[NeighborsComplaint]

The "gold package" ... That portable electroplating process that gold toned all the body badges and wheel emblems. Crap lasted one winter in the Midwest and turned orange. It had a lifetime warranty but not from the dealer, from the company that applied it. Of course they all went belly up when you tried to contact them for redo.

[goatwgn]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

Big time upcharge undercoating wasn't a sell in the Southern Plains & N Texas. Running across cars with the Ziebart plugs, we knew they were from the rustbelt.... & I know of a bunch of dealers & individuals that wouldn't buy 'em as used cars. In the late '70's, I cleaned up a ton of '76, 77, 78, 79 model repo'ed GM cars. Also drove many many dozens as repo's going back to GM dealers... Cadillacs, Corvettes, Z28's, TransAms, '77 Regals, 280Z's, even Peugots & BMW's. More than anything '77 Monte Carlos & Cutlasses. The Oil Patch crowd loved the '76 & 77 Monte's. After the fall of '82, GMAC cracked down on employee's kids driving repo cars, esp long distances. It seemed some employees were putting their college age kids out on the road, then flying them home from multiple states away.

As a young teen, can remember dealer add on vinyl tops in the early '70's, they often used a one piece plastic molding instead of the factory stainless & potmetal pieces. Later in the '70's, nearly all Chevy & Pontiac-GMC dealerships I drove into, had displays in the corner of the showroom floor or back in the hall leading to the parts dept displaying aftermarket stereos, often an affordable line from Audiovox or Sanyo. Never anything of quality like the Concord unit I ordered & installed in my '80 T/A. Clicking off a radio accommodation package was common place, my familys '78 Silverado & nearly all of our last Pontiacs were ordered that way. Carpeted factory floormats began to take off in the early 80's & several dealers I can remember sold a lot of carpeted mats over the parts counter. Anything to make a little money.

I worked in an upholstery shop for a few years, and even though we got paid decent money for it, I used to cring at the idea of spraying glue all over a brand new car to mount a vinyl top, as well as drilling holes in it to mount the rails that goes behind the rubber moulding.

[goatwgn]

Originally Posted by george kujanski

Dealer add-ons..........the stupid fake convertible tops that prgeeople put on cars, especially Caddies, with the stupid metal snaps like used for a convert top boot. Non-functional parts, serving no purpose whatsoever.

George

The ones that are mounted on fiberglass shells, it is shocking what the car looks like when you remove one of these. Urethane all over the roof, holes drilled everywhere. And in most cases, if a rear window is broken for any reason, the top and the shell it is mounted to have to come off. All '82-'89 Chrysler Fifth Avenues came from the factory with a fiberglass shell "half top" covering the back of the car, and a rear window relocator (a plastic moulded peice pop riveted to the rear window pinchweld that moved the window for the original Dodge Diplomat/ Plymouth grand Fury position to a more upright stance). The small rear window in the rear doors were covered up inside and out in a similar fashion. (And this was all from the factory) It was nothing more than a "converted" Dodge Diplomat, right off the assembly line. These cars look ridiculous when you take that stuff off to do any kind of upholstery or body work to them.

[njsteve]

Yup, That good old Rusty Jones.

The local Honda dealer did that to our 1980 Honda Accord and within three years, it rusted away completely. The rust started at the location of every single hole they drilled in the door jams, fenders, and wheel wells. The procedure involved the drilling of a 1/2" hole for the spray tip to be inserted into and not touch up the bare metal before snapping the yellow plastic plug into the hole.

[RamAir]

The dealership I worked for in the 70's sold undercoat and paint sealant, we called it 'slime & goop'. Sometimes we'd just type ADP on a window sticker supplement for hard to get models, it stood for 'additional dealer profit'.

[bird72]

In Montana, there are more big 4WD trucks per capita than anywhere I think. Now, many folk need a big truck and use a big truck, don't get me wrong. But many use them as a commuter vehicle because it is the only type vehicle they would ever be seen in. A culture thing. So the extreme of this is what I call the "Bubba Truck". You go to the dealer, buy a 40-50K already from the factory whazzoo One Ton 4WD Dually rig. Then the dealer will add on for you and include in the loan amount: gigantic mud flaps, fiberglass bed cover, dorky giant running boards, faux chrome window rain gutters, gaudy artistic bug shield, chrome trailer hitch filler cap, rear window sun screen aka giant art, giant aftermarket lift kit with proper Bubba tires, rifle rack, GPS a bubba will never understand and more...... so 10K of adders later they drive off dealer lot. But BEFORE you take it home to show the little woman who has no say in this matter, you take it to the welding shop, who sells their homemade Big Mother No Mess Around grille guard bumpers made from 1/4 inch steel and are big enough to herd brahma bulls with. Then you have somewhere to mount 8 off road lights to and also 2 or 4 to the back end also for bright backing which is necessary.

Then you take it home, show the little woman, and be sure to show her the rope throw out ladder you got for her so she has a way to climb up and in the thing The funny part is you make her drive it lots because at 58K financed you can't afford a second vehicle. Wheee!

Gotta love Montana!

Before I get hate mail, I really love trucks and Bubba's really. I want an old one ton REGULAR cab 4WD someday myself.

[71GP76TA]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

I knew an old car dealer (now deceased) who had been out of the business since at least the 70's. He had a lot of stories about rolling back odometers, etc. My favorite one was that he claimed to buy heater-delete cars from Florida, and bring them up to Massachusetts to sell in the summer. Of course; when winter rolled around he'd have plenty of business installing heaters.

Once in a while I'll buy a non-A/C car in the middle of summer for dirt cheap....and sell it in the winter...most people don't notice as most cars have A/C around here.

[fiedlerh]

"Rust and Dust" they used to call it. Rustproofing and Scotchgard.

The Pontiac dealer (Key Pontiac, Elmhurst, IL) made the original owner of my Grand Am order the car with air conditioning. The story goes that if the financing fell through, they would have had a hard time selling a non-AC car. He was 19 at the time and this was before there was such a thing as instant credit checks.

[Jack Peters]

I had them undercoat the T-37 before I drove it up the Alcan.
140k Alaska miles and only rusted through in lower front fenders and small in trunk above gas tank. But then it is real u-coat not that z-Bart or that type. I worked formamToyota dealership. We never usednthatntype. Only the "tar" type.
Now, getting it off. LOL.

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by bird72

In Montana, there are more big 4WD trucks per capita than anywhere I think. Now, many folk need a big truck and use a big truck, don't get me wrong. But many use them as a commuter vehicle because it is the only type vehicle they would ever be seen in...

We have plenty of those yayhoos here in suburbia too - gotta have the Super Duty F350 diesel with twin stacks in the bed and 8" lift.

You will never see them muddy or other sign of offroading either.

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by 71GP76TA

Once in a while I'll buy a non-A/C car in the middle of summer for dirt cheap....and sell it in the winter...most people don't notice as most cars have A/C around here.

Back in July of '94, a friend of mine bought a used Honda. He said "the seller told me that the air conditioner works great - it just needs to be charged." (The old "Easy fix!" scam.) I popped the hood and delivered the bad news: "you don't have an air conditioner." The seller had bought the OEM "A/C" switch and installed it so that it lighted up when "on." Because of this, he refused to believe me. I rode along on a very hot ride to an A/C shop so that a "professional" could deliver him the bad news.

[Squidward]

The best is when they are driven not by "bubba", but recently domesticated "bros" with tribal armband tattoos, wife, and toddler kids sporting faux-hawks. F 350 assault vehicles to terrorize suburbia!

[GT182]

I had Rusty Jones applied to my 79 Formula. Within 3 years the rear panel behind the rear bumper rusted thru. Before the could pay to fix it they went bankrupt and it never was repaired.

[Jim Scites]

We started doing Rusty Jones at the dealership I worked in. They had a rep come to show us how to do it. He drilled a hole in the back of the door and stuck the wand inside and explained how you pull the trigger and withdraw it slowly. After he did it he asked if there were any questions. One of the mechanics asked when he was supposed to roll up the window? The guy was very embarrassed and had to clean all the crap off the window. I was told it didn't harden fast enough and all ran down to the bottom of the body parts which blocked all the drains. I could have gotten it free for my new, at the time TA but I passed.

[GT182]

Yep, it sure ran out as fast as they sprayed it in.... for a couple of days. LOL I wish I had passed on it too Jim.

How about the price mark-up on cars with all the hype about them. Vettes, Challengers, limited run cars, and so on. Legalized pocketbook/wallet rape.