Discount or dealer doc fee waiver success stories?

mcmunn · 04-20-2009, 02:55 PM

My delivery on my ordered Smart is Wednesday at a $399 doc/rip off fee dealer. I am not going to bang my head against a wall and ruin what should be a fun time. A few quick questions:

Did you have any luck getting a cut off MSRP... There is about $1100 profit on my car...

Did you have any luck getting doc/rip off fee cut down or eliminated? If I would have switched to Pittsburgh, I could have saved $300+...

How much do dealer's care about the "satisfaction survey"? If I get raped for $399, ($1500+ dealer profit) I will not be satisfied...

Thanks for the feedback...

mcmunn · 04-22-2009, 03:58 AM

46 views... But no success... ;-)

forestacademy · 04-22-2009, 04:07 AM

Since my doc fees were under $100 I didn't care

Macaw · 04-22-2009, 04:54 AM

Lots of orphans sitting on the lot (at least at SCI) see if one at the other dealer is close to your specs (they might even swap panels if the color isn't right) then tell the 1st dealer to either match their doc fee or you'll walk and buy the orphan from the other dealer. Or ask for your choice of $300 of accessories ( they still make a profit but at least you get something tangible for the $300)

jefferios · 04-22-2009, 05:31 AM

But remember, the profit keeps our dealers alive, so don't be too harsh!

mcmunn · 04-22-2009, 05:49 AM

So what is a fair profit? $1500 is far above the average for most dealers...

I doubt they move on price... As such, I doubt I move on my survey results...

forestacademy · 04-22-2009, 06:35 AM

I don't think I have ever heard of anyone making purchasing decisions based on how they would fill out a survey. Byt the car you like at a price your comfortable with, Like someone else said, if your not happy with one dealer, go for Orphans at another.

mcmunn · 04-22-2009, 06:43 AM

Penske assigns the dealer based on your reservation location... I am aware that you can switch dealers or buy an orphan...

I choose to wait on my ordered car, and will get my service at the local dealer... But I am not satisified with being raped for a dealer applied $399 charge because of where I live... This $399 is the dealer's decision... My decision is that my survey will reflect my lack of satisfaction... The dealer may not care if I object to the $399... As such, I will not care if they get a negative survey...

All that said... Market demand is dropping on these... Days of full MSRP and huge doc fees will eventually be history...

**jwight** · 04-22-2009, 07:19 AM

I agree, but apparently the dealers don't. At least here in Ohio, where the maximum doc fee ($250) is set by the legislature, all the dealers charge the max fee and they all have the same story - management requires it. Each state usually has a very strong auto dealer association and they lobby like crazy for the fees and their/our elected reps go along with it.

Karl Roth · 04-22-2009, 07:46 AM

How many cars do you think the average dealer sells. Even if you divide the producton #'s by the dealers they still have not come close to there start up costs....
I was very happy not to have an "early adapter fee" tacked on to the price of my car, a common enough practice among other dealers.
Good luck on your search for happiness.
karl