'I went full Karen mode': New car haggler refuses to pay for pinstriped vehicle, dealership repaints his car overnight

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 23, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

Looking back on their new purchase in the 1990s, this person realized the car dealership got away with something intriguing. 

This is a story of a person buying a car in the 1990s, and one of the first things they claim is that these days, the "era of haggling" is over. Though I've never bought a car, I find that hard to believe. When purchasing a car, it's well known that people like to haggle with the salespeople to try and get a great deal for themselves. Meanwhile, the salespeople often have a reputation for trying to sneak in additional up-sales that will net them some extra commission money. The salesperson in this story seems a bit like that — he tried to add on a rather high charge for a specific way of painting the car. 

I want to ask an important question here. If you're visiting a car dealer, and you're inspecting a car on the second floor of the dealership, and you move the gear shift to neutral, will the car roll out the front window and smash onto the ground, and then you are stuck purchasing the car and fixing the dealership's property? Or would the car not move an inch because they've idiot-proofed their vehicles in anticipation of someone (me) wanting to do that? Who among us has not asked that question while in that scenario? If you've ever worked at a car dealership, spill the tea to me. Inquiring minds want to know, thanks in advance. 

Next up, these chunky animals are some absolute units who are built for feed, not speed. 

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  • 01
    Motor vehicle - 'We went back and forth until finally I got the dealer to remove the pinstriping charge. Heady with my victory, the dealer showed me the car...
    via Jacob Spence on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - The Time I was Maliciously Complied Against (New Car Story) M OC I was just recently graduated from University, and was about to purchase my first new car. This would be in the 90's. The era of haggling down the price of a new car had recently ended, but I decided to try my luck anyway.
    via u/KnoWanUKnow2
  • 03
    Font - We had picked the make and model of car that we wanted, highly influenced by a $5000 rebate that recent university graduates were eligible for. I decided to try to haggle down the price. The dealer wouldn't budge, saying that it was handed down from the Gods themselves that they could not sell a car for anything other than the MSRP, no more and no less. I took this as a challenge.
    via u/KnoWanUKnow2
  • 04
    Font - When presented with the paperwork I went over it with a fine-tooth comb. Eventually I spotted it. There was a charge of $150 for "pinstriping". The dealer explained that this was a paint stripe down the side of the car.
    via u/KnoWanUKnow2
  • 05
    Font - Determined to get a deal, I pounced. I argued that I had never asked for pinstriping to be applied, so I should not be charged for it. The dealer stated that I was being charged for it because this was the last car of this model with the options I wanted on the lot and that the pinstriping had been applied already from the manufacturer. I went full Karen mode, accusing them of adding on this charge to try and get extra money from me, adding on a feature that I hadn't asked for to bilk me
    via u/KnoWanUKnow2
  • 06
    Font - We went back and forth until finally I got the dealer to remove the pinstriping charge. Heady with my victory, the dealer showed me the car (which indeed had a thin green stripe down the side) and said that it would be ready to be picked up tomorrow. I arrived the next day, ready to pick up my new car. They drove it out to me and.... The green stripe was gone.
    via u/KnoWanUKnow2
  • 07
    Font - The dealer explained that since I wasn't willing to pay for the pinstriping, they had taken the car into the garage overnight, had the paint sanded down to remove the pinstriping, and repainted the car. Therefore I wasn't being forced to pay for something that clearly I didn't want.
    via u/KnoWanUKnow2
  • 08
    Font - I thought to myself that the cost of doing this, paying a mechanic to sand down and repaint a car overnight, probably being paid overtime, would have far exceeded the paltry $150. But if I wasn't willing to pay for the pinstriping then by god, that dealer made sure that I wasn't going to get the pinstriping!
    via u/KnoWanUKnow2
  • 09
    Font - Rowan Raven. I bought a new car in the nineties. It was a green jeep with a bright red stripe. I asked if they had one without it. They said they could remove it in five minutes. It was just tape. They heated it up and pulled it off. No repainting involved. Sounds like the dealer was still lying to you.
    via u/RowanRaven
  • 10
    Font - Cybermagetx I've sanded cars to repaint. I find this hard to believe someone paid for an overnight or rushed job for this. Especially as car dealerships won't do something that costs them this much money.
    via u/Cybermagetx
  • 11
    Font - THE Stabbmaster +3. If it had been me, I would have smiled and gone "good, you saved me the trouble of having to pay someone to get rid of that hideous thing, thanks"! Nothing deflates petty like them finding out they just did you a solid. Even if they likely lied to you as NO manufacturer paints a patter on their cars like that.
    via u/Stabbmaster
  • 12
    Human body - sweerek1 Peeled off the pin stripe decal likely
    via u/sweerek1
  • 13
    Font - The first car I purchased had a pinstripe applied and with it came a $395 charge! It was a ridiculous cost. I argued the exact same thing as you. I don't care who applied it, I'm not paying $400 for a sticker. It may not have been the dealer's fault, but I'll be godd ed if I pay for that. They eventually caved.
    via r/MaliciousCompliance
  • 14
    Font - OkeyDokey234 You couldn't negotiate the price of a car in the 90s? News to me, and I bought more than one car in that decade.
    via u/OkeyDokey234
  • 15
    Font - krakatoa83 Not sure why you think haggling ended in the 90s. I bought a car two years ago and haggling was definitely part of the process.
    via u/krakatoa83
  • 16
    Font - akodo1 Most new car dealers get the car without the pinstripe and have an employee add them because that's $10 and they can add it on to the features list at $200. Tell them to take it off your bill. If they remove it physically as well say "thanks, just ordered a slightly thinner one from eBay, 7.99, should be here tomorrow, glad I don't have to heatgun the old one off"
    via u/akodo1
  • 17
    Rectangle - havereddit +2. "Oh, so now this is no longer a new car? Ok, I want $2000 off..."
    via u/havereddit
  • 18
    Font - SuperNova-81 Dude, they gave you a completely different car. You believe they sanded down a car just for the pinstripe?
    via u/SuperNova-81
  • 19
    Human body - NightIguana. Get maliciously complied against lol
    via u/NightIguana

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karens vehicle malicious compliance car karen-customer customers malicious-compliance-reddit cars customer driver purchase vehicles karen paint stripes
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