[TR] Dealer vs Factory Options

[Nolan]

I work a fair bit with the auto import companies and the port authority 
here.  I also used to work at a foreign car dealership some years ago.  I've 
got a fair bit of experience with dealer vs factory vs port installed items 
for several manufacturers, Toyota, Honda, BMW, Mercedes, and Kia to name a 
few.

Air Conditioning is a good one to start with.  It can be installed at all 
three points, factory, port or dealership.  It can be listed as either a 
dealer option (unusual), or more typically as a factory option.  At the port 
there are several companies that do nothing but install the A/C kits onto 
the cars.  The kits come seperately.  If the workload is heavy, sometimes 
the A/C kit is tossed into the car and the car is shipped off to the 
dealership with the kit in the trunk for the dealership to install.  So your 
A/C can be factory installed, port installed (typical), or dealer installed. 
Rather rarely is that "factory" A/C installed on the factory production line 
of imported cars.

Pinstriping is yet another.  The taped pinstriping is usually installed at 
the dealerships.  BMW though frequently has cars come off the ship with 
painted on pinstriping done, presumably, at the factory of origin.  Though I 
suppose it could be done by the shipping port, though I doubt it.

Cold weather packages.  Normally a port installed item.

I would expect Triumph was no different.  The overdrive transmission would 
almost certainly be a factory installed item, right from the production 
line.  Though I'm sure more than one dealership has taken an overdrive 
transmission from a wrecked car and installed it into a new car just to sell 
it.  A hard top on the other hand is very easily handled seperately, and 
well able to be provided by a dealership as a seperate option, or dropped on 
random Triumphs at the port.  Especially if the hardtops came from a 
seperate cargo container loaded with hardtops.

As a seperate interesting detail, don't think just because you've got a new 
car it hasn't been wrecked.  There's a very large repair facility at the 
port near me that does nothing but repair wrecks of new untitled vehicles. 
Once they are fixed, the cars go on to be sold as normal new cars.  And I'm 
not talking mere dings and scrapes.