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Dealer Documentary Fee & Compliance Fees - Should I have to pay these?

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DietDrThunder

DietDrThunder

Platinum Member
------ Dealership Disclaimer --------------------------
Sales Tax, Title, License Fee, Registration Fee, Dealer Documentary Fee, Finance Charges, Emission Testing Fees and Compliance Fees are additional to the advertised price.
-----------------------------------------------------------

I completely agree that I should have to pay the Sales Tax, Title, and License Fees.

What I don't agree with paying for are the Dealer Documentary Fee, Compliance Fees (which the dealership couldn't give me a good explanation of what this was), and an Advertising Fee (which is reimbursing the dealership their advertising costs). These added around $200 to the price of the vehicle I was negotiating on. I explained that I had already negotiated on a price, and if they were going to add these "Hidden" costs, they should have provided these up front. Needless to say, I got angry and walked away from the deal.

Know I want to know, am I'm in the wrong and should I have to pay these additional fees?
 
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They have many kinds of overhead. Some just roll it into their price, some break them out separately. Doesn't really matter. Now you know to ask about those charges when making a deal. But yea, it is a tactic that I wouldn't want to reward with a sale.
 
I negotiated based on the final out the door price. I told them I don't care how they play the numbers out before but the final price I was willing to pay was X.

So if those fees go above X tell them to massage the numbers till they come out at or below X.

My CTS was 19k out the door. If you read the paperwork it was $500 for dealer fees, but final number was 19k and that's all that mattered.
 
Cepak said:
- Needless to say, I got angry and walked away from the deal.

Know I want to know, am I'm in the wrong and should I have to pay these additional fees?
Click to expand...


Everything is negotiable. You didn't like the way they handled the deal.

You walked away.

Good for you! There are lots of car dealers. No reason to deal with one that doesn't treat you the way that you want.

Best of luck,
Uno
 
When we went shopping most of them were want $400 for a dealer fee. We did the same as above and negotiated out the door pricing.
 
This is a common tactic. Dealers add extra fees on top of the negotiated price and try to convince the customer that the fees are somehow mandatory and non negotiable. It is a load BS.

When you go to a restaurant and get the bill do you see advertising fees? FDA compliance fees? Vegetable washing fees?

When purchasing a car you should always negotiate the out the door price. Or, before the negotiations start, ask them to document all fees and how those fees are calculated. You did the right thing in walking away. It is a shady and all too common practice that should be punished (lost of sale) and not rewarded.

-KeithP
 
The only fee the OP listed I have problems with is the doc fee. Have seen it hit $500. And this is just a fee for some secretary sitting behind a desk to organize the paperwork and file it with the DMV to obtain your tag/registration.....and filing the paperwork for financing if you go that route.

But as others said, negotiate a final price you'll pay and let them juggle the way it's allocated.
 
Jimzz said:
I negotiated based on the final out the door price. I told them I don't care how they play the numbers out before but the final price I was willing to pay was X.

So if those fees go above X tell them to massage the numbers till they come out at or below X.

My CTS was 19k out the door. If you read the paperwork it was $500 for dealer fees, but final number was 19k and that's all that mattered.
Click to expand...

Same here, this proved to be much easier since taxes esp on expensive cars can give sticker shock.
 
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