What is a dealer service fee?
 

I'm about to buy a new BRZ (last one was in an unfortunate pile up) and I was looking over the paperwork today. There is a dealer service fee that looks like it was "penciled" in with a type writer. I called and asked about the fee and the dealer told me it is a fee to cover dealer expenses. Prepping the car etc and they legally have to charge this fee. The fee was $489.00. Anyone else hear of this? This dealer has been jacking me around with price for awhile so I don't trust them. Just need to verification if this isn't a BS fee.

Thanks!

Every dealer tries to tack it on. Some states mandate it, others don't. It's 100% pure profit for them.

I think it equates to this: http://netanimations.net/Moving-pict...imated-gif.gif

I figured, that's what google has been telling me. The car is being purchased in FL. I'm so sick of these damn Subaru dealers. I had the same line of headaches when I bought the first one in Ohio. It never ends.

EVERY dealer. I've seen it at EVERY dealership. Including the Lexus dealership my father has faithfully bought from for over 10 years. It's not a Subaru thing, it's a capitalism thing.

Its the markup above retail everyone whines about with many Subaru dealers on the BRZ. I would offer to buy WITHOUT that fee. If they refuse I would walk. Period.

It is also affectionately known as a sucker tax.

Hey, if you are forced to you can always get an FR-S and spend the extra (upgraded BRZ?) on a body kit, tires, exhaust etc.

It IS a BS fee, but it's a free country and every dealer I've shopped at for years tacks it onto every new car sale.

Dealer “Doc Fees,” and “Service Fees,” etc. are all the same thing; they are simply Additional Dealer Markup (ADM) by another name.

If I have a trade-in vehicle, I would suddenly need an additional $489 (in your example) for trade value in order to agree to the deal, assuming everything else is satisfactory.

I do not argue with these people about “legality” or anything else, just the bottom line, out-the-door price. They’re free to add any fees they like onto the price of their new car, and I’m free to insist they give it right back to me on my trade-in. I just don’t describe it that way to them during negotiations, but that’s what’s actually happening.

You see, I KNOW what the new car costs, thanks to the MSRP on the Munroney sticker. But the dealer does NOT know what I'm willing to accept as a fair value for my trade-in vehicle. :)

Me: "What is this $1k Addendum fee?"

Dealer: "MOST dealers charge this fee for the shop to inspect the car. Dealers charge anywhere from $1k-$5k"

Me: "Keyword MOST, i.e not every dealer. I'm in no hurry and will check around to other dealers"

Dealer: "Let me check with the manager..........If we wave this fee will you sign today?"

Me: "Looking that way so far :)"

That's my experience with this mysterious fee dealers are playing with. You have to remember this is their business, they are there to make money. Just got to play the walk out game with them.

just negotiate your out the door price with the fee included that's what I did

Thanks everybody for your input! It's exactly what I need to confirm my suspicions. I'm calling the dealer tomorrow, either wave the fee or I walk.

You don't have a trade?

No, I'm replacing my BRZ that was totaled.

Okay.

I hope you weren't injured.

You could take the approach you suggested, but it's more confrontational than necessary and gives them a foothold for an argument about "legality," etc. since they charge everyone that fee.

If instead you just make them an offer that's, say, $600 less ... then there's nothing to argue about except what price you're willing to sign for today. You could let them work to bring you back up to $500 less and still be ahead by $11.

Already played that card, we started at $29,340. Got them down to $28,590.

Maybe I can offer them $28k flat. But they'll probably laugh.

I'm fine. 20+ car pile up when I was driving home for Christmas. 30 minutes from home after a 12hr drive. So close! Nobody was hurt at all thank God.

I have a solution: Don't buy a Subaru.

a 12-hr drive? if you've driven that far, you can go get yourself a BRZ from NY for less than what you've just negotiated :) ..just a thought.

Call them on their BS, ask to see the statute legally requiring them to charge that fee. When they can't produce it say "Well, I'm glad we cleared that up. You can drop the fee now."

Yeah, thanks for the input. :w00t:


Thanks for the link! I seriously just might! I'll call that dealer tomorrow to make sure that's the out the door price. I could fly my mom up there to pick it up. She's been couped up in the house for awhile and she loved my first BRZ. She may want to make the trip :burnrubber: Afterall, I did get the passion for cars from both of my parents. I'll just have to constantly call her and remind her about the 1,000mi break in period, that old lady has a lead foot.:bellyroll:

I tried but they would not budge during my out-of-state BRZ purchase. They figure they get back the $500 off MSRP via this dealership fee. Oh well.

Good to know, I'll talk to them tomorrow and see what they want to do. I'm in no hurry and not too excited to give them my business anyway. This is the third thing they've tried to slip into the contract.

That's where I bought my BRZ from.. didn't actually go up there though, just did everything over the phone & mail, then arranged for 3rd-party shipping co. to delivery to me.

The salesman I dealt with was Mike. He was cool and made everything go smoothly.. I didn't try to haggle with the price though, I thought it was a fair price & just bought it.

About the dealer fees though.. don't remember if they had any, but I don't object if it's just a few hundred $$.. I've never been to any dealer who didn't have fees.

Hope your purchase goes as well as mine's did.

Bought mine from a MA dealership. They knew I was calling from out of state and wanted the car; I didn't get it for invoice and I didn't pay MSRP...but you better be damn sure they didn't waive the dealer fee. They KNEW how bad I wanted the car so they understood I wouldn't walk if they didn't waive it.

Maybe it's a difference in state laws (doubt it though), but where we bought our FRS here in Oregon, the cost was MSRP plus licence and plate fees which go to the state. There were NO additional costs. No trade in either to foul things up.

Don't think this is a Subaru thing. Florida is the worst state for dealer fees. When I bought my E92 M3, I e-mailed every single BMW dealer in the state asking them if they had an allocation and whether they charged a dealer fee. The price difference was shocking between all of them. I choose the dealer with the lowest dealer fee that had an allocation. There are dealers that don't charge one in Florida, and I haven't seen anywhere that it is a "legal requirement".

There are states that cap the dealer doc fees at a set amount.

Thanks Reeves! I contacted this dealer and they were straight up with me. I'm buying the car from them. I told the deal in FL to shove it.

I know, that came out wrong. I didn't mean Subaru dealers specifically. Just buying a car in general seems to be such a productions these days. Nothing is upfront. Don't get me wrong I know ALL dealer are not like this, just most.

Awesome! Glad to hear it's working out :thumbsup:

use the "fee" to negotiate an "overallowance" on your trade-in. for example:
if the dealer allows you $10,000 on your trade in,tell 'em you will accept $10,489.00 (o.t.d.) to purchase the car.if they "balk" you "walk"