Dealer Add-Ons, Decoded: What's on the Sticker That Wasn't on the Window

The window sticker quotes $34,800. The buyer's order quotes $38,425. Between those two numbers sits a sheet of paper called the "addendum" or the "second sticker," and it's where dealer add-ons live.

In a December 2024 case the FTC unwound, Asbury Automotive Group buyers reported that 75% of their contracts had add-ons stacked on, often without the buyer's clear consent. Some dealers told customers the add-ons were required. They almost never are. The FTC has now sent warning letters to 97 dealership groups since March 2026 about deceptive pricing practices, and state AGs in Maryland, Alaska, and Connecticut have collected nine-figure consumer settlements in the same window.

Here's what the most common add-ons actually cost the dealer, what they cost you, and how to cancel the ones already on your contract.

TL;DR

• Most F&I add-ons are marked up 3 to 10 times their actual cost. GAP insurance is the worst offender: $500–$1,000 at the dealer, $3–$15/month from your own auto insurer.
• The FTC's CARS Rule was vacated in January 2025, but state UDAP laws and the new wave of FTC warning letters are filling the gap. Lindsay Auto Group's $75M April 2026 settlement was built on the same theory.
• Most add-ons are fully or partially refundable for the first 30–60 days, and prorated refundable for the life of the contract. Cancel them and apply the refund to your loan principal.
• Add-ons listed on a "second sticker" affixed to the window are not part of the original MSRP and can be removed before signing in most states. The "already installed, can't remove" line is usually negotiable.
• Always ask for the add-ons line by line. The F&I manager's bundled monthly payment hides the breakdown on purpose.

The four-product menu, and what it actually costs

Most F&I offices sell five products. Three of them are insurance-style. Two are physical/cosmetic. The markup ranges from steep to absurd.

GAP insurance ($500–$1,000 at dealer / $3–$15 per month from your insurer). Pays the difference between your loan balance and what your insurance pays after a total-loss accident. Sensible product if you put down less than 20% or financed for more than 60 months. The dealer markup runs about 10x. Your auto insurer almost certainly sells the same coverage as a $40–$100 annual rider. Buy it from them, not from F&I.

Vehicle service contract / extended warranty ($1,500–$4,000 at dealer / $1,000–$2,500 wholesale). Repairs after the manufacturer warranty expires. Marked up 100% to 300%. The F&I manager earns 30% to 50% commission on a VSC sale. A $2,800 contract puts $840 to $1,400 in their pocket. Third-party VSC providers sell comparable coverage post-purchase, often at half the price. If you want the protection, buy it later, not at the F&I desk.

Tire and wheel protection ($600–$1,200 at dealer / $200–$400 cost). Covers tire and rim damage from road hazards. Marked up 3x to 5x. Many comprehensive auto policies already include limited coverage. Check yours first.

Prepaid maintenance ($800–$2,000 at dealer / often roughly the same as paying as you go). The math rarely works out unless you'd have skipped maintenance otherwise. Some plans expire if you miss a service window. Read the inactivity clause.

Theft etch / VIN etch / paint sealant / fabric protection ($300–$1,000 at dealer / $20–$80 cost). The cosmetic add-ons. VIN etch is a $5 acid kit. Paint sealant is a glorified wax that costs the dealer about $30 in product and 20 minutes of detail-tech time. Markup is 10x to 30x. Decline these every time. There is no version of this where the value math works.

The pattern the FTC is now hammering

In April 2026, the FTC and the Maryland AG announced a settlement against Lindsay Automotive Group, including full refunds and additional penalties for deceptive pricing and unwanted add-ons. The same month, Swickard Automotive paid $1 million to the State of Alaska for bait-and-switch advertising. In December 2024, the FTC unwound the Asbury Automotive case where 75% of buyers had unauthorized add-ons added to contracts.

The pattern in every case is identical. Dealer advertises a low price. Buyer arrives. Vehicle now has a "market adjustment" plus four to six F&I add-ons attached. Buyer is told the add-ons are "already installed and can't be removed" or "required by the lender." Both statements are usually false.

In March 2026, the FTC sent letters to 97 dealership groups warning them about exactly this pattern. The letters cite three specific illegal practices:

• Advertising a price that doesn't include all required fees
• Conditioning the advertised price on dealer financing
• Adding charges to the contract without informed consent

State enforcement against these patterns has accelerated dramatically since the federal CARS Rule was vacated. State AG offices are filling the regulatory vacuum.

How to read the second sticker

Walk around the car at the lot. Look for two stickers on the window:

The Monroney sticker. Federally required since 1958. White paper, vehicle specs, MSRP, EPA fuel economy. This is the manufacturer's price. Adds-ons are NOT on this sticker.

The dealer addendum. Often called the "second sticker," "supplemental sticker," or "addendum." Smaller, sometimes color-printed, frequently in a different layout. This is where dealer-installed accessories and F&I products are listed, often with a "Total Dealer Adjustments" line at the bottom.

Anything on the second sticker is negotiable or removable. The dealer paid pennies on the dollar for most of it. They will lose the sale before they lose the deal.

The standard line is "we already installed it, can't remove it." For physical items like wheel locks, VIN etch, or window tint, that's sometimes true. For paint sealant or fabric protection, the "installation" was a 30-minute detailing job. For VIN etch, the etching is permanent but the charge is not. You don't have to pay for an add-on you didn't ask for.

Canceling add-ons after you've already signed

The contract was signed. The car is in your driveway. You read about GAP markups and now want your money back. This is normal and the cancellation path is real.

GAP insurance. Most GAP policies are cancelable for a full refund within 30 to 60 days of purchase. After that, they're cancelable for a prorated refund based on the remaining term. The refund goes to the lender (because the lender holds the security interest), and it's applied to your loan principal.

Vehicle service contract / extended warranty. Similar pattern. Federal and most state laws give you a 30 to 60 day full-refund window. Past that, you get a prorated refund. The refund goes to the lender if the VSC was financed; otherwise it goes to you directly.

Tire and wheel, prepaid maintenance, theft etch. Cancellation depends on the specific provider. Almost all offer at least a partial prorated refund. Read the contract or call the provider directly, not the dealer.

The cancellation request. Send it in writing. Include your VIN, contract number, and the date of purchase. Email and certified mail both work. Keep copies. The provider has 30 to 60 days to issue the refund. If they don't, file a complaint with your state insurance commissioner (for GAP) or state AG (for everything else).

The script: "I'd like to cancel the [product name] purchased on [date] under contract [number]. Please confirm cancellation and the refund amount in writing within 30 days."

The dealer's bundled-payment trick

The single most useful sentence in any F&I office is "Show me the price breakdown by item, not the monthly payment."

The bundled monthly payment is the F&I manager's main weapon. A $4,000 GAP/VSC/paint package adds $80–$100 to a monthly payment on a 60-month loan. Spread across 60 months it sounds small. Pulled out as a number, $4,000 is a year of groceries. Run the deal through the auto loan true-cost calculator with and without the add-ons; the underwater-months comparison makes the $80/mo bundled cost legible as a five-figure principal. The F&I manager will route around the breakdown. They'll say "let me show you what your payment looks like with all the protection." That's the bundled number. Ask for the breakdown anyway.

If they refuse, that's the answer. Walk.

The shape underneath

Dealer add-ons are the growing-fee shape: you sign up for one number and discover the contract has compounded into a different one. The same logic runs through hidden apartment fees, auto loan disclosure boxes, and the F&I clauses inside car leases. Every line item exists because the seller knows you'll focus on the bottom line and skip the breakdown.

Redline reads contracts in plain English. Photograph the buyer's order, paste in the addendum, or upload the F&I disclosures, and Redline flags every add-on, its markup band, and its cancellation window in seconds. One scan, one dollar. Available on iOS and Android.