[chiefsquirrel]

I am creating a consolidated list of fees and add-ons by dealership and date. Being an informed consumer can help make better decisions and, hopefully, drive overall costs down as well as eliminate unscrupulous practices.
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Prestige Chrysler (Centennial) - Towbin Auto Group
6/2011
- Every new car I saw had these:
- Doc/processing fees: $500 (Exhorbitant to say the least)
- Add-ons:
- something called prosteel (etching?) $895
- AMV (paint protectant) $495
- backup warning system (those beeps) $495
- Nitrogen in the tires $95

[airics]

Originally Posted by chiefsquirrel

I am creating a consolidated list of fees and add-ons by dealership and date. Being an informed consumer can help make better decisions and, hopefully, drive overall costs down as well as eliminate unscrupulous practices.
=====================
Prestige Chrysler (Centennial) - Towbin Auto Group
6/2011
- Every new car I saw had these:
- Doc/processing fees: $500 (Exhorbitant to say the least)
- Add-ons:
- something called prosteel (etching?) $895
- AMV (paint protectant) $495
- backup warning system (those beeps) $495
- Nitrogen in the tires $95

It brought the Challenger to almost $45k and it wasn't even an RT

must vary depending on the car, i was there last month.. on a challenger, they had...

market adjustment +$5000
redline (oil treatment) +$895
nitrogen (tires) +$195

[chiefsquirrel]

I just spoke with Chapman (Auto Mall).
They have TWO doc/processing fees totaling $950!!!

[hotpa2d2]

Fees are negotiable...

[Spraynard Kruger]

Yeah. The local dealerships (stealerships) will attempt to fool customers into thinking that the fees are set with the regulative bodies and cannot be adjusted, which may be true (that's the line they gave me in 2005).

I said, "That's okay that your doc fee is $600. I suppose the car is worth $500 less to me now." They didn't budge, at first. I walked. I called the salesperson again the next day and asked if he wanted to sell me the car with a $100 doc fee. He gave me the typical spiel about stealing food from his babies mouth. I got the car (Acura) for what I asked. I was armed to the teeth with info and really didnt care if I drove home in a new car anyway.

It was an invoice + 3% deal. With patience, many if not all dealerships in town will entertain a cost plus transaction. That is something to consider when presented with the $2000 dollar "desert protection package" scam or BS "market adjustment" fees.

Just don't pay it. Work invoice price up...never retail down. Whenever possible...negotiate via fax or e-mail. Only take a test drive / delivery on site...negotiating on the floor is high pressure for both you and the salesman.

[dynimagelv]

many many many years ago, I went into a stealership to by an Impala Supersport convertible...Ember Red, white top, white leather interior, 357 tripower V-8.
The sticker price was 4600 +-
First salesman wouldnt acknowledge me cause I was in jeans and a t-shirt and had just come from spreadin manure in the front yard.
2nd one did, grudgingly. I asked the price [OUT the door] Axle said the sticker says $4600.

I pulled out a stack of 100's and laid out $4000.

He drooled.
Said $4600.
I took $100 away and kept lookin him in the eye...
He said $4600.
I took $100 away and kept lookin him in the eye...
He said $4600.
I took $100 away and kept lookin him in the eye...
He said ALRIGHT DAMMIT $3700.

When he wrote it up, it was $3700 PLUS the dealer prep and tax....I picked up the $3700 and walked out. Didn't even get the car started before he was THERE....pantin n droolin....I got the car for $3700.00 including EVERYthing.

6 months later my firstxwifewhatzername sold it to some guy she was sleepin with while I was overseas for $1800. Had 5,000 miles on it......

moral is....yer gonna get screwed when you buy a car...NOW or Later.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Almost makes you respect the car dealer that was honest enough not to try to disguise the extra profit in the dealer pack, and instead just wrote "Extra profit: $5000" on the sticker.

My experience in CA is that if you go through the fleet sales manager or internet sales, they don't bother trying to sell you all those high-margin items. They assume you've done your research and comparison shopped with all the other dealers within an hours drive and know what a fair price in the current market is. OTOH, if you walk in off the street uninformed, it's like watching cattle being led to slaughter.

[airics]

Want to see something more crazy? Check out the markups on a PRIUS.. I just sold mine that I bought 18 months ago. I added 8000 miles up to 54k and sold it for $16000. Insane considering I paid less than $13k for it. And it wasn't a retail sale either

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by airics

Want to see something more crazy? Check out the markups on a PRIUS.. I just sold mine that I bought 18 months ago. I added 8000 miles up to 54k and sold it for $16000. Insane considering I paid less than $13k for it. And it wasn't a retail sale either

I bought two Priuses back in 2004. The first I bought mid-year, at Desert Toyota, after being on their waiting list for a couple months. They promised me "no shenanigans" on the price (I was willing to pay full MSRP), but when the car finally arrived, they wanted $2000 over sticker. I was pissed off and started to walk, but then they said they were willing to negotiate. I wanted the car so badly that I paid $1000 over sticker. I will never deal with Desert Toyota again because of their unethical behavior. That car was for my (now ex-) wife.

The second one I bought in CA for myself from a dealer who was not marking up Priuses even thought they were being sold for up to $5k over sticker. I only had to wait about three weeks on the waiting list. A couple years later supply caught up with demand and you could get a decent deal on a new Prius, invoice plus two or three hundred dollars.

In 2008 I got a killer deal on a Camry Hybrid from Centennial Toyota. I think I ended up paying $300 under invoice, which was around $3k off sticker. Gas must have been cheap then because no one wanted a hybrid. People have really short memories when it comes to fuel prices.

[airics]

i thought it was a good time to dump mine... i forsee the price of gas rapidly dropping... especially since next year is an election year... remember what happened last time.....

i still can't get over dealers charging a "market adjustment" on almost every car they sell... but it must be the vegas way....