Sales tax on destination fee?

[xSkyDrAx]

I was wondering if you pay sales tax on the destination fee? I would think no and that it would just be added on top of your total correct?

 

[xSkyDrAx]

When buying a car we all know that after negotiating the price of the and getting a good price, the dealership will still try to screw one out of you by tacking on bogus fees.

Now I know some you can not avoid like TTL and AFAIK in Cali a dealership can charge you up to $55 for documentation

I also hear that advertising fees can be legit but some places are willing to drop them?

What are some of the bogus fees that you have encountered and which ones are generally legit?

Edit: Also any relevant to dealerships in the socal area would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LTC8K6]

All of the Chrysler products at my local dealer have all the usual crap fees listed, plus $1,400ADM...on every vehicle.

At least they are bold about tacking that much on to the MSRP...

 

[EagleKeeper]

Destination free are fixed costs. Only way around is to use the example from Johnny Cash.
Dealers will try to hit you with detailing fees and service fees for getting tags from DMV for you.

However everything except sales tax, and TTL is negotiatable. The TTL may be able to be done by you.

It is up to you what is acceptable. Nothing is lost by questioning a line item on the invoice. It is there either to cover a dealer expense or to increasethe profit.

 

[Attic]

Documentation is going to be 55 in cali.

The tax is applied onto the destination fee as well. Rebates come after the final price so they dont help with tax.

Visit truecar.com and ask the dealer for the invoice.

Figure out what you are willing to pay and use california dmv website to figure out what TTL will be on that price. That way you now the final price is something that lines up with a legitamate number for the car.

Buy at dealer invoice and don't accept any fees beyond the 55 doc. You can talk to the internet sales manager at a few dealerships, find one who is upfront about dealer invoice (Read: he sends the invoice to you for your understanding). If there is an advertising assessment fee in dealer invoice price that is something you can touch on, that may or may not be on table for negotiation, $300 is ok i'd balk at anything ~$600.

Of course everything else lines up as well, if financing get it done prior to entering dealerships when ready to buy. Know kbb for your trade in and get that after you settle on paying invoice for the car.

Tell the sales/finance manager exactly what you want and leave as soon as they get balsy with the numbers. If you get into negotiations (i'd reccomend avoiding negotiating, know what the car is worth, say want you want it for, and if they come back with anything else, leave) then get a breakdown of what is going into each number they show you.

Cliffs: 1) Know what the vehicle is worth before going into a dealership. 2) Buy car at that price (within ~500 of that price if you really love the car) 3) Have fun and look at lots of cars.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Yea I know doc fees and advertising fees and TTL are generally the 'legit' ones in that they can be items they will not budge on.

Biggest concerns are other fees that they will like to stick on to bump up their profits and hopefully wont get screwed on those.

I'm pretty set on the car I want (WRX) and I'm buying through the VIP program so I'm pretty much set as long as I know the numbers are correct and there's no funny business which is what I'm trying to sort out prior to ordering.

Also another thing:

Can they show you 'fake' invoice numbers? I'm guessing that's illegal?

 

[Uppsala9496]

In IL I am going to pay $186 for documentation fees and plates. Plates are $99.
Doc fee max in IL is $156.08, so I don't feel so bad paying the $87.

Hopefully I get good news Monday that the car I want is available, otherwise it is a 6-8 week wait to get it from the factory.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Do they always charge you for plates? And is that the dealership or the dmv?

 

[Uppsala9496]

THe dealership takes care of the transfer. I am selling my car Monday. The dealer currently has it because I don't want to put any more miles on it. This way they have no excuses to attempt to give me less on the trade in.
My plates are due the end of this month. It's $99 either way for me, so I'll let them handle it and deal with all of the plate transfer paperwork. I hate dealing with the DMV.

So long answer short, it's the DMV that gets paid, but the dealer does all of the work.

 

[Attic]

snip
Also another thing:

Can they show you 'fake' invoice numbers? I'm guessing that's illegal?

Unsure. You can get invoice from two dealerships to check for consistency.

Sweet car, good luck with the purchase :thumbsup:

 

[EagleKeeper]

Do they always charge you for plates? And is that the dealership or the dmv?

Some dealers will charge service for DMV. $30 or so. It covers their costs of having an employee be there for 2-3 hours handling paperwork.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Yea I know doc fees and advertising fees and TTL are generally the 'legit' ones in that they can be items they will not budge on.doc fees and advertising costs srd part of dealers overhead. That comes out of their profit numbers. TTL are not dealer controlled; those are government and not truly adjustable. Some dealers will advertise see where they cover the tax.

Biggest concerns are other fees that they will like to stick on to bump up their profits and hopefully wont get screwed on those.
Research
Also another thing:

Can they show you 'fake' invoice numbers? I'm guessing that's illegal?

If you are concerned about fake invoices, do not let them know in advance you want to see the invoice.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

If you are concerned about fake invoices, do not let them know in advance you want to see the invoice.

Wait how does that work?

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Documentation is going to be 55 in cali.

The tax is applied onto the destination fee as well. Rebates come after the final price so they dont help with tax.

Visit truecar.com and ask the dealer for the invoice.

Figure out what you are willing to pay and use california dmv website to figure out what TTL will be on that price. That way you now the final price is something that lines up with a legitamate number for the car.

Buy at dealer invoice and don't accept any fees beyond the 55 doc. You can talk to the internet sales manager at a few dealerships, find one who is upfront about dealer invoice (Read: he sends the invoice to you for your understanding). If there is an advertising assessment fee in dealer invoice price that is something you can touch on, that may or may not be on table for negotiation, $300 is ok i'd balk at anything ~$600.

Of course everything else lines up as well, if financing get it done prior to entering dealerships when ready to buy. Know kbb for your trade in and get that after you settle on paying invoice for the car.

Tell the sales/finance manager exactly what you want and leave as soon as they get balsy with the numbers. If you get into negotiations (i'd reccomend avoiding negotiating, know what the car is worth, say want you want it for, and if they come back with anything else, leave) then get a breakdown of what is going into each number they show you.

Cliffs: 1) Know what the vehicle is worth before going into a dealership. 2) Buy car at that price (within ~500 of that price if you really love the car) 3) Have fun and look at lots of cars.

I'm really surprised they'll tax you on the destination fee. That's pretty lame greedy gov

 

[EagleKeeper]

wait how does that work?

you have every right to ask to see the factory invoice. That does not mean that they will show it to you.

Much depends on where the baseline for negotiations started from.

My comment is: if one is concerned about a fraud invoice to not lrt them know in advance that you will request it.