- Clay Cooley Hyundai of Mesquite allegedly added over $8,500 worth of fees to a used Sonata.
- The additional costs largely come from junk fees.
- The website explicitly says “No Dealer Add Ons Ever”.
Some car dealers will say anything, even stretching the truth, to get customers in the door. Today’s example of what appears to be that comes from Clay Cooley Hyundai of Mesquite who has a 2018 Sonata on sale.
Despite an online price of $12,995, a person alleges that in-store the final price goes up to$19,875 or $21,531 with tax and additional fees. Here’s a breakdown of how that happens and why it seems to prove that the dealer is engaging in misleading advertising.
Read: Don’t Be A Sucker! Toyota Corolla Buyer Teaches Us How To Beat Dealer Markups
A Redditor posted a photo of the paperwork they claim is from the dealer for the Sonata in question. The VIN, mileage, and other details all match a Sonata that, as of this writing, is on Clay Cooley’s website. In short, there’s good reason to believe that this image is the genuine article. That said, it’s quite damning thanks to the ridiculous add-on fees.
Breaking down the extra fees
What starts out at the top of the page as a $12,995 Sonata ends up having an out-the-door price of $21,531.83. To get to that wild figure, Clay Cooley Hyundai starts by adding $995 for “Connected and Protected” which it doesn’t explain at all. An alleged former employee commenting on the Reddit post says that it’s a “physical device on the car that plugs into the OBD2 port and connects to an app on your phone. From here you can track the vehicle’s location, report it stolen, etc. We never discounted this.”
In addition, there’s $1,895 for window tint. As we’ve highlighted far too recently, that kind of pricing for such an add-on is just ridiculous. Then, there’s $1,995 for “MotorTrend Certification” which incorporates a few different things. First, it means that it was inspected to MotorTrend’s national standards. Does that mean that Clay Cooley’s inspection standards are lower?
It also includes a six-month, 7,500-mile limited warranty “AT NO EXTRA COST” according to MotorTrend’s own website. It allows the buyer to return the vehicle within 72 hours (maximum of 300 miles driven), and a promise that if a person finds “a lower advertised price on the same vehicle with the same benefits and options within 5 days, we will refund 100% of the difference.*”
Is that worth almost $2,000? You tell us. Finally, there’s another $1,995 charge for the “Family Guarantee 5Yr Upgrade.” What is that, you ask? This is where it gets almost comically shady. On Clay Cooley’s website, they proudly show off the family guarantee and it’s a doozy.
“Every new and used vehicle we sell comes with our family guarantee for twelve months at no charge to you,” it says. It includes features like lost-key replacement, fabric repair, windshield repair, and roadside assistance. In fact, it goes on to highlight on the bottom of the ad, “+NO DEALER ADD ONS EVER.”
If that’s true then what’s with all of these add ons in the Reddit post? Had the original poster signed up for the deal with $2,000 down and the dealer-offered financing they’d end up paying over $26,000 for a car that is currently listed online for $12,995.
Remember that person claiming to be a former employee? They break down quite a few of the tactics and explain some of what we see here. “Family guarantee is an interior/exterior protection package for things like dents, scratches, windshield chips or curb rash. It’s actually FREE for 1 year. 3 years is 1495 and 5 years is 1995. Upgrade is OPTIONAL,” they say. So that explains the language of “5yr Upgrade.”
The dealer appears to be trying to sell that upgrade instead of offering it and letting the customer decide. Then there’s the MotorTrend certification which sounds like it’s nothing like what MotorTrend itself describes.
“MotorTrend certification is unique. It’s a 1 year, 12,000 mile warranty that basically allows us to ‘certify’ any brand of car regardless of what brand the store sells new. This is completely FREE OF CHARGE, aka should not be any markup. Its one of the legit benefits of buying from a Clay Cooley store since to my knowledge no other dealers have this. Any car (under a certain age and under 80k miles) qualifies regardless of brand. I actually had a lady who I sold a Focus to with 50K miles transmission went out and she got a new one for free with this warranty (we were not a ford store),” the poster says.
More: Chevrolet Dealer Tacks On Over $10k Worth Of Fees For Used Dodge Charger Hellcat
Now, objectively, if this were free it would sound like a killer deal and a reason to visit the dealer but as they say later in their comment “they are absolutely trying to screw you.” In fact, they also point out that on Clay Cooley’s website, it actually says that the “Price includes 1 year of ‘Connected and Protected’ coverage valued at $995.” So why is the dealer trying to charge for it again?
Now this advertising might be misleading but it’s likely legal. Here’s how the dealer gets around all of the red tape. At the end of the sales page it has a disclaimer that says “Clay Cooley is not responsible for mispricing, typographical, data transmission, or any and all other errors that may appear on the site. If the advertised price is incorrect or inaccurate Clay Cooley will update the price as soon as they become aware. Clay Cooley maintains the right to refuse or not honor any price listed erroneously.
“Sales Price Excludes Dealer Addendums, State and Local Tax, Title, and License. Registration fees, any finance charges, any dealer documentation fees, any emissions testing fees and government fees are not included in quoted price. Vehicle prices are subject to change at all times, do not include adds or other fees, and may be subject to a Market Adjustment that is not reflected in the advertised price.”
Notice some of the language there. “Sales price excludes dealer addendums” and “prices are subject to change… do not include adds or other fees” are ways for it to add these charges while claiming that everything is above board. Of course, it’s a bit strange that they do this while openly claiming “NO DEALER ADD ONS EVER,” in all caps. Which is it Clay Cooley?
Evidence suggests that it’s been engaging in this type of behavior for years. Reviews for the business are less than stellar and in fact, several customers are calling out the dealer. “Dishonest. Agreed on 1 car, then they switched to a different car hoping I wouldn’t notice. Buyer beware,” says one. This next one sounds all too familiar.
“When submitting my application online, the out the door number was $32,207 with GAP. With a $2,500 down payment, I was only planning on financing $29,707. However, when I got the buyers order, the out the door number was $34,488.80, without GAP insurance. They tried to charge me $995 for “Connected and Protected” and $1495 for “Family Guarantee 3 Year Upgrade.” They would not sell the car to me without these fees,” it says.
Evidently, the dealer isn’t only interested in tacking on additional fees but also in misleading customers on trade-in value. “Was offered a great price for our trade, and asked for it in writing. When we returned with financing, they offered us $6k less for our vehicle. They made the deal impossible to take, and drove us away,” says another review. According to one on Google from just a week ago, the dealer pulled a similar bait and switch after they drove for four hours to buy a car at an agreed-upon price.
“Buyers beware. Bait and Switch is this company’s marketing strategy. I drove 4 hours to purchase a vehicle that I got pre approved beforehand. I wanted to make sure the process was seamless (I hate the car buying process). I let them know I was coming out of town (Louisiana) with the mind that I was going to pay the internet price + tax’s + any doc fees offered on the vehicle. Imagine my surprise (traveling 4 hours) when the Internet price wasn’t the actual price but a fraction. Instead of adding the “full purchase price” for the vehicle online, they added only 70% of it, and came up with some add on numbers that wasn’t associated with the online price. “
All of this being said, it’s only fair to note that many reviews on Google are positive ones. Perhaps these incidents we’ve highlighted are fewer and further between than it seems. Either way, we’ve reached out to Clay Cooley Hyundai for comment and will update this post if they answer. We’d argue, though, that even one instance like this is unacceptable and that it certainly doesn’t do any favors for the Hyundai brand itself either.