden fees, and illegal "tied selling" tactics have become in the automotive industry.
The 5 Dealership Visits: A Side-by-Side Breakdown
Dealer 1: The Outrageous Markup
- Vehicle: Toyota Highlander Hybrid XLE (MSRP $54,835)
- Pre-Installed Add-Ons: Window tint ($699), Paint Protection Film ($850), Cargo liner ($395), Extended warranty ($2,039), Admin fee ($1,000), Ceramic coating ($2,000), Rust protection ($1,899), Vehicle tracker ($1,300).
- Total Add-Ons: $9,182
- The Experience: The sales manager claimed every single item was mandatory on a vehicle that was still in transit. After nearly two hours of high-pressure back-and-forth, the manager only agreed to remove the extended warranty, leaving over $7,000 in forced add-ons.
Dealer 2: "Tied Selling" on Synthetic Leather
- Vehicle: Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited
- Handwritten Quote Total: $77,897 (including tax)
- Pre-Installed Add-Ons: Rust protection ($1,500), Paint protection ($800), Window tint ($900), Leather protection ($800), Hood tape ($900).
- Total Add-Ons: ~$4,900
- The Experience: Every single vehicle sitting on the showroom floor featured a window sticker with nearly $5,000 in forced accessories. Bizarrely, the dealer charged an $800 "leather protection package" on vehicles equipped with SofTex (synthetic vinyl) or cloth seats. The salesperson insisted every product was strictly mandatory.
Dealer 3: Zero Price Transparency
- Vehicle: Toyota Highlander Hybrid Platinum
- The Experience: The salesperson flatly refused to print, email, or hand over a written quote. They briefly turned a computer monitor around to display a price but forbade taking a photo.
- The Fine Print: Independent digging into the dealership’s website fine print revealed $2,300 in forced add-ons (including $1,300 for an "Alumate" package, $550 for hood tape, and $500 for tint) alongside a $1,000 administrative fee.
Dealer 4: Take It or Leave It
- Vehicle: Toyota Highlander Hybrid XLE
- Total Add-Ons: Anti-theft registration ($599), Admin fee ($400), Extended warranty ($2,594).
- The Experience: A vastly superior customer experience compared to the first three. The rep printed a clear quote immediately and allowed the extended warranty to be removed. However, they refused to remove the $599 anti-theft fee or negotiate a single dollar off the final price.
Dealer 5: How Car Buying Should Look
- Vehicle: Toyota Highlander Hybrid XLE
- Itemized Fees: MSRP, mandatory Freight & PDI, government tire/air conditioning fees (under $200 total), and standard sales tax.
- Total Add-Ons: $0 (Zero admin fees, zero dock fees, zero mandatory add-on products).
- The Experience: Representing a clean, transparent transaction model, this quote only included mandatory factory fees. Through pre-negotiated car-buying programs, buyers save an additional $1,000 to $2,000 off sticker price while avoiding thousands in predatory dealer add-ons.
Understanding "Tied Selling" and Consumer Rights
Forcing a customer to purchase optional secondary products (like paint pens, fabric protection, or anti-theft tracking) as a mandatory condition for buying a vehicle is known as tied selling. In many jurisdictions, tied selling and failing to honor advertised prices violates consumer protection laws.
What to Do When Facing Predatory Dealer Tactics
- Demand an Out-the-Door Itemized Quote: Never negotiate based solely on monthly or bi-weekly payment figures. Insist on seeing the full breakdown of fees, taxes, and mandatory line items.
- Be Prepared to Walk Away: If a dealership insists that thousands of dollars in hidden add-ons are "mandatory," take your business elsewhere.
- Report Non-Compliant Dealerships: Regulators rely on consumer complaints to audit and penalize non-compliant sales practices.
If a dealership refuses to honor transparent pricing or engages in illegal tied selling, document the interaction and file a formal report with your local enforcement agency:
- Ontario: OMVIC (Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council)
- Alberta: AMVIC (Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council)
- British Columbia: VSA (Vehicle Sales Authority of British Columbia)
- Quebec: OPC (Office de la protection du consommateur)
- United States: FTC (Federal Trade Commission) or your State Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division
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Shari Prymak is the host of the Car Help Corner YouTube channel and the Executive Director of Car Help Canada (formally known as the Automobile Consumer Coalition). Car Help Canada is a non-profit organization that supports consumers when dealing with the automobile industry. Mr. Prymak holds Bachelor degrees (BSc and BEd) from the University of Toronto and York University respectively. Prymak’s experience as an automobile consultant has helped thousands of consumers with their automobile purchases and many aspects of automobile ownership. Mr. Prymak has also published a number of research reports on consumer protection and the automobile industry. He also lobbies the government on behalf of consumers and is a member of OMVIC's Consumer Advisory Committee, a delegate authority for the Ontario government. Prymak has hosted programs on consumer protection in the motor vehicle industry on social media, television and radio.
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The dealers are what they are. I tend to also find fault with the consumer who agrees to and pays whatever price the dealer comes up with. If every consumer would hold off buying a new car for 1 year it would send a message to the dealers and force them to quit their BS.
Must be where you live? Here in MN i never see any of that. Now, those ARE items they try to upsell you but you are free to say no thank you. None of it is mandatory. Sometimes I do see factory installed options that seem stupid to me, like sun roofs on trucks for example. But there is a problem with the "walk away" philosophy with some of the upscale brands in that their are few brands. For example if you want a BMW, there are on,y 3 in the state. 2 in the Minneapolis area and 1 in Rochester.. I'm assuming because of the Docs at the Mayo clinic.