Tensi

I negotiated a deal for the price of the car.. including taxes. When I got there there was an additional $3xx charge. I was in two charges, one for $250 and for about $125-(labeled 'documentation fee'). In my excitement I asked what they were for, and the salesman stated it was for "DMV and stuff".

Are these normal or did I get ripped off?

LeslieRC

Not sure. When you say that the negotiated price "included taxes", did the price also include tags (new or transferred)? Because there's a fee charged for tags as well.

Also, "DMV and stuff" doesn't cut it. Every cost should be clearly itemized on your purchase agreement.

Enjoy your SC430!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i am pretty sure the documentation fee is correct, makes sense, i see it all the time. the other one i forgot. but usually from my experience (at least when buying new car), about 1 to 2% goes to documentation / dmv

Tensi

Thank you both. I think its right, I checked the write ups of the previous cars I purchased and it seems almost dead on.

Another question, how far into the deal am I allowed to say I changed my mind? I signed a lot of the paperwork, but not all of it. And I gave a $10k deposit. I have not taken delivery of the car.. can I back out?

moose66

I am no lawyer, but two things come to my mind right away. The first is a contract or buyers agreement. If you signed that you may be on your way to owning that car. Some states do allow a cooling off period. Which means if you changed your mind, you can still get out. The second thing is payment. If you haven't given the dealership all of their money, you still may be able to get out. Again, i'm not lawyer. I am just thinking off the top of my head. Good luck!

Habious

I know it doesn't mean much now but, when I negotiated the price of our 2003 SC430, I told the dealer "Do whatever you need to do up top....price of the car, taxes, fees, etc., all that stuff but, when you're done, draw the line across the bottom of the page and that bottom number needs to be $43K." And that's exactly what they did; I paid them exactly $43,000 for everything; out the door.

They were very understanding and it avoided all confusion when we picked up the car and paid for it (we only have to give a $500 good-faith deposit when we placed the order).

JohnnyCake

I have to agree with what Habious said. The problem in your situation is not whether these fees are bogus or valid, the problem is that they were unexpected and the dealer sprung them on you when you got there.

In transactions like buying the car, it comes down to a bit of good faith. The dealer knows that you have invested a lot of time negotiating, finding the right car (especially if its used), working out the trade-in, obtaining financing, and doing all the paperwork.

In that situation, very few people are going to walk away over a couple hundred bucks at the last minute, expecially given the buyer's excitement of thinking that they will be driving home in the new car and the hassle of starting over. Dealers who value goodwill don't play those last-minute fee games.

I found a used SC430 in the color combination I wanted in New Jersey, some four hours from where I live. Not only did I negotiate the deal via email, I also negotiated the trade-in for my old car. The dealer could have easily squeezed me when I got there, but they took a look at my trade-in, said "you represented its condition accurately," shook my hand, and off I drove in the SC430. (Oh yeah, I did have to give them a check first!)

moose66

JohnnyCake has it exactly right. I did the same thing. Saw the car on the web. Did all negotiations over the web for both the car and trade-in. The only issues you have to weave through is taking the leap of faith of the "hidden" things you can't see about the car on the web. I ended up driving about 2-1/2 hours from home to get the car. The car was as they described, and so was my trade-in. Only spent about 1 hour in dealership. Didn't have to go through any of the "add-on" sales crap, because I told them I wasn't interested before I got there. Singed the paper, handed over the payment, and was on my way.

Tensi

Thanks everyone. I made a big stink about it, and the guy wrote up new papers. I got home, and inspected.. they were even more off!!!! Again, after a few hours I have new paperwork and all seems good now. I have to say, I have a bit of a bad taste in my mouth over this dealing. Oh well. I just hope the SC is in perfect shape when I get it.

Tensi

*** CPO QUESTIONS ***

1. The car I am getting is supposedly CPO'ed for three years or 100k miles. The car has factory warranty left, but according to the dealer the CPO starts immediately not after the factory warranty ends. True?

2. Is there any sort of CPO documentation I am suppose to get? Cause I haven't been given anything.

Thank you!