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doc fee

2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  d-kall 
#1 ·
stealership says everyone pays 400.00 doc fees did you thanks
 
#2 ·
No. I negotiated price, allowing them to think they were getting the Doc Fee. Before signing, I told them to remove it or I'd walk. They let me walk. Then they called me back that night and took it off.

If they don't remove the fee, someone else will.
 
#3 ·
I paid the damn thing. It's a ripoff.....but I wanted to deal with the local dealer here, where I'll be getting parts and warranty service....and, where I have a friend working there. I found an identical Jeep on ebay that I could have bought for almost $2K less, but then with shipping and making an enemy of the local dealer, I decided to just play his game his way.

Sigh.
 
#4 ·
Good job Jeff! Only you should have said Take it off or Im walking,,,

Then as they let you walk out say,, if you call me back and want my business , you will need to make it $800 off!

Right,, somone else will knock that off ,, dealerships are full of BS. Good thing for them only 5% of the people push them hard.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Yep, I paid it. Most do.

From the experiences I've seen posted, it looks like one of two things usually happen.

The first is you tell the dealer early that you're not going to pay it. If they agree, you're probably paying it anyway--they just "hold the line" at a few hundred bucks higher on the Jeep. I suspect a lot of the folks who claim they "didn't pay a doc fee" fall in this category without realizing it.

The second is what Jeff described, which is perfect. He truly did not pay the fee. However, I've never seen that happen without you "walking out" and then getting the "call back." In other words, you're probably going to have to call their bluff to get the doc fee truly waived. Of course, they might not be bluffing.

My suspicion is that if you wait to buy your 2011 until the 2012s hit the lot (or are about to hit the lot), I think this is reasonably likely to work, though it's noteworthy that Jeff was able to get it to work with a 2011. My understanding is that the 2011s are selling very well right now, so if the dealership is offering you what they believe is a reasonable price including the doc fee, why should they bother to knock off the fee? Someone else will probably be in and will probably pay it.

So, what would I do? Use the Jeff technique and see if they call you back in 24 hours. If they don't and you still want the Jeep, call them back and give'em the damn fee.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I already had decided which dealer to buy from (got a rate discount from the bank if I went through them), but I didn't let them know that. I emailed several dealers and found one that would give me the same price with a $25 doc fee. Showed it to "my" dealer and said I was going to the other one to save the $225. But I wasn't. :)

They let me go, called me back later, and that was the point at which I had them remove that last $25.

BTW, I bought a 2011, ordered from the factory -- not off the lot.
 
#7 ·
I already had decided which dealer to buy from (got a rate discount from the bank if I went through them), but I didn't let them know that. I emailed several dealers and found one that would give me the same price with a $25 doc fee. Showed it to "my" dealer and said I was going to the other one to save the $225. But I wasn't. :)

They let me go, called me back later, and that was the point at which I had them remove that last $25.

BTW, I bought a 2011, ordered from the factory -- not off the lot.
And that brings up another good point--Jeff's needs had flexibility in the sense that any dealer can order a Jeep from the factory. That positioned him similar to folks who would be satisfied with any one of the several Jeeps on various dealer lots. You're flexible, so the dealership has got to be too.

By contrast, if you want the last 4 door, Deep Blue, black interior, manual transmission, Mountain Edition east of Kentucky :)punk:), you might have to be willing to fall on your sword a bit to get it.
 
#8 ·
Very true -- ordering from the factory guarantees that wherever you go in your area, the MSRP/invoice will be the same, and the exact same Jeep can be ordered from any dealership. That means they have to deal with me a bit more, because I talked to several dealerships and pit them against each other to get my business.
 
#12 ·
My fee was suppose to be $200. Having a friend who is a car salesman, he said this is basically a "perk" the salesman gets for selling the car...kind of like a tip a server gets.

I told them I didn't want to pay it (which is what my friend told me to do). He also told me a good trick is to tell them what you want to pay as a difference (be realistic about it). You know what you can afford and what you are willing to pay. Go into the dealership knowing where your payments would be and check with your local banks (and some internet banks) on the interest rates.

Needless to say, I told them what I wanted my difference to be and I explained to them I wanted it it to be no higher than that. I have really done my homework on my last 3 cars and this is the "stress free" way of buying a car.

I probably paid some doc fee, but I know where I needed them to be on my Jeep, and if I paid the doc fee, who cares. I got the Jeep where I wanted it to be. I might not have got the best deal on earth, but I was in and out in 40 minutes...and that included the test drive. Did the same thing on my fiance's Jeep. We figured out where she was "comfortable" with payments and we started our search for her Jeep. It took us several months to find exactly what she wanted, but we had that luxury because she had a VERY reliable car at the time and she was in no hurry to get rid of it.

Sorry for the long post.
 
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