The rust-proofing thread is going rather well, so I thought i'ld ask about VIN etching. I notice alot (if not all) the dealers in my area are pushing VIN etching. Some are even adamament they will not sell the car unless you buy it.

(for those who are unfamiliar, VIN etching is where they etch your VIN on all the windows and the body parts. The idea is that if the car is stolen and chopped they can trace the parts back. it also comes with a small insurance policy - $1000 if recovered and there's damage, $5000 credit to a new vehicle at the same dealership if they can't recover it).

It's about a $300 cost and again its one of those things where I don't know if it's worth it. I do notice that some insurance companies recognize it as a security device so it may reduce your insurance rate <slightly>

I think the general idea is ok, but the price sounds like a ripoff.. VIN=17 letters (?). 6 windows = 102 numbers to be etched. That's almost 3$ per letter... Of cource if there is lots of other parts to be etched, it's another thing.

Here they typically etch all the windows and that's it. Cost is around 40 to 50 €. (of what I've heard of)

Car thieves here are so stupid, that they are usually unable to bypass the anti-theft system much less to dismantle the whole car.. And those few who can, are full proffessionals and steal Mercs and BMW's, not Hyundais. So VIN etching is not that big issue here.

...Same as rust proofing, it's very good for the dealer's pocket book.

Any dealer who won't sell you a car unless it's VIN etched -- is a joker. You tell him to go ahead and do the sacred etching if he feels so adamant about it, but you won't pay for it.

This is also based on what I've been reading in that Transportation section of the Chicago Tribune... Every year there is at least one reader who'd come asking the same, and the answer would be the same....

Every new Hyundai gets a $300 anti-theft decal kit. How dumb. We just paid it, and never gave it much thought. They give you decals "that leave a mark, or resin," if a "hamburgler" decides to steal your car, and sell it to a chop shop. Must have thieves losing sleep at night, worrying about the decals!! What a dealer-installed joke.

Most dealerships will have to do the etching to their cars as part of their insurance carriers insistance. Basically the car is not able to be pieced apart to sell in the parts trade.

Some other dealerships include it as a "freebie" so that they don't feel quite so bad charging you the $399 Administration fee." I know in the dealership I worked in that was the case. That way it built value into the whole Admin fee. Personally I don't buy it but hey what are you going to do.

As for the price lets be honest anything you buy at a dealership is WAY over priced. Has anyone out there had their interior "Scotch guarded." Usually dealerships charge you in the neighbourhood of $300-$500 for the service. Well folkd the actual cost of the job is maybe $10 for a couple of cans of Scotch guard and the yard guys 2 hours to apply the spray.

Well do the math. Even if the yard guy gets paid $10 per hour it works out to $30 total outlay for the dealership. So the dealer is making an additional $270-$470 off of you. So my advice is say no to any of this extra crap they try and sell you and get it done yourself.

I mean how hard can it be to buy a can of this stuff and follow the directions? :beer:

Actually, mine came with etched windows already. I didn't even ask. Are you sure your dealer won't do it?

If I ran into a dealership that wouldn't sell me a car without adding extra-cost items I'd tell them that they were right, they wouldn't sell me a car. There's a gazillion Hyundai dealers within an hour's drive where I am, there's no reason to be beholden to one dealer's unnecessary requirements.

Back in the early 90's I had a Miata. I wanted to get a passive anti-theft discount from my insurance carrier, so I paid ~$30 to a glass shop to do VIN etching for me after I had purchased the vehicle.

A $300 charge for this service is excessive.

they also etch the body panels and other components, and it comes with the insurance policy.

Fitzmall has a nice .pdf about dealer add-ons. They charge $59 for VIN etching, which is a more reasonable charge.

If I was going to go that far I'd just opt for a well hidden LoJack system.

The local ford dealer did the etching kit thing on my 94 mustang. About 3 years later I get a check in the mail for $300, it was from a class action suite--in florida its illegal to make you buy this kind of crap.

You can buy a glass etcher for less than $50 and do it yourself.

EDIT: a quick search on google reveals DIY etching kits for around $20

This post has been edited by Frank Sonata: Apr 13 2006, 11:41 AM

I've done the same as many up above. I've paid...in the past....$35.00 to etch them in the side windows. Honestly....$300.00 sounds like another way of scamming you for more money since the dealer is probably shorting their profit money from the sale of the actual car cost.