Dealer fees..

[OC1Dave]

They told me it was $55, too. The Attorney General's Office also told me it is capped at $55, so don't feel too good about them. If someone is charging $84 in Pa, they may have a problem. This will be the first Pa car that I have bought that I will (may) pay a Doc fee on. I always have them take it off the sale price (or I walk!). I ran a bank dealer financing center for five years and have seen every manner of fraud, hype, gouging, sucker stickers, ADP, regional price adjustments, special value packages,protection packages, "stolen" trade ins, etc - fabric guard on leather anyone? It used to amaze me how naive car buyers could be. Of course, the deck is stacked in favor of the dealer since they sell cars every day, and the average buyer only buys every few years. Don't even get me started on leasing! The Pittsburgh crew, however, seems pretty straight to me so far, but eternal vigilance is warranted. 229, configured, waiting and wondering if I can live with 70 HP.

[jwight]

Vlad92 just got his car in Omaha; $279 doc fee.

[meaux61]

Dealer fees..

What I am talking about is anything above and beyond MSRP, tax, title, license and destination charge.
Please list fees that are not included in the above.
From Highest to lowest dealer rip-off add on profit. Most are called "doc fees", some are called prep fees....even a notary fee!!!


Tampa, Fla - 599.00
Palm Beach Fla- 595.00
Tyson's Corner, Va-584.70-various fees mysterious and otherwise
Orlando Fla- WAS 799.00 PLUS 30.50 misc fees...down to 499.00 plus 30.50 under PRESSURE !!!
Louisville KY- 499.25
Clearwater, Fla - 699.00-reduced to 499.00 UNDER PRESSURE
Ft. Lauderdale Fl (Westin)-499.00
Sarasota, Fl- 489.50
Jacksonville, Fl -479.70- the seventy cents must be for licking an envelope.
Orange Park Fl- 479.00
Chandler Az.-400.00
Atlanta, Ga- 399.00
Merriam, Ks- 399.00
Va Beach, Va- 399.00
Charlotte, NC - 399.00
Carey, NC - 398.00
Knoxville, TN -395.00
Winston Salem, NC -389.00
Alexandria, Va-349.00
Smithtown, NY -349.00
Hartford Ct- 299.00
Lindon, UT- 298.00
Denver, CO -295.00
Englewood, NJ 295.00
La Vista NE-279.00
Lynnfield, Ma- 259.00
Bedford Oh- 250.00
Columbus Ohio- 250.00
Edison NJ-249.00
Albuquerque, NM-239.50
Creve Coeur, MO. -195.00
Bloomfield Michigan - $180
Both Chicago dealerships-150.00
Indianapolis-150.00 (raised from first delivery which was 95.00)
Milwaukee, WI - 125.00
Annapolis Md. - 100.00
Germantown, Md.-99.00
Cherry Hill NJ- 95.00
Tulsa, Ok - 89.00
Pittsburgh, Pa-55.00 (plus 29.00 misc dealer fees) TOTAL of 84.00
ALL 10 Ca dealerships-55.00
Bloomington, MN- 50.00
Portland, OR-50.00
Seattle Wa.- 50.00
Manhattan, NY. -50.00
Roundrock Tx- 50.00
Dallas, TX- 50.00
Buffalo NY - 45.00
latham, NY -45.00
White Plains, NY-45.00

Please...if your dealership is not listed here and you have had a delivery, please post doc fees and other dealer markups here. If you had NO doc fee or dealer fee, please note that as well. I want to get every dealer in the USA and thier policies.
Thanks,
Meaux


I think we should send this to Mr. Penske when we are finished so that he knows how these dealers are making him look bad on his promise. I am sure glad I do not live in Florida at the moment...even with 6 inches of snow on the ground.

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[Wizco]

Originally Posted by meaux61

Wisco says that Pittsburgh doc fee is 84.00 and wahi says that it is 55.00.

Did they lower it ???

Meaux

My bill of sale has 9 seperate nickel dime fees. (Plate, License, Tire Tax, Governors reelection campaign, etc.) I arrived at $84 by subtracting everything that I could specifically charge off to a government fee, and would have been charged no matter what car I bought or where. The remaining 4 fees that I couldn't do that with ($12.75+$11.25+$5+$55) totaled $84, and that's what I reported.

None of the items listed are specifically noted as doc fees so what's what is open to interpretation. Since the last number is $55, OK. The doc fees where $55.

At $55, I don't seen an issue. Obviously at $84 I didn't have an issue with it either, or wouldn't have bought the car.

At the $499 some people are reporting, I would have passed on the car.

Had I known there would be a discussion about $29, I would have posted more accurate information. (Or more likely not bothered to post at all.) ;)

[bmx43]

Originally Posted by Wizco

My bill of sale has 9 seperate nickel dime fees. (Plate, License, Tire Tax, Governors reelectin campaign, etc.) I arrived at $84 by subtracting everything that I could specifically charge off to a government fee, and would have been charged no matter what car I bought or where. The remaining 4 fees that I couldn't do that with ($12.75+$11.25+$5+$55) totaled $84, and that's what I reported.

Since $55 is the last number, and none of the items listed are specifically noted as doc fees it's open to interpretation.

At $55, I don't seen an issue. Obviously at $84 I didn't have an issue with it either, or wouldn't have bought the car.

At the $499 some people are reporting, I would have passed on the car.

Had I known there would be a discussion about $29, I would have posted more accurate information. (Or more likely not bothered to post at all.) ;)

as you said, those fees you list actually aren't "nickel dime fees". those are part of the Reg fees and are perfectly legal and paid by everybody at every dealer. the fees you should be aware of are the "doc" fees or "prep" fees, those are the shady ones. most states require the "doc" fee to be listed separately. perhaps not in your state.

[meaux61]

I see Wizco...the remaining 4 fees of the nine you could not legitimize as real legislated fees or taxes so you included them. THAT IS EXACTLY what I want to post. THank you so much for clarifying. I will edit the list to reflect what you said. All of this is important since dealers use all kinds of names for nickel and diming us during purchases. Please do not regret posting. I do get overzealous in trying to report accurate information.

Meaux

[meaux61]

BMX,

I almost jumped the gun and said something similar but Wizco pointed out in his post that he got 9 fees, of which, 5 were legitimate legal fees and 4 were dealer rip off fees. I am posting the dealer rip off fees which total to 84.00. It seems that since there is a state law limiting the "doc fee" in Pennsylvania to 55.00, his dealer made up some other little fees to boost the profit some more.

Meaux

[Wizco]

No. I'm not exactly calling them dealer rip off fees. I saying I couldn't nail them down to a particular government fee. Simply because I couldn't/didn't does not make them neccessarily a ripoff. On the contrary, the state does a pretty good job of getting more than their fair share of every transaction.

The intent of my original post was to give a real world fee for Pittsburgh, a week ago, when there was not a lot actual transactions taking place. People were reporting number in hundreds of dollars. I've got number somewhere between $55 and $84. Take that for what it's worth.

I have experienced the whole range of undercoating/pinstriping/fabric protection/market adjustments in the past to make the distinction between being hosed by a dealer, and fees.

I do not feel that the couple of dollars between $55 and $84 is even worth the effort to hunt down exactly what each is for.

[bmx43]

Originally Posted by Wizco

No. I'm not exactly calling them dealer rip off fees. I saying I couldn't nail them down to a particular government fee. Simply because I couldn't/didn't does not make them neccessarily a ripoff. On the contrary, the state does a pretty good job of getting more than their fair share of every transaction.

The intent of my original post was to give a real world fee for Pittsburgh, a week ago, when there was not a lot actual transactions taking place. People were reporting number in hundreds of dollars. I've got number somewhere between $55 and $84. Take that for what it's worth.

I have experienced the whole range of undercoating/pinstriping/fabric protection/market adjustments in the past to make the distinction between being hosed by a dealer, and fees.

I do not feel that the couple of dollars between $55 and $84 is even worth the effort to hunt down exactly what each is for.

so they didn't give you the exact details of the fees? that's seems illegal to charge a fee with no explanation. all fees on my docs are itemized. The reg fees are gov't controlled and don't apply obviously and none of us are including those in our breakdown.

there has to be a bill of sale or contract that itemizes the fees. did they really just list a bunch of numbers with no explanation? it shouldn't be that hard to track down really. seems weird to me.

it sounds like your doc fees are $55 and not $84 if I had to guess.

[Wizco]

A bill of sale with a bunch of initials. I've filed the bill of sale. If I get time, I'll pull it and let you guys know what the initials are.

I'm guessing doc fees are $55 as well. I can't tell you what the balance is for. If I had been really concerned I would have asked. I wasn't, so I didn't.

Honestly, dinner for 2 people in Pittsburgh at a chain restaurant is more than $29, and I can't see a dealer trying to sneak through an "extra" $29 by hiding it in the paperwork. If they are, frankly they need it more than me.

Since I've now spent more time clarifying this online than it took to actually do the paperwork to buy the car, I'm calling it a day.