That's exactly what I did. I had my checkbook and was there to put in a deposit when I found out. Here's an abridged version of how the conversation went:
> Me: I don't want that and won't be paying for it.
> Them: Well we do it for all new cars and you can't have us not do it.
> Me: Well then you can either eat the cost of this unnecessary "service" or sell me the car for $700 under MSRP to make up for it.
> Them: Sorry, we can't do that.
I walked out and they haven't called me back to say they were bluffing. Meanwhile, I'm working with a different dealership now.
The advertised price has to include everything a typical buyer will end up paying.
Eg. it was found illegal to advertise a certain price which only applied if you paid with a certain quite rare credit card. (and there was a surcharge for other cards). You have to show that a good chunk of buyers end up paying the advertised price.
In the UK but have another data point - was looking to buy a demo car from a VW dealership - paid the deposit and it was a decent amount under MSRP as it had 1500 miles on it.
Phoned up the next day to say another dealer in their network had already sold it earlier in the day but not uploaded the paperwork yet.
Polite, but firm, email was sent back opining being disappointed in their customer service as the dealership was so close to work and would have loved to have a long-term relationship with them yielded - a 1250 GBP discount on ordering a new car, as specced, at MSRP.
There are good dealerships out there, but it's liking finding a diamond in the rough.
The last time I bought a (used) car from a dealership, I walked out, and they caught me as I was walking out the lobby and dropped the add-on, and then another add-on after some arguing since they knew I’d leave. That was successful.
> Meanwhile, I'm working with a different dealership now.
Hopefully that goes well for you. When I recently got a new car, I called around to all the local dealerships before I found one that would order me a car at MSRP. But I knew I wasn't done with the BS. It took seven months for the car to come in, and they didn't add any cash markups, but they did give me a money factor for the lease that was really high. I could have walked, but then I'd be waiting another seven months or so and would be paying above MSRP and probably still get a marked up money factor. I really had no leverage.
More annoying than that, though, was that when I asked them about the high money factor, the finance guy just straight up lied right to my face that they didn't mark it up. What I'd heard on the internet was wrong. What the other dealers told me was wrong. The whole world was wrong. Why? Why would he lie to me like that? It served no purpose, because I couldn't really do anything about it anyway. It's like it was compulsive with him or something.
"We don't mark it up... we just get a kickback..." (Mental gymnastics in his head are: a mark up on the rate is a percentage added... We just get a [possibly] "flat" commission kickback.)
But the point stands - if everyone walks out, and the only people driving out are those who accepted the service, they can't reasonably be considered a $0 MSRP dealer.
> But the point stands - if everyone walks out, and the only people driving out are those who accepted the service, they can't reasonably be considered a $0 MSRP dealer.
FTFA
> “The problem with the majority of other new car search sites is that they are not using crowdsourced data — they are using the data dealerships provide,” Soucie-Howren said. “We have found that the majority of dealerships do not display the true markup data or mandated add-ons.”
Sounds like your concerns are taken into account - the founders claim to take into account "mandated options" (such as it is).
Don't pretend this is a victimless crime. He was tricked into wasting his time due to false advertising, and honest dealers who advertise the full price lose customers to fraudsters.
Just say "no".