dpayne7571

I know some dealerships use this as a tool to recoup money on the sale of vehicle, but what are other people's experience with paying a 600-700 dollar processing fee at a dealership? Should this be something that is talked about before ordering/buying a vehicle?

shortspark

I think any document fee over $250 for just a car is excessive. If you are paying two or three times that much I would complain and flat out refuse to pay it without a detailed itemization of what they are doing for that kind of money. If they won't do that and it ruins the deal, so be it and go somewhere else. The Mercedes dealer sent me the paper work on my fees the other day (the ML350 has not actually come in yet) and those fees are just under $200. I almost balked at that but for a variety of reasons I just let it go.

GADGETEMT

My dealer has a set $75 fee plus tags (which is a state fee) and then a $12.50 tire fee (again mandated). In all my car buy's, and I have had many, this is actually the lowest. The standard in my area seems to be $100-$300. I have walked though for the $300 fee.

venchka

In upper East Texas we paid $150 which included tags, registration, title, tag installation, etc.
That didn't seem unreasonable to take all the worry out of dealing with the various state agencies.

Wayne

WCCPHD

In a car deal everything is negotiable. They have to do the paperwork so why should you pay them twice? It is nothing but a way to make more money.

F18BEN

My dealer in Syracuse, NY did not charge a fee.

dpayne7571

I think my local dealership charges anywhere from 499.00 to 599.00!!

ML350toy

I guess I shouldn't complain to my dealer that the $55 paperwork processing fee that they charged is ridiculous after knowing how much people pay on this forum... several hundred dollars? I had an extensive discussion with my dealer that the processing fee, excluding the license and governmental fees, should already be included in part of the business and should already be taken into consideration from the profit that they made from the purchasing price. My argument is that the processing added to the contract after the price negotiation is more or less deceptive and borderline malpractice. More over, is dealership allowed to charge the rent, the a/c or heater, electricity, phones, even the chairs that we were sitting in, and on and on? The answer is no! All of these charges are already taken into consideration from the profits that dealers make when doing the business. If dealers are not allowed to charge for these excess fees when running the business, then why should they secretly thrown in the processing fee right before you sign the contract? Needless to say, I don't want to make a big deal out of $55 when I can afford to buy a $60,000 car, but in terms of principle, I still believe that buyers should not be paying for the "processing fee" since it should be deducted directly from the profit that dealers made from the transaction!

iankayem

I do not worry about the exhorbitent fees charged by dealers. I let them quote me. Then I tell them what I want to pay. They accept or I walk. (Usually to another dealer.)
If I am silly with my price, I miss out or I have to wait until some promotion comes along.

caf

$600 is excessive and abusive. I always tell the dealer they can charge whatever they want to process paperwork, but I then reserve the right to charge THEM for filling out MY portion of the paperwork. I also tell them my hourly billing rate is $500 and I'm VERY slow at filling out forms.

YYZ-E55

For some reason I doubt this bullying tactic gets you very far. While I agree that $600 is an unreasonable fee, you're probably the same guy who expects the car at invoice, free maintenance with valet service and unlimited car washes. And yet you wonder why other aspects of the customer experience suffer. Hint: no profit.

twodivers

I am all for everyone in a deal getting a fair shake. But I do resent the dealerships' tendency to obfuscate things. I'm not sure I want all their margin hidden in the overall price (I mean even the holdback is pretty much known - but never mentioned - by everyone), but I am not sure I want the airline pricing model either. Can you imagine paying for a test-drive, a brochure, etc.!!

The worst practice in my opinion is the attempt to sell add-ons of little or even suspect value. Things like paint and upholstery protection! What, a luxury car is so poorly constructed that you need protection? What about M-B's innovative nano-particle paint?

Just treat me like the knowledgeable buyer I am.

YYZ-E55

That's sort of my point, and I agree with a fair deal for all. But, like any business, the dealer is trying to turn a profit, and that profit is buried in an Admin fee, Freight & PDI, dealer add-ons, etc. because these "educated buyers" are grinding down the dealer to invoice price because it is transparent. There aren't many other instances where, as a buyer, you know the exact cost and mark-up of the product!

Everyone wants to say "I got it for invoice" or "I paid less than invoice", but the holdback alone isn't enough to keep a dealer afloat, especially with MB's expensive requirements to maintain corporate identity standards.

I guess I'm suggesting that everyone should negotiate the best deal they can, but don't be a dick about it.

twodivers

Wholeheartedly agree!

I suspect that some of the bad after-sales experiences some report could be related to how much of a dick they were during the process. I know from personal and business experience that I will NOT invest additional resources beyond the initial experience if they are not justified (i.e. insufficient margin).

I have a great relationship with my dealer, SA, Shop manager, etc., and I am willing to (and do) pay for it. I have acquired multiple vehicles from them, and have them do all my service. Fortunately for me, all those people understand what I am looking for, so it works out for all.

But, YYZ, you raise an interesting dilemma for not just the auto-retailer, but many businesses - easier access to information for purchasers. This isn't a bad thing, but it is a matter of adapt or die.

For me, moving to the States was an interesting experience. In Toronto, I bought from the M-B Corporate Store, here, I buy from an independent dealer. While I don't shop per se (I do negotiate) I am sure I reap the benefits of having other dealers in proximity that create competition.

Has it changed in Canada? Will one retail location work to out-do another? Interested to know.

NickTH

This is another negotiation area. Another profit for the dealer. They can charge you whatever they want, but of course you can also negotiate whatever you want to pay them for this "processing paperwork fee". As above poster stated: they have to process paperwork in order to sell you a car anyways!
I wouldn't pay more than $50 - $100 for this "service".

YYZ-E55

In Canada, there are 13 corporate MB stores and 39 independent dealers. They are all competitive, including competition between the corporate stores.

In general, Canadian MB dealers do not discount anywhere near the level that US dealers do, as the volumes are much lower.

dgiturbo

Here is an interesting article. For my State, IL there is a cap on the maximum, so I guess it's "State Sanctioned"

Car Blog

It's just extra profit, but when I make my price decision, I have always considered this and other "surprises" in my out the door offer. Then it's up to the dealer to itemize backwards on their end. Not every dealer so far has agreed...

caf

What an absolutely absurd statement!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know absolutely nothing about the way I purchase a car, other than the fact that I refuse to be told that a $600 "doc" fee is absolutely mandatory and non-negotiable (yes, I've been told that by dealers before). I believe in being completely transparent with a dealer in a negotiation, and I expect that they are the same.

My personal philosophy is to shoot for what I feel is a fair price; that is usually somewhat in the mid range of deals offered to customers. For my ML, for instance, I got the $2K off from Mercedes for the winter special, and then asked for a measly $1K off from there. I also got the credit offered from MB for the first two payments. That is no where near as aggressive as many of the deals people have struck here, but I was perfectly happy with that.

As far as the doc fees go, I do feel it is useful to call the dealers out on those if they're excessive. EVERY time I've done that, they relented. That's every time. So your statement that I am "bullying" the dealer by refusing to pay a ridiculous overcharge is laughable.

Free car washes? I always decline. I hand wash all my cars, especially when they're black.

As I recall, you're in the business. My what a wonderful person you must be to work with on a car deal...

stevereenie

Well the West Palm Beach Dealership has a $599 dealer's fee but my SA said that he wouldn't lose my sale over it and waived it if I buy through him. He also is giving me a 6% off invoice (minus transportation and the special order fee) and will work with best fleet, conquest or USAA discount (should be in the neighborhood of $3K extra. Plus a couple of extra thrown in extras.