I am looking at closing on a ct200h, but the dealer just sent me a copy of the paper work for out the door pricing and now has a line item of Pre-Delivery Service fee. Before I call back and tell them to lose the BS charge or lose the deal, I wanted to get a better idea if you all were charged this fee and how much? My dealer is asking for $699, seems very high and its not required by law, but allowable in the state I am purchasing.
Pre-delivery Service Fee
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No, I am buying out of state....quite a few states away. Dealer is in Florida. I am aware of the $875 devlivery charges as part of the MSRP...this is an additional line item shown below verbatim.
"Pre-Delivery Service Fee:
This charge represents costs and profit to the dealer for items such as inspecting, cleaning, and adjusting vehicles and preparing documents related to the sale."
Through all of our discussions over the phone and cost of the vehicle, never once was a Pre-delivery service fee mentioned until we asked for the out itemized bill of sale so we can get exact amount for the bank for financing.
I wanted to know if this charge is more common now due to reduce inventory of the vehicle and demand. It is not sitting well with me and I am tempted to walk away if they dont remove the charge.
"Pre-Delivery Service Fee:
This charge represents costs and profit to the dealer for items such as inspecting, cleaning, and adjusting vehicles and preparing documents related to the sale."
Through all of our discussions over the phone and cost of the vehicle, never once was a Pre-delivery service fee mentioned until we asked for the out itemized bill of sale so we can get exact amount for the bank for financing.
I wanted to know if this charge is more common now due to reduce inventory of the vehicle and demand. It is not sitting well with me and I am tempted to walk away if they dont remove the charge.
Wow, I have learned a lot about Pre-delivery inspection fees, especially in the state of Florida. According to what I have read, many states do have a cap on the fee they can charge, typically ranging from $50-$200 dollars. Obviously Florida does not have a cap. Also per the FADA(Florida Automobile Dealers Assocation) the $699 price appears to be on the high end.
Based on Florida law, the dealer is suppose to include this fee in their advertised price. It doesnt have to be called out specifically in the add but will have to be highlighted on the buy order. Supposedly they should disclose all fees prior to "inducing the consumer into an obligation on the vehicle." I dont know whether the law is on my side but when I put my hold deposit down on the vehicle I was told the price, MSRP+ Delivery fee $875, +titling fees $500, therfore I am hoping they will honor what was discussed over the phone. I will call tomorrow and ask, otherwise I am walking from the deal.
I am already going farther than I wanted to get the vehicle ~1000 miles so this extra fee insertion is turning me off to getting this particular vehicle. I may just have to special order at my local dealer and wait.
Based on Florida law, the dealer is suppose to include this fee in their advertised price. It doesnt have to be called out specifically in the add but will have to be highlighted on the buy order. Supposedly they should disclose all fees prior to "inducing the consumer into an obligation on the vehicle." I dont know whether the law is on my side but when I put my hold deposit down on the vehicle I was told the price, MSRP+ Delivery fee $875, +titling fees $500, therfore I am hoping they will honor what was discussed over the phone. I will call tomorrow and ask, otherwise I am walking from the deal.
I am already going farther than I wanted to get the vehicle ~1000 miles so this extra fee insertion is turning me off to getting this particular vehicle. I may just have to special order at my local dealer and wait.
Bob259 called it right. It is "extortion." A so-called pre-delivery fee is just another way of ripping off the buyer. When the economy was going great guns here in California and folks had a lot of dough (at least more than they have today), it wasn't uncommon for a dealer to adhere a dealer mark-up sticker next to the factory sticker on the windshield or side window of popular cars. These mark-up stickers that ranged anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars were often used for the purpose of negotiating the car's price down to no more than the factory sticker price. This so-called "pre-delivery fee" at the Florida dealership in question sounds to me like an illegitimate cousin to a "dealer mark-up" sticker. And to me it's BS, pure and simple. Paying full MSRP for a CT200 or any other vehicle provides ample profit for the dealer.
On the other side of the coin, our capitalistic system does work on the law of supply and demand, and from a dealer's point of view, he is entitled to get as much for a car as he legally can. But if he wants to develop a loyal following, he would do well not to gouge his customers, whether they are local or come from out of state. Word does, after all, travel, and I point to forums like this one as well as blogs as evidence.
I would wager that the vast majority of CT owners on this forum paid no more than MSRP for their cars, although some of us were able to take advantage of a $1,000 "loyalty discount" off MSRP for having purchased a prior Lexus. I was told by my salesman that Lexus — not the dealership — ate most if not all of the $1K discount with the idea being that they would keep the customer for life. That's why it was called a "loyalty" discount.
If Florida law allows for this so-called pre-delivery fee, it's probably due to the effective work of the dealers' lobbyists who greased the palms of (sorry, made "political donations" to) the state legislators in Florida's state capitol.
On the other side of the coin, our capitalistic system does work on the law of supply and demand, and from a dealer's point of view, he is entitled to get as much for a car as he legally can. But if he wants to develop a loyal following, he would do well not to gouge his customers, whether they are local or come from out of state. Word does, after all, travel, and I point to forums like this one as well as blogs as evidence.
I would wager that the vast majority of CT owners on this forum paid no more than MSRP for their cars, although some of us were able to take advantage of a $1,000 "loyalty discount" off MSRP for having purchased a prior Lexus. I was told by my salesman that Lexus — not the dealership — ate most if not all of the $1K discount with the idea being that they would keep the customer for life. That's why it was called a "loyalty" discount.
If Florida law allows for this so-called pre-delivery fee, it's probably due to the effective work of the dealers' lobbyists who greased the palms of (sorry, made "political donations" to) the state legislators in Florida's state capitol.
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I know the fee you are speaking of...they call it that but a lot of dealers charge it...a dealer service fee. I too bought my car out of state...in Massachusetts. The dealer service fee there was only $295 which although a crazy fee is much less...there are some dealers (here in Florida) that don't charge any dealer fees...the only 2 I know of are Treasure Coast Lexus in Ft Pierce and Lexus of Orlando...if they happen to have the car you want that's great. I originally ordered my car from Treasure Coast but they are a much smaller dealer and don't seem to get in too many CT's. When I was looking around for a car, called Hennesy in Atlanta and a couple others, they all seem to have some sort of smaller dealer fees. When I originally was introduced and test drove a CT (at Lexus of Pembroke Pines) the salesman there told me they can't take the fee off but they would reduce the price of the car to reflect it being GONE...you should ask them to do this...also, just checked on Cars.com and Lindsay Lexus and Pohanka Lexus (both in Virginia) show yellow CT's there...they are both FULLY loaded at around a 39K price...and I don't know if they are presold but it's worth a call as it's closer to you...that $699 is pure profit for the dealership.
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Yes, this "Pre-Delivery Fee" is bogus. Tell them to deduct it from the MSRP of the vehicle if they insist on it or walk away.
Well the dealer would not budge, so I told them I am passing on the deal. What really bothered me is that they did not disclose this extra fee as they should have per florida law prior to me putting down a deposit as a cost to purchase the vehicle. What was discussed over the phone was MSRP, destination fee, tax and titling fees, once the buy order was sent we felt like they were trying to get extra out of us due to the demand of the vehicle and limited supply.
It didnt have all the options I wanted, but very close, plus it was about 1000 miles away so we would rack up a decent amount quickly, plus the feeling the dealer was trying to gouge us on price, we passed on it.
I have a back up hold on another vehicle but based on the color and options I doubt it will be passed to me.
Guess it may be time to special order and wait or go look at other options.
It didnt have all the options I wanted, but very close, plus it was about 1000 miles away so we would rack up a decent amount quickly, plus the feeling the dealer was trying to gouge us on price, we passed on it.
I have a back up hold on another vehicle but based on the color and options I doubt it will be passed to me.
Guess it may be time to special order and wait or go look at other options.
This is why the first question I ask dealers when I am ready to buy a car is "what is the drive off / out the door price?" If they give me a base price "plus TTL" then I say again "what is the out the door price?" Many dealers try to cram other fees into TTL. I have had dealers include "inventory tax" as if it were a sales tax (required by law), which is clearly is not.
I don't care if you charge a fee and call it a doc fee, a delivery fee, a toupee tax, whatever, all I care about is knowing the all-in price so I can compare apples to apples between dealers. Unfortunately with the CT200, buyers have no leverage, so none of this applies.
I don't care if you charge a fee and call it a doc fee, a delivery fee, a toupee tax, whatever, all I care about is knowing the all-in price so I can compare apples to apples between dealers. Unfortunately with the CT200, buyers have no leverage, so none of this applies.
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199 Posts
"Doc Fee" is not the same as Prep Fee.
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