paulybagadonuts

I just pulled the trigger on a 2012 Lux 4 matic Steel Grey. Love this car. Traded in my 2006 ML (that hurt) but onward and upward, not looking back.

No one mentioned this when I was negotiating the deal of course but as I look at my invoice I see a line with $499 on it for a "Dealers Conveyence Fee" wtf is that??

NO one I mean NO ONE mentioned anything about that! Is this something new or something they've been slipping past me before? The last time I bought a new car was 2006 and I don't remember seeing this. Anyone else notice? Thanks

ImInPA

That is what I call a gift to the dealer. They probably had the car delivered from another dealer and have passed that cost on to you. Hell....just enjoy the car.

CEB

Ask them what it is. if it is a fee to truck the car from another dealer then it is most likely a legitimate charge.

they should have disclosed that fee up front though.

WEBSRFR

When you negotiate in the future, ask for a "Buyer's Order" and have them sign or initial something that shows the dollar figure you agreed + tax and tags stating there will be no other fees. That makes it very difficult for them to sneak an extra fee the last minute. I live in DC and had to find the car I wanted in NY because of the options i wanted. All the negotiations were done on the phone and sealed with the delivery of a buyer's order so there were no surprises.

BM2BZ

congrats ! so are you saying you saw it on the invoice at the dealer but didn't ask them or saw it after and they didn't tell you when you signed the papers? if it's the latter, you should go back and talk to the salesperson.

ImInPA

So, did the bottom line you agreed to change? Or, did it contain this item that you did not notice until later? If the price you agreed to did not change, then who cares what they had to do on the paperwork to get you the price you agreed to? Sounds like a non-issue to me.

K-A

Yeah, that's true^^. Although, if you want to be a super "catch ever penny" shopper, you can probably squeeze a better deal by agreeing to a price, AND making sure they don't fudge numbers around to get themselves more money somehow.

When I traded in my 2010 in for my 2011, I told them what payment I wanted, and let them figure out how to get there. I noticed that they took $10K off of my 2011 to get to my payment, which means that they probably might have left me some room had I wanted to pursue on my 2010 (though, they gave me $42 or $44K I believe, which wasn't bad at all, showing that to meet my payment, they had to not only drastically cut the price of the new car, but give me a solid price on my old car in fact).

For all I cared, they could have charged me a $40K Dealer Conveyance fee and sold me my 2011 for $4k, same payments.

mnje350

My dealer called it, "dealer cost recovery fee". I guess they didn't lie, sort of. Same 499 beans.

MinnBobber

I think what Pauly means is that a certain price was negotiated and then at delivery the paperwork shows up with new category---conveyence fee which they often hide or say it's mandatory etc.

I think there are many names like dealer documentation fee, dealer paperwork fee, etc. It is easy to hide as customer agrees (for example) to $50K car price plus tax, title, and reg. They shove paperwork over to you for final figure of $54,888.90. How do you know if that's correct? Then you see $499 conveyence fee on paperwork. What's that? We're required to include that on every vehicle (yes-by the dealership owner???)

Conveyence definitions
1. moving of something: the conveying of something, especially the transportation or transmission of something from one place to another
2. vehicle: a vehicle or other means of transportation
3. transfer of ownership: a document that legally transfers ownership, or the transfer itself
Which one??
1. would be like a delivery charge so that's destination fee ($875??)
2. not that defin
3. probably this---fee to transfer ownership. Fill out papers and submit to state motor vehicle dept. Nice hourly rate on that fee...
Bob

mnje350

Otherwise known as added dealer profit slipped in after the price is agreed upon. I suppose you could walk on the deal if they would refuse to remove these fees when pressed. But like one of the other poster states, $499 added to a 50k+ purchase the dealer counts on the fact the the desire to close the deal, get the hell out of the dealership, and enjoy the new car will overwhelm the desire to walk on the deal. I think it's all psychology.

Just my humble opinion. I am not a car dealer but I am in sales.

K-A

Now I have to remember to look at the fine print on the price when I sign.

I just realized, where they'll get you is in the "out the door" price. You always assume that it's simply Tax and License, but within that number is where they can sneak all these things in.

I bought a '06 E a few years ago, and I noticed a charge for like $80 on there.... I came to the conclusion that it might have been the damn gas fill up they did!

grane

Sounds like "fraudulent conveyance" to some.

hyperion667

the dealers could really help give themseleves a better name by just being honest with people and not TRYING to make them feel insecure about their purchases.....
doesn't make sense to me why the dealers always have to have that physc BS over our heads....my guard is up so high whenever I go to the dealer.....
and if my salesman tells me the story about his grandkids coming over ONE MORE TIME, I may just have to throw up

CEB

Most states allow dealers to charge a documentation or processing fee that has a cap per transaction. MD has $299 cap while VA has a $399 cap. I've seen fees ranging from $25 to $699 (Colorado)

In MD and most other states, the law requires that fee to be clearly indicated on a separate line and annotated with "not required by law" to indicate that it is a dealer fee rather than a government fee. That amount is negotiable like any other fee.

Those fees are generally charged by all dealers in a state and is pure dealer profit. It is sad that states allow the dealer lobbies to screw the customers yet again but an informed consumer should have known about this fee and factored it into the price of the car.

I always counter any dealer offer with "I'll offer xxx which includes all processing fees. The only additional costs will be actual taxes and registration costs." On the paperwork the dealer will then reduce the negotiated price of the car by the processing fee so thst they can show it as a separate line item and can say to other customers "we charge every customer this processing fee."

ghstudio

I love when the salesman tells me that the administrative fee is printed on the contract so he can't change it.

I negotiate for a price plus any fees/taxes required by law. That's a key phrase.....the dealer/owner can't tell you that their adminstrative fees are required by law.

I usually get 1/2 of the fees taken off....after I start to walk out

skris

I just signed my 3rd MB lease and I am about to sign the 3rd BMW lease. I am also a member in BMW forum. As much as I like this forum, the striking difference that I noted here is that the paucity of info about prices paid and lease deals.

If we dont share info, everyone is on their own. And I dont see dealers changing their practice anytime soon. And who can blame them - its a free market. It is so difficult to find the 'right' CAs and dealerships.

Coming to the OP...depends on how you finalize the deal. And if you signed the contract already you can give it a try (what you have got to loose) but I am not hopeful.

YYZ-E55

Sucks for the salesperson when you force that on them, as they're typically getting paid a percentage of gross profit.

CEB

I reward honest salesmenwith repeat business and referrals for family, coworkers and friends. That more than makesup for the lossof the processing fee.

amdeutsch

Worst way to buy a car. I always know my payment structure, if applicable, and then work backwards to a cash price. Only thing I will tell them is interest rate they have to meet or beat. Asking for a monthly payment is asking for it. Watch out for that 4 square trick and the "you have to maintain this low interest payment for X month" - interest is front loaded as we all know. If not they will try to tell you they will charge you back.

paulybagadonuts

Thank you all for weighing in. I Googled it also and seems it's pretty common. Just another way for the dealer to make a profit. It must be getting harded to do so with all the information that's available to the buyer these days.

Looks like it may be a Connecticut thing. Although most other places charge $299 to $399 of course we know MB has to charge a little more.

It's actually not bothering me much because I did get a good deal on the car and really did squeeze them as much as possible. I would have just liked someone to mention it, would have been nice but I'm not surprised they didn't. Thanks again for your help. I'ts nice to know I'm not alone.

threeMBs

+1. Totally agree.

threeMBs

Correct. Its a state "thing". In Florida for example, if buying from an authorized MB dealer (they're all in AutoNations network), there's a $500 dealer fee for both new and used MB cars that's a separate line on the buying contract and is added to the "negotiated" price. Of course repeat buyers know about it and keep it in mind when negotiating by stating that agreed upon price includes that "dealer fee".