I've never had so much trouble buying a car before.

[Preacherman]

The doc fee is the biggest scam a dealership has. I walk on doc.

 

[trekrok]

The doc fee is the biggest scam a dealership has. I walk on doc.

Followed closely by ridiculous protection and security packages.

Dealers seem to be fighting hard to hold onto the crazy covid profit margins.

 

[HoLeChit]

The doc fee is the biggest scam a dealership has. I walk on doc.

Only place I found that doesn't have a doc fee, is Eskridge Lexus. Wife's car was bought from there, and it was the best dealership experience I've ever had. We test drove her car one day, liked it, but she wanted to think on it. We go in 3 days later, grab our previous salesman:

"hey, we wanna go drive that can again"

"Ok, let me get the keys"

We drive it for 20-30 minutes, usual car sale banter about the car, how he likes his job, what we do, etc.

Come back to the dealership, wife tells me she wants it. We go to sit down in the office.

I tell the guy "I want new tires on this car before we buy, these have only half the life left or so." He goes out to talk to his boss or whatever, comes back and says "no, can't do it".

I tell him I want $2k off the price of the car (which was likely the nicest CPO I've seen for the price, which was honestly kinda low I thought). He said "I can't do $2k, but we can do $1500, if that's fair I'll go get the paperwork changed". 10 minutes later he is back, to my surprise he explains that there is no Doc fees, wife signs, we leave with her car 20 minutes later.

The whole process took 1 hour, was low pressure enough that my wife could have dealt with the process if she really wanted, and we would have paid exactly what the sticker price was, no extra BS, if I hadn't talked him down a few bucks. Honestly, I don't intend on going anywhere else for vehicles in the future.

 

[Camo]

Jim Norton Toyota, mandatory $2000 fee for window tint and putting nitrogen in tires.

To clarify the tires already have 78 percent nitrogen so it’s a scam and good window tint is a few hundred dollars.

Blatant scam, hard pass

 

[fishincoop]

I've been trying for over a week now to buy a new truck. I'm not exactly sure how many vehicles I've purchased from dealerships, but it's somewhere in the range of 15-20. Typically, the experiences are as bad as I choose to make them because I love to negotiate. For some reason I find pleasure in all the tension and discomfort. Well karma seems to be paying me back for all the trouble I've been to dealers in the past.

This time is different. I'm not trying to negotiate. I have nothing to trade in. I'm not financing anything. I'm just trying to buy a truck as advertised. It seems to be impossible. The dealers will list the MSRP. Then they will list the price they are willing to sell it for after all discounts and rebates. The prices are itemized on the websites with all the things you "may" qualify for. I qualify for nothing. I am asking for nothing. They all have a *dealership name* discount. When you hover your cursor over the little "1" by that discount, it says all customers qualify for this. I ask to pay that price plus their doc fee. Impossible.

I tried to buy in Midwest City. You must pay for a clear bra (that absolutely looks like garbage covering nearly half the hood and fenders), interior protectant (scam) and something else equally as worthless. I'd pay more to not have the clear bra. I asked to buy one in transit before they put that crap on there. Nope, goes on all vehicles. It's just a way to get some extra money on the backend. Funny thing is, it wasn't even that great of a deal. Truck was ~3k more than several other places without the extras. Next....

I drove to Baton Rouge. Probably the second lowest advertised price within 500 mile radius. I walked in last Tuesday when it was raining. Only customer in the building (and probably for the day). Picked out what I wanted and was quoted a price. Told them I'd come in the next morning with everything they asked for and to test drive it. They added in ~$1k in fees, including $250 for Etch (scam). I told them I wasn't paying $250 for Etch and I'd be willing to wait for another truck in transit that they hadn't spent the $10 on for Etch. Nope. Next...

I left south Louisiana on Thursday night (early) and spent the night in DFW just so I could try to buy a truck Friday morning. I went to a dealer in Fort Worth first thing Friday morning. Drive the truck. Take the salesman over to my truck where I have my laptop already open with the exact truck on their website. Told him the trouble I've been having and asked if I could just pay the price advertised and their doc fee. He says yes. When we are filling out paperwork, he leaves and comes back and asks if I have someone with a TX DL to sign for the truck (it's a company truck). Sure, I have probably 30 employees in TX. He asked if they are a signer for the company in the state of TX. Well hell no they aren't. Salesman says he can't sell me the truck unless I have someone with a TX DL that is a registered signer for the company. Really? We've probably bought 75 vehicles this year throughout several different states, probably 20 of those in TX. I personally picked up an F250 last month in Arlington. It was all done via Docusign and the money wired. We buy vehicles where we need them. How about we just write down all the numbers and then we'll let someone else smarter than you figure this out? So he writes down the deal and adds $1899 for window tint and locking lug nuts. It comes with all the windows tinted from the factory except the front 2. So it's $100 in tint and $40 in lug nuts. I told him I'd take one in transit so I didn't have to pay that. Nope. Next...

Monday I tried Ferguson in Norman. Hover cursor over the Ferguson discount and it says everyone qualifies. I said I'll take it for the advertised price and $599 doc fee. They tell me it will be an additional $2k because I'm not trading anything in. The "everyone qualifies" discount includes $2k trade assistance. It wasn't a good price to begin with. It was just convenient. Now it's a terrible price. Next...

Monday night I messaged a dealer in St. Louis. They called me at 8:02 A.M. on Tuesday. For the past 2 days I've been working with the dumbest human I've ever spoken to. This guy is so dumb, I actually think the dealer is getting some kind of tax break to employ him. He hasn't been able to get any emails from me because he can't tell me his correct email address. He sent me a text and misspelled his own name. I finally ask if there is someone else I can email and I get another salesmen's email. I realize they idiot I'm talking to has been giving me the wrong email because he doesn't know the difference between a period and an underscore. I'm now 2 full business days in and haven't seen anything in writing for him yet. He asked me to put $500 down with my personal card to hold it and he'd refund it when we wire the money. Let's look past the fact they are the largest volume dealer for this brand in the nation and they have probably 8 of these on the lot. I told him I needed something in writing showing what I'm buying and how much I'm paying. He said he was working on it (for 2 days). I told him if he could get me something in writing, I'd just wire ALL the money. Dumbass.

I got so tired of waiting on the St. Louis dumbass, I called Springfield, MO this afternoon. Give the guy the stock number, asked for price, told him I'd take it. Started paperwork with this guy all within 30 minutes of the initial phone call. Send him all the information so he can work on it. He calls back and asks if I have a signer for the company in Missouri. They don't do Docusign. They need the person paying to physically be there. So you don't ship? Yes. But a person buying over the internet that wants a vehicle shipped, has to physically show up? Yes. So all my hopes are back with the dumbass in St. Louis.

I never thought it would be this hard to buy a truck with no trade in, cash and just trying to pay an advertised price without all the backend scams. Don't let them tell you the economy is bad. They have no problem sitting on these things.

That’s just unbelievable - a man with cash, no trade, offering to buy at an advertised price….. seems like a 5-minute deal to me:
“sign here sir, here’s my check, here’s your keys, we’ll mail paperwork after check clears…. Have a nice day and thank you for your business”. Over, done, …. Next?

 

[GC7]

You're always paying for the doc fee, even if the dealership says they will waive it. You are just getting an overall concession on the deal.

 

[harley128]

Only place I found that doesn't have a doc fee, is Eskridge Lexus. Wife's car was bought from there, and it was the best dealership experience I've ever had. We test drove her car one day, liked it, but she wanted to think on it. We go in 3 days later, grab our previous salesman:

"hey, we wanna go drive that can again"

"Ok, let me get the keys"

We drive it for 20-30 minutes, usual car sale banter about the car, how he likes his job, what we do, etc.

Come back to the dealership, wife tells me she wants it. We go to sit down in the office.

I tell the guy "I want new tires on this car before we buy, these have only half the life left or so." He goes out to talk to his boss or whatever, comes back and says "no, can't do it".

I tell him I want $2k off the price of the car (which was likely the nicest CPO I've seen for the price, which was honestly kinda low I thought). He said "I can't do $2k, but we can do $1500, if that's fair I'll go get the paperwork changed". 10 minutes later he is back, to my surprise he explains that there is no Doc fees, wife signs, we leave with her car 20 minutes later.

The whole process took 1 hour, was low pressure enough that my wife could have dealt with the process if she really wanted, and we would have paid exactly what the sticker price was, no extra BS, if I hadn't talked him down a few bucks. Honestly, I don't intend on going anywhere else for vehicles in the future.

I had the same pleasant experience at Eskridge

 

[trekrok]

You're always paying for the doc fee, even if the dealership says they will waive it. You are just getting an overall concession on the deal.

The doc fee is similar to McDonald's charging a 'grill fee' when i order a big mac. I mean, it's a cost of doing business. They should call it a sleight of hand in hopes of adding profit fee.

 

[Waltercat]

I remember when that 'doc fee' was $40.00 way back when it started. It was a tax on the sale of new cars
levied on dealers. The dealers all got together and conspired to pass it along to the public.
Just how it got to the level it is now I don't know. Basically it's just whatever they think they can get away with. Another negotiating tool I think. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[leemozoid]

The doc fee is the biggest scam a dealership has. I walk on doc.

Here's a buying tip for GM dealers. Just about everybody qualifies to purchase as a "supplier" if their employer has a relationship with GM. This is a slightly higher price than the employee pricing but one of the perks is that doc fees are capped (or were when I last worked in a dealership) at $75. Dealerships are not obligated to sell at supplier prices but with inventory issues going away there should be more flexibility. Ford had X and Z plans but I spent the majority of my 22 years in the biz in GM stores.