hi there..

what are B.S. fees from dealers that i should be made aware of?

thanks very much all!

 

Well, here in Northern CA most dealers charge ~$50 for a "doc" or document fee. At least one has told me this is a state-mandated fee. I checked on this with the state and was told it is not. It is pure profit for the dealers. I understand that in some parts of the country dealers get hundreds of $ for this same sort of fee.

One of the best things about using X-plan is that dealers aren't allowed to charge any add-on fees such as this, although my dealer tried when I bought my '06. When I reminded the finance guy that this wasn't allowed he removed it from my contract.

 

thanks Iwant,

i'm going to make sure i'm aware of this.

 

Usually....most of these so called fees, etc are BS.

 

If Ford sales were higher, dealers would probably be more interested in removing these minor fees and other so called "BS". But right now no one seems very interested in supporting the home team unfortunately. Profit for Ford dealers right now, is way down, i know because i work at one. If you worked in the domestic dealer business you would understand that its not just about putting an *** in the seat and collecting the cash.

There is alot that goes on behind the scenes as far as paperwork. Some deals can take weeks to get processed as they are passed through the various accounting offices, banks, and the DMV. And whenever you buy a car on one of those special plans such as the X Plan, there is even more paperwork invovled by more employees which takes more resources, more time, and more money.

 

Jacking up the price of the GT500 to close to 30,000 dollars over MSRP isn't helping dealer reputation either.......Who want's to help a team that does that to customers?......You dealers will shoot yourselves in the foot 10 out of 10 times just to make a nickel.........

 

Don't forget, you'll have to get Scotchgard and the extended warranty if you want that price!

 

I dont know you or how you work so this is not an attack on you personally but I would like to say that first off dealers are in business so them being put out to do paperowkr they are in the business to do and then charging an on top of fee is BS. Secondly, the home team has been bending customers over and driving them and laughing about it for years. Just as alot of customers do when they whine and moan about every last nickel. I personally have had 5 or 6 years of crappy service at several Ford dealers in my area trying to fix the same F'n problem repeatedly. They waste my time and $$ making numerous trips back and forth to their shop and never get things fixed right. This past year I spent a few grand fixing issues with my truck that were a issue from when I bought the thing. And when I go in to have a vehicle serviced I dont say "get this in and out as cheap as you can". I say "go over this thing with a fine tooth comb and fix anythig it needs so Im not down here several times. Guess what they do? They half a*s the thing out the door and we have to bring it back. These are company vehicles and repeated trips cost me alot of $$. Unfortunately when this happens I cant just back charge them for the $$ it costs me. So pardon me if I dont buy the cry me a river for the dealers. My wife also worked at a dealership for almost 7 years so I have first hand knowledge on what goes on there as well. So Ford can keep on charging their ADM's and screwing people over with shotty service, BS excuses, and clowns for sales people but in the end we the customer will stil be here and they wont.

 

My favorite BS charge is the "advertising" fee.

WTF??? I'm paying a fee so you can ADVERTISE? Advertising is YOUR problem, and is YOUR cost of doing business.

Amazing, the vulture-like practices of these stealerships.

 

Art, the advertising fee on every vehicle invoice, and its paid by everyone! As you can see by my signature, I work in sales. I got my GT at D-Plan, which is the dealership version of A-Plan (+ $100), and I had to pay the advertising fee also. Its just part of the whole process. BTW, the fee, its not for the dealership's advertising, but for the region. Just to let you know.

Oh, and watch who you are calling a vulture. I actually care about what I do. If I didn't I wouldn't be on this board offering help.

 

Exactly what Jeff stated.

The line item for regional advertising is built into the invoice price of the vehicle along with the 2 gallons of gas the factory pumps into each Mustang. Destination fee is also another line item that is not negotiable.

Ditto

 

Why are you taking this personally? There are some good Ford dealerships, but there are many BAD Ford Dealerships.

I guess he could have said "most" are vultures to be a bit more accurate, however.

I've attempted to do business throughout my life, and assisted in my folks attempting to do business with around 40 or so varying Ford dealerships throughout my state and nearby New Mexico. Of those said dealerships, 2 were relatively pleasant to deal with and were very fair and upfront, 1 was "tolerable" and the rest were absolutely horrible experiences. Examples of practices were numerous "bait and switch" calls where salesmen said they had a vehicle on the lot, but when you drove 50 miles to get there the same day it was "sold." Getting to the sales table and having pre-arranged deals fall through, or suddenly being required to get weather proofing, sealant, ScotchGuard and various other oddities tacked on to get the price, or, a 500 year extended warranty. This is not even mentioning salesmen that were completely rude, sometimes on the edge of physical means of preventing you from leaving a sales floor, or complete baboons with absolutely no knowledge of anything they sold nor how to anything involving selling a vehicle.

My last buying experience was pleasant. In the many instances I have attempted to do business with Ford, or been a party to said business prior, 9 times out of 10 I have been dismally disappointed. I think that says something about the majority of business practices by Ford dealerships.

Ford is not alone, I will admit. Dodge and Chevrolet dealerships, well, their track record with me is just as bad in reality. My experience with various foreign manufacturers, except Mitsubishi, has been very pleasant more often than not, something most domestic dealers, including Ford, have been unable to give me.

 

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=16201
Here is an old Topic on Dealers which Shows there Are Some Good Ones out there! Pretty Good Topic if I do Say so!

KC

 

Too bad there are not enough of them around. I'd be willing to bet money that Ford would be in better shape if a majority of its dealers provided the level of service/pleasant buying experiences mentioned in that thread. Based on personal experience, the local Ford dealers here (HI) can go to heck. Don't plan on buying anything from them - they made it that easy!

 

Just a quick note..about the ADM and Dealers. Dale Jarret Ford called and said they had a Shelby for 'only' 20k over msrp. "no thank you" was my prompt respones (4 kids..no shelby). 2 weeks later I happen to stop in and see the car. I have a friend who is the fleet sales manager (Hey Dave). He is the one who got me my GT at MSRP in Nov 04...remember? 5k was a standard ADM back then. Dave sort of sighs and said he knew they called me about it and I said no. Then he said "hold on" and went over to talk to the floor sales manager. He came back a little later and said "We have 10k over on this one..we purchased it from another dealer...I got <forgotten name> to ok if for 10k over if want to get it..but no one else." He didn't presseure me (knows I have a housefull). I thanked him and told him it wasn't possible just yet. I did have him explain that they had already sold all their allocations (at 10k over) and had picked up 3 more for 10k over from some other dealers. He also told me they had to trade some GT's for V6's too. He called me yesterday to tell me the last one had sold (guess I'll wait for next year ).

 

Is there a charge called "Dealer Prep"? If you have gotten charged "Dealer Prep", how much has it been? We hope to be picking up our new Mustang very soon. Just wondering what surprises are laying in store for us. But still, we can hardly wait to get our new Mustang!

 

No dealer should charge you "Prep" for a car. Ford pays back each dealer for this and gas.

 

Why did I take it personally? You basically answered the question. All he had to do, was type "Most" dealers are vultures. Not all. Thats all. Ever since I was 18, and went to the local auto show, I saw this young guy selling cars. I said I could do it. I know a ton about cars. Now, I have been doing it for almost 10 years at the same location, and love what I do. This job has caused me some serious health issues, but I wouldn't change anything. Not for a minute.

 

seroiusly???? the Doc. Fee is BS ??????.....oh....I''m ****ed!




haha....language filters are alive and well

 

You are right, I should have qualified my comment about "vultures" to read something like MANY dealers are "vultures".

Sorry if I offended you or anyone else.

I still am just a bit sore about my adventures in purchasing my 'Stang in May 2005 when black GT 'verts were nearly impossible to get, and I was seeing "non-negotiable" markups of up to $15k (!) over MSRP and indifferent and/or rude salespeople that demonstrated an "up yours" attitude to ME, "the customer." They even wanted to mark up a car that was ordered from the factory! (and then they refused to do so anyway).

The managers were little better than fat, lazy slime who tried various "bait and switch" tactics, even at one point trying to sell me a FOCUS. They acted like I intruded on their fiefdom when I exhibited a bit of knowledge about how to buy a car, and their rudeness, stupidity, and indifference appeared to be directly proportional to the amount of ADM they were demanding.

I could understand this behavior if it was isolated. However, I went to no less than TWELVE dealerships in the L.A. and Orange County area and got similar treatment. The dealerships in Whittier and the Tustin Auto Center stand out in my memory as the rudest and the greediest.

As you can see by my sig, I love my 'Stangs, I'm a repeat customer, and I'm a guaranteed sale! (complete with good credit and a fat down payment!) How dare these thugs treat me like a piece of crap.

If I wasn't a Ford enthusiast that was DETERMINED to get the car I wanted I would have long since renounced Ford and gotten something else due to these chimpanzees running the dealerships.

So you my friend 05GT, (and ISELLFORD) are probably the exception to the rule that dealers are slime, and once again I am sorry if I offended you.