If you're happy with the deal you made, then that's the important thing. Dealers can tweak the deal either way, by reducing the price of the new vehicle or padding the trade-in allowance. It helps to be an informed consumer. Enjoy the new ride! What color did you get?
I agree that used car dealers are habitual liars. And I can see how you might think that "Hey, baby. Nice bumpers." might be a pickup line. But sometimes bumpers really are nice. All kidding aside, I've read some purportedly first-hand accounts that CarMax is easy and fair to deal with when selling a used car.
Agreed. They put in all this safety stuff, and then force you to look at a computer screen as you're driving down the road. I bought a new car in 2019, and if it did not have the system that automatically breaks, I would have rear-ended someone on Day 4 of ownership because I was futzing with the screen.
I just got/saved a Dodge website on the desktop that tells all about the new Durango. Put the VIN in and everything popped up. Sort of funny, but the Kelly Blue Book the Dealer/salesman printed out for us says: DVD System (Included), CD/MP3 (Single Disc) Included, Fog Lights (Included) and SiriusXM Satellite (Included) AND, as far as I can tell, none of this comes with this Durango GT. Have to check on the Fog Lights, but I sure didn't see any. And, definitely no DVD System or CD Player (no slot for either). My wife is highlighting this stuff right now and we will bring it up to them on Saturday morning. Apparently the Manager printed out the report. There is name at the bottom of the KBB sheet of who printed it out.
Wondering WHY a dealership would include things, on Kelly Blue Book (KBB) in the price of a vehicle, that aren't even part of the vehicle??? Guess the dealership doesn't think that a potential buyer will check for what's "Included" in the Report? Has this happened to any of you?? How did you handle it?
I would talk to your local consumer protection agency for advice on how to move forward. There are too many details that can't possibly get addressed in this format. I guess the most important thing is how that report was used when advertising the vehicle and when selling it to you.
When I bought my 2019 Impreza I specifically asked for the base model instead of the one with driver assist package they had on the lot. Those packages only drive up the price and it sucks if you don't want to have it in the first place. They had to check other dealers to find what I wanted but it was worth the wait.
As far as the CD/MP3 Player goes, it's my understanding that no vehicle manufacturer today puts a CD player into any vehicles. We aren't complaining about the things that the report says "Included", because we like high-tech stuff. We are just wondering why they are listed as "Included" and will ask the dealership tomorrow. The Sirus XM Satellite (radio) says included, so that might just mean that a monthly subscription can be bought for it. The previous owner had the Sirus XM, but stopped the subscription when he sold the vehicle back to the dealership.
I've had 2 vehicles with XM radio capabilities built into the radio. They both came with a trial subscription. And I wondered when you said it had a DVD/CD player. If there's no TV screen in the back for the kids, what's the DVD player gonna do? And I can't recall the last time CD players were offered in vehicles.
First John, I didn't mean that we said "there is a DVD/CD player in the new/2021 Durango". The Salesman included that in the Kelly Blue Book Report. Why, I don't know. Now, in our 2005 Durango, we have a AM/FM/CD Player on the console and a DVD Player connected to the overhead. After we bought the 2005, we got Sirus Radio, but for only a few months. We have a lot of music CD's. Ones that I've recorded on from an internet website and ones that were bought at a store. Actually, we have a duplicate CD of all of our music CD's. I done the copy/duplication. However, a portable (small) CD Player can be connected to the AM/FM radio thru Blue Tooth and the music comes thru the vehicle speakers. Getting one on Amazon.
Since @Cody Fousnaugh and @Ed Wilson mentioned all the modern stuff... I'm a manual transmission/roll-up windows kinda guy. If I had been around when they introduced electric starters and did away with hand crank, I would have said "More stuff to go wrong." I bought a new Mazda in 2019 and it came loaded with driver assist stuff I would never have ordered as individual options. But I really love most of them. -Adaptive Cruise Control lets you set your maximum speed and maintains a safe following distance between you and the car in front of you. If the other car speeds up, your car speeds up to your Max preset. If the other car slows down, you slow down. Regular cruise control is OK when there's no traffic, but when there are other cars, this is so much better. The risk in the system is that when someone cuts in front of you, your car abruptly slows down to maintain that safe following distance. So I don't use it in moderate-to-heavy traffic where people are constantly changing lanes. -Blind Spot Monitoring displays a light on your side view mirror if there's a car in your blind spot. My car also beeps if I put my turn signal on to change lanes and there's a car in the blind spot. It's a great "just to be sure" assist. -Lane Departure Warning makes a rumble strip sound through my speakers if I start to drift into the oncoming lane or off to the shoulder. It only works on roads with stripes painted on them. It's an added safety measure. -Smart Brake System applies the brakes if it thinks you are about to rear-end the vehicle in front of you. It has pedestrian detection as well. The system saved my butt the first week I had the car and I was futzing with the computer when the guy in front of me came to a hard stop. (In a sense, it was the computer system that caused me to not pay attention.) The Smart Brake System can be over-sensitive if the car in front of you is turning and you come up on it too quickly to go around. It's not applied the brakes in that scenario, but the BRAKE!!! warning has come on. Like all of the features, you can turn this On or Off. But there is no sensitivity adjustment. -Built In NAV System is something I have a love/hate relationship with. I like plugging in an address and having the system guide me there, or just wandering into a new area knowing that the system will guide me out to go home. I like it here in this rural area because it is likely to give me the best way to my destination (or back home) from parts of the county I'm not familiar with. I'll use it when driving home from trips to the state capitol because highway exits are so far apart in my rural county and there are no landmarks, so I'm afraid I'll overshoot mine (again.) The downside to a NAC System is that in the past when I used to look up directions, write them down, and pay attention to when my next turn was coming up, I could pretty much find my way back to that place unassisted after the initial trip. With the NAV System, it's easy to just drive 'n drool, waiting for the computer to tell me what to do next. -Computer Radio: I don't like having the radio in the computer. I used to be able to reach down without looking and punch the preset button for the station I wanted. These days the stuff is on a screen. My car has Voice Commands to change to a "Favorite." But you gotta remember the station name or call numbers in order to use Voice Command. You cannot assign a nickname. -Lane Keep Assist is a feature I do not use. It's tied into the Lane Departure Warning, except that if it sees you drift out of your lane (left or right), the steering automatically nudges you back to center. For some reason I'm fine delegating accelerating and braking to the computer, but not steering. This is the feature that--when used with Adaptive Cruise Control--causes some people to think they can auto-pilot down the highway and take a quick nap.
Okay, Okay. I drove hubby's 2013 Volvo to the airport in Milwaukee, this week. I like the automatic windows for getting the ticket for parking.
First of all, if a car salesman's lips are moving he is probably lying. They will tell you almost anything to close that sale. You said you can enter the VIN on the Dodge website; does that list all the options on your vehicle? I know that on the Ford website, you can request a copy of the original window sticker to see exactly how your vehicle was accessorized. Which reminds me... one reason we didn't want a Ford was that ridiculous "automatic engine shutdown" feature that turns the engine off at red lights, etc. Luckily, the truck we bought had that feature deleted!! (Found that tidbit on the window sticker.)
The only one we have, from what we know of right now, is: NAV System. However, we've always used our iPhone for navigation and it has worked well, but to have the navigation on a rather big screen, will be nice also. I just called, and left a message, for both the salesman and the guy who done the KBB Report to call us back. We really want to know about the things that say "Included", but don't think they are. Or, we'll just wait until tomorrow morning and ask in-person. Anyway, John, since I basically love electronics/high-tech stuff, I will learn about this vehicle fairly quickly.
Yeh, I understood that. But I agree with you that it makes no sense to see those things on a KBB Report for a late model vehicle. Before XM capability was included with AM/FM car radios, I had a portable unit and a car adapter that would transmit over an unused FM frequency to play it through the car stereo. The portable unit also hooked up to my home stereo, so I paid for the one subscription and used it everywhere. (I took it into my office and plugged it into a set of computer speakers.) Keep in mind that you might be able to put your tunes onto a USB stick and play it through your new Durango's system. And/or it might have Android Auto or Apple Play so you can save tunes to your phone and play them in your Durango (or play Pandora and other services through your Durango's system.) I've not messed with any of that stuff in my Mazda.