My Pensacola, Florida Mercedes Dealer (Centennial Volvo/Mercedes-Benz) wants to add-on the following "fees" to my SLK350 order at "MSRP":

$695 "Prep/Detail" fee: unloading, hooking up the computer to take it out of "transport mode", checking lugnuts, removing wrapping plastic etc. He says
"its out of our hands... the garage *charges us* that fee for new cars. We have to pass it on to you..." Is this the standard "delivery charge" over and above MSRP? If so, let me know... if not, am I being ripped off and should I move on to another dealer if they are not willing to remove it?

$199 "Dealer Services/Processing*" The * is theirs and doesn't reference any footnotes at all. What is this... more "junk" fees????? What is their profit on a $52,009 SLK350 anyway? That's not enough?

$17 Electronic filing (hard printed on their copy)
$1.50 batter disposal fee... didn't know they were disposing my battery
$5.00 Tire disposal fee... hmmm, should still have the original four on a new car.

$2.00 M.V.W.E.A fee. Some Weird Florida fee?

ALL THIS, and the car wouldn't be made and delivered until MAY 2005, *eight* months from now!!!!


Does *anyone* know of a MB dealer in the Southeast USA that would actually order me a SLK350 without any junk fees????? Anywhere in Atlanta, Mobile, Birmingham, New Orleans??

Junk fees? you've been own3d dude!

Give some feedback on what's appropriate (if anything) for a car this new and so high of a demand...
Anyone here order a brand new SLK350 for no fees?
If so, where?

*facts* and details, please!

Hey docrings,

Seems to me that the 695$ prep/detail fee, 17$ electronic filing, 1,50$ battery disposal fee, 5$ tires disposal fee, and the 2$ M.V.W.E.A fee (which stands for Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act (Lemon Law)) are all part of the 720$ listed in the MBUSA website......

[MSRP includes $720 transportation and handling charge and excludes all taxes, title/documentary fees, registration, tags, Mercedes-Benz Dealer prep, labor and installation charges, insurance, optional equipment and accessories, certificate of compliance or non-compliance fees, and finance charges. Actual prices may vary by Dealer.]

Here's some info I found concerning some of the other fees....

[Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act (MVWEA) (Lemon Law)]
[A $2.00 fee is to be collected by each motor vehicle dealer and each person engaged in the business of selling or leasing motor vehicles, from all consumers, including business entities. This fee is to be collected at the consummation of the sale of a new motor vehicle or, from all lessees, including business entities, at the time a lease agreement for a new motor vehicle is entered into. Each motor vehicle dealer and each person engaged in the business of leasing motor vehicles shall remit the $2.00 fee to the county tax collector or private tag agency acting as agent for the Department of Revenue at the time of application for certificate of title. The $2.00 fee collected from the purchaser or lessee should not be included in the price upon which sales tax is computed.]

[Solid Waste Fees]
[Any person who sells at retail in this state a new tire or a new, remanufactured, or used “lead-acid battery” for use in a motor vehicle must pay a solid waste fee. The fee is $1.00 for each new tire (the fee does not apply to recapped tires) and $1.50 for each new, remanufactured, or used lead-acid battery. The fee is due whether the tire or battery is sold at retail separately or as a component part of a motor vehicle. A retail sale does not include the sale of a new tire or a lead-acid battery to a person solely for
the purpose of resale, provided the subsequent sale in this state is subject to the fee.]

[Fees Imposed on the Seller]
[The solid waste fee is imposed on the selling dealer (retailer), not the purchaser. The amount of the tire fee is required to be separately stated on the seller’s invoice, but there is no similar requirement for the battery fee. The dealer may choose whether to separately state the battery fee and whether the additional cost is passed on to the purchaser. The retailer may increase the price of the battery by the amount of the fee ($1.50) to recoup the retailer’s cost of the fee, but this increase in price is considered to be an increase in the price of the battery and not a payment of the fee by the purchaser. In all circumstances, the tire and battery fees are to be included in the price upon which sales tax is computed.]

As for the 199$ Dealer Services/Processing fee....no idea on that.

Hope that helps.

Thats more like it my boy !

Thanks, Lirim318!!!

That *has* to be the most informative reply I have seen in months!!!!

:p :p

Thank you, *BUT* according to the M-B website:

"*MSRP includes $720 transportation and handling charge and excludes all taxes, title/documentary fees, registration, tags, Mercedes-Benz Dealer prep, labor and installation charges, insurance, optional equipment and accessories, certificate of compliance or non-compliance fees, and finance charges. Actual prices may vary by Dealer."

So, the $695 "prep" fee is over and above the transportation and handling charge... it's purely a junk fee. I talked to RBM Mercedes in Atlanta and they are going to send me a purchase agreement that is only MSRP + $195 "documentation"... I hate paying that, but that's a discount at this point...

Thanks!

good job with that post, your signal to noise ratio is closer to infinity. Now I know what all those fees stand for.

Looks like every dealer is charging a good premium on these cars, pretty sad. Dinko when are you going to be getting your SLK55. I am thinking of putting a deposit down so I can atleast sell my slot at the worst case if I dont end up getting it.

Hey docring,

In the MBUSA website, when they say the MSRP INCLUDES the 720$, that's because they've already added that amount to the "real" MSRP. On the site, their MSRP is 46 220$, but the official MSRP is really 45 500$. So check with your dealer to see if your MSRP is really 45 500$ BEFORE they add all those fees.....If so, then you're fine, if your MSRP is 46 220$ EXCLUDING those fees, then they are overcharging you and that you should say something.

Hope that helps.

That is a good point... My dealer was working off the $46,220 MSRP figure which is the one that does include the $720 transportation/handling fee...
[From the MBUSA "build it yourself" website]

When I called to cancel my order yesterday due to the added "required" $695 "prep" fee, they "all of a sudden" were asking if that fee "disappeared" would I re-instate my order... I told them that I would have to think about it, because my trust in them was tarnished...

Looks like NOW it was not that "required" as they said when I questioned them while filling out paperwork. Why does it always have to be this song'n'dance and lies/half-truths when trying to buy a car?

I'll make them sweat it out until the middle of next week, while I get prices from other SouthEast dealers. It would be nice to buy local, but the downside from such a small dealer is getting it 8 months from now when the model year run is basically over and people are ordering the 2006 model.

THANK YOU very much for all the good information (even if it's posted in the wrong category...

Glad to be of help. Let us know how things turn out. By the way, what color combinations/options did you wind up getting?

Mars Red/ Beige leather
7-spd auto
Entertainment with Nav
Performance suspension
Acrylic Windscreen
Vavona Wood Trim
Run-Flats

$52009 MSRP

-$1500 LoveMercedesTour Coupon

If you are willing to come to Atlanta, PM me and I will give you my Sales Person at Mercedes of South Atlanta. No funny fees and MSRP.

Schiznick

What did you end up paying? Did you pay sticker for the car?

I have a purchase order for MSRP plus $195 "processing"... I guess that's better than about $950 in junk fees from my local dealer.

That's RBM out of Atlanta...

I got another PM from someone to call MB of South Atlanta, but that's quite a drive from where we'll be at and not the dealer we'll be going for service...

Doc Rings