unacceptable dealer fees

Asked by GuruXPP4K Nov 16, 2018 at 04:58 PM about the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI FWD with Sunroof and Navigation

Question type: Shopping & Pricing

Very disappointing to use car gurus at times. Certain used car dealers have this incredibly devious attitude and adding an enormous "Dealer Prep Fee" to their cars. Sometimes it is thousands. So the listing price is normal but when you ask about the final price they spring this fee on you. I find it unacceptable and I would hope car gurus would make note of this and possibly stop this behavior. In other words the "best deal" rankings car gurus uses is faulty since some dealers add thousands and at that time the car is no longer the so called "best deal". I think this is how these dealers get away with not having the best price over other more reputable dealerships and in the end their cars are more expensive anyway.
Sorry but as soon as a dealer says "fees" I hang up. I attached a picture that is the perfect example. Dealer fee is $999.00 on top of listed price you add that and it makes this add not the best deal around anymore.
Car Gurus..please stop these dealer from not having to disclose this.

7 Answers

Tell them you will buy the car without the BS fees. I do. Walk if they balk.

Well and I am saying cargurus should fix this I know it is not them. However they should stop this horrible practice and yes of course I walked.

What a scam every time. Car Gurus has a deal rating Great deal , Good deal , Fair deal What good is that if the dealerships add $800.00 to the price of the car. Why they do not put the car is .50 cent and there is a $17,000.00 fee. Lets be real. Car Gurus can stop much of this if they wanted too. Like no fees above $500 without being in the add as big as the price.

10

The dealers should be required to list their fees along with the price. We have all seen these games when trying to buy. And yes, walking away is the only choice. The problem for car gurus is that it makes the website less useful because it takes a lot of time to get to the real price.

1 people found this helpful.

$1,369 for PPP fee. Plus a Doc fee of $699. Over 2k in fees!!!! This dealers are nuts!!! That truck will sit until that dummy will come along and buy it. Not me!!!!

$1,369 for PPP fee. Plus a Doc fee of $699. Over 2k in fees!!!! This dealers are nuts!!! That truck will sit until that dummy will come along and buy it. Not me!!!!

Fast forward Oct 2022 - It gets worse: Reconditioning Fee $1195. Certification Fee $1495 (on applicable vehicles). Tax, Title and Tags, Registration Fees - not disclosed. Pre-delivery Service Fee $989. Private Tag Agency Fee $299. That's $3978 in fees, before the Tax, title, tag and registration. Well over $4000! And the dealers won't talk to about them over the phone. Yesterday, the under $18,000 vehicle I went to see ended up at over $25,000. Quoted from timesmojo.com: "Some dealers include an advertising fee on the invoice, but you shouldn’t pay that. Any fees with names like “pre-delivery inspection,” “dealer prep,” “vehicle prep,” or “vehicle procurement” should also be deal-breakers, Consumer Reports says. Those services are part of the dealer destination charge."

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