Dealer Handling Fee = Lame

NEVER PAY A DEALER FEE!
I start with Edmunds dealer cost, negotiate the best price and walk out the door when they say "everybody pays the dealer fee". I have walked out of a lot of dealerships, but I have never paid a dealer fee after negotiating price. Sure, they add their $600 fee that's pre-printed on their invoice form, but that's after I make them take another $600 off the price I agreed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ Mar 14 2007, 06:59 PM) [snapback]405723[/snapback]</div>

Yep, IMO it's sleazy. Ding them for it on the customer satisfaction survey.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ Mar 17 2007, 07:55 PM) [snapback]407621[/snapback]</div>

Two dealers recently told me that the "survey" controls their bonuses etc. Even the finance guy (great guy) said, "remember good equals failed please only outstanding".
You may have more leverage than you realize.
If you just bought the car MAYBE you can get them to retract the fee.
Carl

 

Absolutely the customer sat survey drives more than you can imagine.

Ding them if they deserve it. But give them the outstanding marks if they deserve those.

They get all sorts of bonuses and crazy bonus items based on the surveys. 6 years ago, when Honda dealers were selling every Odyssey they could get their hands on for sticker plus (and had been doing so for several years), and there were large waiting lines, one bonus Honda came up for good survey marks was to give the salesman in question an extra Odyssey to sell. This car wasn't for the dealership, and was never part of the dealership's allocation. It was separate and was for that salesman only.

So he got to satisfy his customers by moving them up the overall line by one each, and he made the money off that extra sale--an extra sale that he wouldn't have otherwise had.

You'll know how important those surveys are by the amount of begging they do during and immediately after delivery of your car. It's cash in their pocket.

 

<div align="left">You need to see what the practice is of other dealears which is very easy to find out by looking at the paper, dealers will always list processing/prep fees in small print at the bottom of their advertismeents.

My dealer charged me a $289 processing fee. However, that's about the norm for dealers in Northern Virgnia. In Maryland, it's only $99 but then the dealers get to keep a percentage of the sales tax and essentailly Virginia buyers are cross subsidized by Maryland buyers. My rule of thumb is to negotiate a price knowing the dealer fee is simply profit for them. For exampl,e I purchased my car for $250 below invoice but paid a $289 processing fee which means I paid about invoice. The dealer made the holdback and financial reserve on the car which I think is fair. I look at this way, the dealers are in a competetive market and I personally don't mind giving them a fair profit. I don't want to support scummy dealers who may advertise low prices but then make it up with bogus fees and super aggresive sales of financing (which they kickbacks on), GAP insurance, extended service plans, and fabric protection, etc.. I'd rather go to the honest dealer who tells me they need to make X profit to stay in business but wont' make the finance office time a living hell.</div>