How much are the "Doc" fees in your state for a Prius Purchase??

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ Apr 26 2007, 11:21 PM) [snapback]431013[/snapback]</div>

$50.00 columbia, MO.

 

$50 in NY. I was told the fee is regulated by the state. At $50, it's worth the price, they do all the paper work for me. But at $500+?! :blink:

 

I paid $149 in Fargo, ND, in January of 2004. Some states may set an upper limit on the fee, but they certainly would not set a lower limit, and there's no justification for a dealership to charge $500.

Warning to new purchasers of any car: Ask during negotiations what the total out-the-door cost will be, including all taxes and fees. Then ask how much of that is taxes, because the dealership has no control of taxes, and does not keep the taxes.

Take the difference, and negotiate on that. If the dealer's actual cost is $30,000 and you are willing to pay him a $500 markup, negotiate for an out-the-door cost of $30,500. Don't let the dealer negotiate for a price until you know everything he's going to tack onto that price.

At the very least, know the full amount you're actually going to pay before agreeing to a price.

 

Read the Consumer Reports website http://www.consumerreports.org or their April car buying issue for info and advice.

 

DOC fee in Texas is limited by law to $50.00.

 

$199.00 in Oklahoma City to "walk" the paper to the tag agency. What a rip here and elsewhere. I remember they used to not charge anything. I negotiated and am not paying documentation fees.

 

I had to pay $299.50 in northern Nevada, plus a $28.25 title fee. I consider doc fee as a rip and pure profit. Dealer won't budge on it, so I try to negotiate a lower car price, out the door. We need a regulated limit here like some other states. (This is one reason I have bought only a few new cars.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ Apr 27 2007, 12:21 AM) [snapback]431013[/snapback]</div>

Your DMV's website should list all fees. Anything else the dealer tacks on is just BS and IMO fully negotiable.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ May 9 2007, 08:31 PM) [snapback]438764[/snapback]</div>

Not sure if a DOC fee is the same as a dealer handling fee but mine was $475 but $25 for the paperwork.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ Apr 26 2007, 11:21 PM) [snapback]431013[/snapback]</div>

For me it was something like $350. I was miffed when I found out I paid it, however. At the dealership, I assumed they were talking about the "delivery fee" when they mentioned tacking on the fee. Of course the delivery fee is something completely different.

I wish my state had a law against the BS dealer fee. It's just a sleazy way to inflate the actual price of the vehicle while advertising something lower.

 

as a car salesman....you guys do realize that dealerships have offices and people that don't get paid commission...right? the ladies in the back, plugging away at their keyboards getting title applications, faxing bills of sale, filing keys, answering phones. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if everybody paid invoice for their car, there'd be no dealerships and you'd have to build your own. A doc fee over 300 dollars really is ridiculous, though.

at my dealership, though, we call it a Customer Service fee. I think it has to do with all the people in the office, the free wifi in our service department, and the time wasted (and money lost) on grinders. It's really a shame that the people before me in my profession have sort of ruined the car business as a whole with their tricks and whatnot. But, hey, I sold three cars today and made a whopping 375 dollars....whooooooooooooooowheeeeeeee (sarcasm).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(freke70 @ May 9 2007, 11:09 PM) [snapback]438825[/snapback]</div>

The ladies in the back are called "overhead" paid for from the profits of the dealer. If you can't make enough money, cut your overhead by giving me the title and I'll go to the MVC office. Nobody is telling or forcing your dealership to sell the car at invoice. If you NEED that $300 BS fee then tell the customer the lowest I can go is invoice + $300. Agreeing to a sales price and adding an extra fee is, IMO, a deceptive sales practice.

Based on your labor rates I should be entertained and fed while waiting for my car to be serviced. How does the overhead of the Service Advisors improve the efficiency and quality of my vehicle maintenance?

When you go to a department store is there a cashier that tallies your purchase and takes your money? That person is an hourly worker. Did the store charge you a Customer Service fee?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ May 10 2007, 10:07 PM) [snapback]439658[/snapback]</div>

Last year I paid a BS fee when I bought the car. I bitched about it at the dealer. I called and stopped by asking why it was taking so long to get the registration when the overhead lady could have gotten up off her a$$ and gone to MVC, where they have a seperate window for dealers. I had them mail the registration to me because I didn't want to make a trip to the dealer to pick it up. I also bitched about it on the survey. If that caused the dealer or the salesman to lose a bonus then wheeeoooo. Maybe if enough people do this the sleaze will stop.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ May 10 2007, 11:18 PM) [snapback]439661[/snapback]</div>

Maybe I should just stop trying to defend the car business in general...because I know what my dealership offers, and it's seriously not nearly as bad as what you guys are dealing with at other places. I'm just gonna stop from now on unless someone addresses my dealership specifically.

by the way, our service department has two big screen flat panel tvs hooked up to dvd players and satellites, a full coffee bar, with muffins/brownies/cookies, videogames (gamecube and ps2) for children, and complimentary wifi access. Just saying....some dealerships really do care about the customer. I'll take some pictures in the morning and post them here.

 

Doc fees are a joke and are only there to pad the Stealerships profit. The car cannot be sold without doing the paperwork, which takes all of about 10 minutes.

I have bought 8 new cars and never paid a doc fee. If you threaten do break the deal if they dont remove the doc fee, they will take it off. If said dealer does not the next one will.

Cheers,
Jim

 

I just paid $55 here in PA. By the way, the documents were done very well. They had no errors and appeared to be very professional.

Unlike others here, I always insist on paying the full "doc fee" to insure top quality and speedy handling.

:lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(freke70 @ May 9 2007, 10:09 PM) [snapback]438825[/snapback]</div>

Every retailer out there has administrative overhead, but the pricing of most retailers' products accounts for the cost of running their business. You wouldn't go to the grocery store and see a box of mac and cheese for $1.25 then get to the register and discover that they tack on a .25c "paperwork fee", the grocery store would simply price the product at $1.50. It's straightforward, honest, and simple.

The sleazy aspect of the "dealer fees" is that they enable a dealership to falsely advertise the true price of a vehicle. If a car is $25,000 plus $500 in "dealer fees" then the car should be advertised as costing $25,500.

 

you've got to be kidding me, right? you're comparing buying a 25,000 dollar car to buying stuff at a grocery store. Really...if every customer I had came in and bought the cars at the price posted on the sticker, I'd be a rich man. No, you have to haggle down the price and then refuse to pay dealer fees. Am I missing something here? if the customer cuts out ALL of the profit from the vehicle, what is there left, but the dealer fees?

Maybe I should start screwing customers since they're screwing me out of money without a second thought.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Apr 27 2007, 11:30 AM) [snapback]431203[/snapback]</div>

I wonder if everyone pay for "Dealers vehicle inventory tax".
The dealership in Dallas tries to charge this fee ($51) on top of the doc fee($50) and TT&L. I called DMV before and they never mentioned about it.
Does any of you got charged this fee?
I don't think I have to pay for this fee but please give me advise how I can have them get rid of this fee.
It's only $51 but it's a week worth of my grocery or a month worth of my cell phone charge, you know?