Car Dealer Aftermarket

Does aftermarket crap dealers put on cars and trucks really help sell them?

We have a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealer nearby that is notorious for putting on aftermarket products on lot cars to help try to sell them.

Years back they took a lot of base model Neons and put SRT-4 hoods and spoilers on them. Every so often you'll see one buzzing around town.

They currently put aftermarket wheels and lift kits on Rams and Wranglers. Aftermarket wheels on Chargers and 300s. They put racing stripes and aftermarket wheels on Darts.

Now they sell plenty of cars that don't have this stuff on it, so is it just for looks to sell them or are people really going to pay a premium for this stuff? The Chevy dealer across the street started doing the same thing.

I see a lot of dealers that have pre-built brodozers ready to go. Lift's, wheels and tires all set up and ready to brodoze with dealer financing.

The dressed up "SRT-4" was a factory option called the SRT-4 Forums or something like that. Some dealers get into the dress up game when they have a group of car sitting on the lot and not moving, I have seen it help some but not much.

Paul

Yea usually you only see that around here with the brodozers

I still see newer cars with dealer-installed (or farmed out) cloth tops around here. It's usually Buicks, but I really thought that trend died in the early 1990's.

I've bought from a Chevy dealer that will do this to an extent. Trucks, Camaros, maybe a few Vettes. They'll do the usual GM Parts add ons which are limited but aftermarket also. Most I saw were showroom demo types but they claim they sell. Lotta Camaro stuff.

Gotta figure though, who would pay for dealer installed parts w/ that mark up when ya could DIY it or deal w/ Billy Bobs accessory shop.

Yenko ring a bell?

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Years back they took a lot of base model Neons and put SRT-4 hoods and spoilers on them.

Those were probably the "SRT Design" factory option. (which also got an SRT inspired bumper and dual exhaust)

Yup, it works very, very well.

And the people that fall for the wheel\tires packages typically aren't smart enough to realize that they're being jipped out of a set of wheels and tires.

MCarp22 wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Years back they took a lot of base model Neons and put SRT-4 hoods and spoilers on them.

Those were probably the "SRT Design" factory option. (which also got an SRT inspired bumper and dual exhaust)

Well that's what they must have been, but they sold a metric E36 M3 ton of them. They were everywhere at one point.

I always assumed the Ram "Texas Edition" trucks were dealer made. There is also a lowered truck around here badged "Silveradeaux" that I figured had to be a dealer package. (Louisiana does this. It's the French influence. Geaux Saints and all.)

I never understood this, so I asked my dad—the man who sold new Pintos and other terrible Ford products in high school. He gave me a few reasons:

1. People don't have the ability to do it themselves.
2. "All that is only $21 more per month!"
3. "Doesn't that Pinto look nice with those wheels and that pinstripe? How about instead of ordering one, I figure out how to let you take that one home today."

yup. they get their gaudy chrome 22's all wrapped up in the financing, no need to go drop 4k out of their pocket when it's only $60 more a month.

The thing I don't understand is…. why isn't more of this stuff cool? Like 99.9% of it is complete and utter garbage.

The local Scion dealer always has a few with the entire appearance catalog thrown at them out front. They even put a 4-level lift out front to rack them up in. Sometimes they even put F&F-tastic "tribal" graphics on the side. They also have a met-bro-sexual FJ Cruiser that looks like a cross between a portapotty and an ad-wrapped city bus.