Virginia Man Says Chevrolet Dealership Forced Him to Pay for $2,500 Package. Now He’s Calling It Out for a Bait-and-Switch

"It's not optional."

Photo by: Unsplash.com

By: Mustafa Gatollari

Jul 31, 2025 at 9:00am ET

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A car buyer interested in a Blazer claims they were hit with a “bait-and-switch” price scam at a Chevrolet dealership. TikToker Xavier Green (@xaviergreen954) uploaded a viral clip detailing his experience, and judging from the responses he received, it looks like others have had similar experiences.

He calls out the dealership in question in his post; a screenshot in the video indicates the business is Lindsay Chevrolet in Woodbridge, Virginia. In the video, he narrates, “So, I went to go buy a car yesterday at this dealership ... the price online was $23,000, which is a great deal. For that car that it was, 23 was a great price. So, I get there, and I’m like, ‘Hey, price still 23?’ And they’re like, ‘Absolutely,’” he says.

Afterward, Green tries the car out and is happy with it. However, when it came time to sign on the dotted line, he noticed something strange on the sales agreement. “I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s that right there? That $2,500? And they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s the Blazer cost,’” he says.

At this point in the video, Green looks directly into the camera with a perplexed expression. “I’m like, ‘The Blazer?’” he says. “And they’re like, ‘Well, yeah, it’s a package that we have to add on. Basically, what it is: It comes with two years of free maintenance and some floor mats for the car.’”

Not wanting to pay $2,500 for what is presumably a few oil changes along with some floor mats, Green told the dealership he wasn’t interested in the Blazer package.

But they immediately informed him that he couldn’t purchase a Blazer from their dealership without that additional $2,500 fee attached to it. “And I was like, ‘Oh no, thank you. I don’t want that. I don’t have any use for that.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, no, it’s not optional.’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s not an optional package; it’s $2,500,” he relayed to his viewers.

Green told the salesperson he would be leaving if he had to pay the Blazer fee, which would bring the price above the $23,000 he was told the car cost. Following this, they then attempted to keep the sale, saying they’d slash the price of the Blazer package in half. But Green was intent on getting the car for the advertised price of $23,000.

Getting Upper Management Involved

As their conversation progressed, Green says other employees began to partake in the negotiation. Ultimately, a sales manager stepped in and said that he was leaving to go speak to his boss about the price.

But it seems that they had forgotten Green was there, ultimately leaving him to sit there, twiddling his thumbs. After about 20 minutes, the salesperson asked if he was waiting for someone, and he replied that he was waiting for the manager to return. The salesperson then informed him that the manager was not coming back as he had gone home for the day.

“He said he was coming back, and he just didn’t. So weird,” Green concluded.

The Dealership Experience Stinks

Money reported that of over 10,000 people surveyed on the car shopping experience, 75% of them would ditch visiting a showroom altogether. “If given the opportunity, they would consider making their entire car-buying process online, including financing, price negotiation, back office paperwork, and home delivery,” it states.

Autotrader also wrote in 2015 that only 17 of 4,002 people polled in a survey thought that “the current car buying process” was satisfactory. These abysmal figures are likely the reason why no-haggle dealerships are becoming more commonplace across the country. LendingTree wrote about this shift, as did Covideo, a video solution for dealerships that connects sales reps with prospective buyers.

Commenters React

Several people who replied to Green’s video seemed to also have gripes with the games car dealerships play. “We should normalize calling out dealers directly. It’s not slander or defamation if it actually happened,” one wrote.

Another shared their own anecdote of a time a Mazda dealership purportedly tried pulling the same tacked-on price move Green discussed. “Mazda dealership tried to add on a $1200 sanitation fee to a perfectly clean car I test drove and was about to buy. Walked out so quickly,” they penned.

One person wondered why they couldn’t just directly purchase a car from a manufacturer. “Dealers are a big scam I should be able to buy it from Honda,” they wrote.

What do you think?

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Whereas someone else questioned the amount of time folks are forced to spend in car dealerships. “And why is it a five hour process?” they wrote.

Motor1 has reached out to Green via TikTok comment and Lindsay Chevrolet via email for further comment.