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Smart Shopper Documentation Fees
667 messages, Last post on Sep 18, 2009 at 3:24 PM
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..... I have been going down that road for about 2 yrs now, perhaps you will have better luck than I .. that's why I stay out of most of these "discussions" ..l.o.l... Terry 
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Never said I was anti-profit. I really think I was pro-profit. However, I am against having the dealer dictated doc debit being manditory. Of course, the customer can choose to back out of the deal. But like, I think I made it clear before, let the buyer decide if the service is worth the price listed. As you read, in my state, it really is pretty easy to register a vehicle, so 30 minutes of my time on a Wednesday (don't bother going on Tuesday or Saturday) is worth it to save $200. But then I am at work when my pager is on, so I have a little more flexibilty than most. TB |
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again...profits are not what is in question here! Considering what you have said...then why not just change from the term "DOC FEE" to "Additional profit for me after we have already agreed on a price for the vehicle I am selling and you are buying"? I do agree, though, the dealer today is unfairly scrutinized. |
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In Indiana the customer is on his own when it comes to registering his vehicle. All the dealer does is tape a paper tag to the rear window with a date thirty days out prominently written on it. It's the customer who is then responsible for getting his vehicle registered before time runs out. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to stop dealers from charging "doc" fees which never seem to come up until after the customer thinks negotiating is over. Look, any dealer has legitimate expenses and hopes to make his or her profit objectives. I have no problem with that. But let the price be the price. I fail to see why any one particular expense should be arbitrarily carved out and surcharged separately from any other. You may as well spring a separate electricity expense fee on the buyer. The coffee on the sales floor and in the service lounge must cost you something. How about prorating that across the number of cars you sell and having a coffee fund surcharge. Why not an office supplies fee? Electricity, coffee fund, and office supply fees don't exist because if a dealer tried to tack them on at the end of the deal, the customer would be laughing too hard to sign the papers. A documentation fee sounds just official enough (like sales tax) to convince some customers that this is something they can be required to pay in addition to the agreed upon price. The expenses may be legitimate, but the back-end manner in which - in my experience most - dealers try to recoup them is nothing more than one last chance to try to sweeten the deal. CWJ |
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*** All the dealer does is tape a paper tag to the rear window with a date thirty days. --- Really, don't you ever read these posts, that tag has nothing to do with the pay-off, the sales tax, the title chase, the title flip - all this stuff is paid UPFRONT by the dealer .. remember the last vehicle you bought ..? That dealer paid all your sales tax upfront and probably wasn't reimbursed for a week or so .. who cares about the temp tag that the state charges me $3.50 for. Then, I have a full time person account for every flippin' one every month Please Read: I have to pay $8.00 dollars an Hr, I also pay the gas, lunch and "depending' on what state, I pay the $6.50 per title flip and the $2.75 per reg. Depending on how many titles, registration and Surety agreements, this guy will spend 3/4 hrs a day (min), standing in line waiting to drop off or picking-up the titles and regs .. so it's a lot more than that piece of paper that folks get handed at the dealership .. plus depending on the day, I pay someone to log the deals, do the pay-offs, print the deals and notarize all the paper work he gets handed, so add another 3/4 hrs a day there. Kinda keep in mind, the dealers money is always Upfront, the vehicle, the paper work, the overhead and what most folks forget is - dealers pay All the sales tax upfront on the buyers deal waaay before we get paid ... So unless someone has an easy $100,000 just sitting around per month, then there has to be some charge to the buyer. Got it yet ..? Terry. |
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To paraphrase right out of the VADA (Virginia Automobile Dealers Association) brochure on processing fees, also known as document fees in some states. "In the state of VA, they are allowed by law but not required by law. The decision to charge a "processing fee" is made by each dealership and is strictly within the discretion of the dealer." "The Buyer's Order, One of the primary forms required by Virginia is the Buyers Order. This document contains a list of all the items associated with a vehicle's selling price. For a new car this may include the MSRP, any factory-added accessories, and any dealer added accessories. All charges must be included on the Buyers Order. In order to simplify the charges for services the dealership provides to customer that are not a part of the normal sellinag of a car, many dealerships assign them the collective category of "processing fee" instead of itemizing each of these. This processing fee is displayed on the Buyers Order. Some dealers elect to absorb these costs and not charge a processing fee" And there you have it. Pick one up at your local dealer if you live in Va. I agree with all of you, some of these fees are mighty high. Unfortunately, when one dealer raises their fee, the others follow suit. If you don't like them, contact your congressman. And I don't say this to be a wise crack, because sometimes these fees make my job a lot harder than it has to be. : ) Mackabee |
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| You seem to be very straight forward. What do you charge for a doc fee on a deal? And, does your doc fee include state registration charges? | |
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I agree upto a point. The title chase and the payoff however, are only valid if there is a trade in. So if I walk in, sans trade (little French lingo here,  ) and buy the car, then I think it is only fair for the costs of tracking down that car's title to be figured into either a) My selling price b) What you offered the "other guy" for taking in his trade. If you go back to the beginning of this discussion, I did say I'm sure somebody is paying someone $10/hour to track all of these little bits of paper down and put them in the right folders or bureacrats hands. BTW, on my last car two cars, I had to register them myself. One was a private sale, the other purchased from a dealer in another state. But please don't get me wrong, I want car dealers to make money. I like cars. But this has the appearance in many cases of charging the previous owner and the new owner for the same thing. I know most of the dealers here are pillars of their communities, so of course, don't take anything said here personally. TB Wondering if wifey still has French Maid costume from Halloween, LOL |
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also, you won't find one dealer more than $10 cheaper than another here for 100 or so miles. Another item of note, I, as an employee, have to pay it when I buy a car here, also. Ed |
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| You seem to be very straight forward. What do you charge for a doc fee on a deal? And, does your doc fee include state registration charges? | |
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