My dad bought a new truck once and the dealer had slapped logos on the sides right below the RAM 2500 badges. But they had put them on after they had waxed the truck(all of this not at his request) and the first time he washed the truck... logo fell right off.

The first thing I do to a new car upon arriving home is to remove the dealer plate frame and temporary license plate. Dealers in Calif. don't affix their logos onto cars anymore because of a lawsuit brought by someone over 20 years ago. I don't know the details, but it involved uncompensated and unwanted advertising by the dealer essentially forced on the customer, which the dealer lost and had to compensate the customer some large advertising fee plus punitive damages.

no, they pulled the little plastic covers off the holes that were already there and put it on there.

If they are paying me to advertise for them, fine, otherwise, forget it.

I never said I worked at a dealership. I worked for an auto manufacturer & I visited many, many dealerships (hundreds?). So I have seen the good, the bad & the ugly.

I also never said a dealer shouldn't put a sticker or license plate frame on a car. I simply said if the customer specifically asks to leave it off, why not leave it off as requested? To me, that is a very easy thing to do to promote satisfaction. I can't imagine why a dealer wouldn't do that. If the customer made the request, it must be important to him/her. The dealer should understand how important it is to the customer & the dealer should take special care to make sure the request is honored.

Studies have been done that show that most people would rather go to the dentist than to a car dealer (sorry to those who are dentists). And I think that feeling is justified. Most car dealers are very short-sighted & salespeople don't care if you ever come back again to buy a car. They are more concerned with getting you to buy something -- anything -- today. And because many salespeople don't stay at a particular dealership very long, they don't care if you ever come back -- they will be long gone by the time you are back in the market for a car.

I have also worked with dealerships who get it right. They focus first on satisfying their customers, so they come back & send their friends. One dealership in particular I called on was way out in the country in a town of 4,000 people. However, it was one of the largest dealerships in the state in terms of volume. They did it by treating people right. Period.

The dealer once told me that the finance company asked him to send them more marginal/bad credit risk customers because his reserves were getting too large. The dealer told me that most people with bad credit are not too smart & the people who buy from him -- often driving by 3-4 other dealers selling the same products -- are too smart to put up with the tactics most other dealerships use.

He said he doesn't send bad credit risk customers to the finance company because they don't come to his dealership. They get "sold" at the first dealership they visit.

I have always been amazed by dealers who advertise "even if you have declared bankruptcy, we will get you approved...." Why would someone advertise for people with bad credit? Perhaps because those with good credit will not shop there?

Because the dealer knows that if they can get that person credit, they will buy whatever the dealer wants to sell at any price he can get financed. Bottom line: huge profit on the worst car on the lot. Most times the store accomplishes this by secretly agreeing with the finance company to cover the loan if the buyer goes bad. In cases like this, the buyer still gets the hit on the credit record (but don't care), the finance company gets their money (and don't care) and the dealer got a shot at getting rid of a boat anchor in the back of the lot that no one wanted. Most times they come out even or ahead. I know this because I sold new and used cars 1980-1989 (but have repented since then).

I proudly display my dealer(s); but they're my buddies ;)

Geez next thing you know you left coasters will have a law against farting in public :rolleyes:

Hate those stickers

Hate those stickers!
In Europe they do that all the time. Typically listing the garage that sold them the car (since smaller provincial repair garages are given options to sell new cars)...

Also cannot believe that people leave the dealer frame around the license plates! Why does someone want "Betty Boos Auto Sales" on their car... Beats me..

I was paying cash for a car at a stealership a tad closer to home than one I had done business iwth before. I had the AAA price, and just called until I found a dealer willing to sell me what I wanted at the price I was willing to pay.

So I'm getting ready to sign, etc. for the car, and pay my $17k. Notice the plate/frame and sticker on back, I tell them I don't want it. The service manager said "you'll get better service when you come in for maintainence with the sticker and plate frame on". I tore up the papers, picked up my cash, and walked out. I told them that if that is what it took to get good service after the sale, they weren't gonna make the sale.

Drove teh extra 30 minutes, got the car I wanted at teh price I wanted with no plate frame or other decal markings... and made a sales guy very happy as I was paying in cash...

Not into the trunklid-mounted dealer logo thingie, either. I think they look cheap and tacky. I'm not suffering that indignitiy (though admittedly minor) without some sort of compensation by said dealer.

License plate frames are somehow not as bad, IMO. Don't know why. I just don't mind them when I see them on others' cars. Actually, for cars of a certain vintage, it actually may add a bit of historical character (i.e. Vasek Polak). I took the frames off of my and my wife's daily drivers, but actually went to the smidgen of time and expense ($1 at a swap meet) to find a period-correct one for my Porsche.

When we bought my Mazdaspeed3 and leased my wife's Mazda CX-7 last year, we told the dealer "no logos" and there weren't any... no problems, no waiting, just a good dealership.

any dealer that has different levels of service is one that you should run far, far away from...

Glad you stuck to your guns and got the car you wanted

I have always asked for no logos but the liscence plate frames are fine. Once home the frames are taken off.

I'd never heard of that lawsuit, but in CA. they have been using only license plate frames for decades. At least since the early '60s. They are a lot less offensive because you can remove them with no permanent mark on the car. I can't believe that people ever tolerated dealers drilling holes in a brand-new car and affixing an ugly emblem/logo, but that's the way they did it in MN. when I was a kid. The logo gets dingy and rusty over time, plus rust grew from the holes they drilled.

I remember my Dad buying a new Mercedes SL back in the '70s and telling the dealer that if they put their emblem on the trunk, he would not take the car. They didn't do it, but only because the salesman believed him. They actually drilled holes and added an emblem to new Benzes, and people tolerated it. Un-freaking-believable.

What everyone else said; I would ask them how much they were going to knock off the lease every month for advertising. Asshats. :mad:

I wish, we checked in to having it fixed and they would have to put a new bumper cover on.

This was a 2003 mustang GT.

I bet you guys would be singing a different tune if you bought your car from Vasek Polak. . . :)

you mean like this
http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/ksearch/PEL_search.cgi?command=show_part_page&please_wait= N&make=POR&model=356M&section=MISCLL&page=3&bookma rk=12&part_number=PEL-PLATE

hey hey nice find

They put one of those stupid dealer license plate frames on my wife's car when she bought it (new). I pulled a screwdriver out of my car's tool kit, removed it and chucked it into their parking lot before she pulled off the lot. I made sure at least one of the sales guys saw it too. Got in my car & followed her home.

Agree 100% with the "pay me then I'll wear your stinkin' badge" philosophy. I don't even like wearing clothing that has name brands/logos on it. Same reason. I'm not a billboard. Nor is my car.