holy shit, good for him I guess
this is why I either buy on x-plan or similar or go out of state.
Mother****ing doc fees
- Thread starter Klaus
- Start date
holy shit, good for him I guess
this is why I either buy on x-plan or similar or go out of state.
Prior to covid and the general shortages of vehicles on the lots that that caused, the dealers that didn't charge it as a line item, simply buried it somewhere else, mainly as a lower discount to the vehicle than you otherwise might have gotten. But I expect you paid it one way or the other. Post-Covid with deals not being as great as they used to be, it's just become a cash-cow to make more money. It is absolutely impossible around here to find a dealer that doesn't charge it.
The minute price comes up I let it be known that the only number I am interested in is cash out the door not including what goes to a governmental body. The moment the salesman veers from that I am out the door. (Of course this is easy for me to say, since there are 7 or 8 Ford dealers within 45 minutes of me).
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I bet those financial genius types that paid 10-25k ADM for the “opportunity“ to purchase a Mustang didn’t even notice the other “added” fees.
You'd think so, but that's what the powers that be want. Heres why:
Without dealers buying cars en-masse to have numerous versions sitting for numerous people to buy, manufacturers wont produce in large quantities. They'll wait for x amount of orders before doing a run. This will drive the cost per car up. Soon the direct to consumer model will make cars unobtainable to most middle class, putting people back in public transit like the powers that be want, effectively decimating the middle class that gained its independence due to the prevalence of affordable personal transportation.
Correct.
Ford bought two dealerships back in the late 90s and wanted to do a direct to consumer model. They each made it less than a year and performed horribly.
You're describing overhead. It's no different than any other overhead, which comes off of gross to arrive at net. The attempt to justify it as something else makes me fume.
You're a reasonable guy, and I know you know that. No insult intended.
Yes and no.
The 7 points I Just listed, aren't required to be handled by the dealer. Dealerships could hand the customer a stack of paper and say good luck, and at that point no costs are incurred.
If one of my customers opted to handle it all themselves, I would gladly reduce the amount owed by the administration fee and both go on our happy merry ways.
If you're having your countertops replaced in your house... does that company charge to remove the old countertops? Do they give you a break on their bid if you remove them before they show up? The answer is yes, to both questions. If a dealership, or any other business, provides a service that is not required on their behalf to provide, isn't it rational for them to charge for said service?
Yea, it's the wild west here at most dealers.
Remember looking last year and it was:
MSRP if you are lucky
3k dealer addon fee for shit legal tint and protection packages
$900 dealer fee
500 doc fee
One good thing about Mullinax is no dealer fee. And the prices on the vehicles is competitive.
They are required but are traditionally handled by the dealer, yes? They are a service offered as part of the sale.
Nonetheless, I doubt your willingness to reduce your costs at the customer's request is typical; many of these dealers are militant. I have experienced one dealer who wanted $1200 for fees and absolutely refused to budge.
While I had the People's Republic of Maryland, the one thing they do right is these fees . . . they cap them at $495. Everyone simply charges the cap. The number is transparent and expected. Zero bait and switch.
Traditionally yes, because consumers don't want to mess with it.
It's a tricky situation. If I remove it for some people and not for other, if the "others" fall into a protected class...age, sex, etc... I just opened myself up to be sued.
The vast majority of states have a max, and dealers follow suit just as you described.
SC has very specific rules for doc fees that the vast majority of dealers do not follow. I smell opportunity…
Like what for instance? Just curious.
My last dealership purchase which was pre COVID I asked for the cash out the door price. I know the fees and other bs was buried in there somewhere but it really didn't bother me since there we agreed on a number and there were no surprises. However the paperwork/finance guy seemed irritated to service us since he already knew he wasn't selling me anything extra.
He might have been. Probably cost him money.
Yea, ive had that shit pulled on me before when buying and told them to pound sand. They ended up just taking money off the price of the actual vehicle and keeping the "fee" bullshit on so i was satisfied. As long as i get a bottom line number OTD that i'm happy with, you can structure that shit any which way you want. Say there's a $10,000 document fee for all i give a shit, as long as you take $10,000 off the price of the car. I refuse to play the money siphoning game with dealers.
Texas limits the DOC fee to $150. If a dealer wants to charge more, they must justify it to the OFFICE OF CONSUMER CREDIT COMMISSIONER.
They also pull that "we have to charge it to everyone if we charge it to anyone" BS.
The Texas Finance Code 345.251 clearly states in all CAPS, that it is not an official fee, and is not required by law.
They also pull that "we have to charge it to everyone if we charge it to anyone" BS.
The Texas Finance Code 345.251 clearly states in all CAPS, that it is not an official fee, and is not required by law.
That's because that's what CC company charges them. I agree though, maybe on a high dollar purchase, but not lunch out with the wife.
For me, as long as there is no ridiculous mark up on a new vehicle, I'm ok with reasonable doc fees.
I flew halfway across the country to do business with Nick 13Cobra this past December on a 23 Ranger Tremor. Mainly because the local dealerships here told me to expect a $12k to $15K markup for a special order...plus a non refundable $5K deposit.
Nick was upfront with everything, no surprises. His dealership is the standard which car buying should be. No bullshit.
Sent from my SM-S908U using the svtperformance.com mobile app
I flew halfway across the country to do business with Nick 13Cobra this past December on a 23 Ranger Tremor. Mainly because the local dealerships here told me to expect a $12k to $15K markup for a special order...plus a non refundable $5K deposit.
Nick was upfront with everything, no surprises. His dealership is the standard which car buying should be. No bullshit.
Sent from my SM-S908U using the svtperformance.com mobile app
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