- A dealer added $14,980 in extra packages and fees to a new Land Cruiser.
- This made the total price exceed $92,000.
- The items listed don’t appear to be worth anywhere near the prices attatched.
Dealers often do all they can to squeeze every last penny out of customers and it’s happening again with the Toyota Land Cruiser. One dealer in California is tacking on huge packages and accessories to the SUV. Someone just so happened to expose it for adding almost $15,000 to the bottom line of one. In fact, Toyota Carlsbad does this to all of its Land Cruisers.
Markups are bad for business. That’s not just us saying it but data that indicates that it diminishes brand loyalty. Perhaps that’s one reason that some dealers simply add on thousands in unnecessary packages and parts. In this case, though, the value offered appears to be nowhere near the price listed.
Read: Don’t Be A Sucker! Toyota Corolla Buyer Teaches Us How To Beat Dealer Markups
Spotted by a Reddit user, this Land Cruiser has an MSRP of $77,889. On top of that, Toyota Carlsbad has added four ‘options.’ They include $2,995 for premium ceramic window tint, another $2,995 for a windshield protection limited warranty, $3,995 for Simoniz Ceramic, and $4,995 for”All Terrain Tires.” Let’s break that down to expose just how shady these fees are.
Now the photo isn’t clear enough for us to be sure but the tires in question appear to be Falken WildPeak AT tires. The size is unclear but they’re likely 265/70R18 which is about as big as the Land Cruiser can go. If that’s true, these tires retail for around $280 a piece. How Toyota Carlsbad thinks it can justify tacking $4,995 onto the price we don’t know.
The windshield warranty seems just as suspect if not even more so. The LC windshield doesn’t appear as if it’s available online yet but a windscreen for the Lexus LX, part number 56111-60581-8N, costs a bit under $600. They’re not identical but they’re very similar. Let’s say that the windshield for the LC is even more though, maybe $1000. How is a $2,995 warranty worth that?
The Simonize Ceramic comes with a ‘lifetime guarantee’ and a $3,995 price tag. Perhaps that’s worth it if the owner keeps this car for 20+ years and is still using the warranty the entire time to clean up every single scratch and stain. Of course, one can literally buy 30 gallons of the coating for under $1,500. Not that it’s exactly the same but the value sure doesn’t appear to be there.
Finally, how much does window tinting really cost? Evidently, no less than $2,995 in this day and age. Somehow we bet the customer could find a better deal almost anywhere.
As mentioned above, this isn’t the only Land Cruiser at the store and it’s not the only one with this kind of shading pricing. Two others listed online have the same dealer add-ons. In each case, the pricing is slightly lower but it’s still ridiculous. The all-terrain tire add-ons are $3,995 which, as we’ve shown, is still far more than one could buy them for on the open market.
What a deal!
byu/Few-Thing-4970 inLandCruisers