Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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It's still 44k vs 45.5k. I don't know which dealer in MD to contact though...
All dealers I talked to, said $45,000 is for FWD with Technology Pkg.
I guess for San Jose area, the best price for SH-AWD + Tech is 46,000.
Thanks for replying to my post.
Thanks!
Exterior : Graphite Luster Metallic
Interior : BLACK
- Secure Etch
- Wheel Locks
- Tint
- All season weather mats
- Splash guard set
- Folding cargo tray
- Door Edge Film
- Body Side Molding
Out of door : $46990
County : Dallas,TX
what is the tax+registration+document fees.
Registration & Documentation fee : 300
I think you get a very good deal. I am looking for the same AWD with Tech in Texas area, can you send me the dealership name and salesman contact information? You can send to my Edmunds account inbox. Thanks.
That's non-AWD, correct? Can you please share the name of the dealer and the price before TTL.
Thanks in advance!
That does cause problems, as you noted, when people post their OTD price paid and we don't know what fees were included.
Any doc fee over $50 is too high imo, but you'll see them upwards of $400 and $500 or more in some areas, especially where they aren't regulated by state law.
TTL is what it is, so you should be able to calculate that. Figure out the price you want to pay (shoot for invoice, if not lower), then add on the 5 or 6% or whatever the tax rate is, then add on the TTL. That'll give you a number without the doc fees (or any other "garbage" fees the dealer may try to stick on). When you email and get quotes from the dealer(s), you can then respond that you'll pay $xx,xxx out the door. That'll clue the dealer in that you don't want to waste time negotiating the line items. You don't care what the line items say so long as the bottom line price works for you.
If the dealer counters that your OTD number is too low, you can say their doc fee is too high. They generally won't lower the doc fee but they can lower the selling price of the car to make up the difference. Hopefully their will be a common ground number that will work for your budget and still let the dealer make a few bucks.
btw, if you wind up at the dealer and have questions, you can call us 7 days a week (or chat in real time with someone). See the Live Help box up top. The hours are 8 to 5 Pacific Time.
A dealer's selling price includes, by definition, all cost to the dealer plus dealer profit. The only real fees to be added to the price are those imposed by the government, including registration, title, and taxes. Those fees are not a cost to the dealer and should not, therefore, be included in the selling price of a vehicle.
The dealer cost to prepare whatever documents are required is no different than any other dealer cost, such as rent, staff wages, heat, office supplies, etc. An inquisitive person may ask a dealer why those other costs are not added to the price? The answer, they are already included in the price.
The dealer fee gambit is simply a tactic developed by dealer F&I folks to sneak additional price past unsuspecting buyers. As an added bonus to the dealer, such fake fees allow dealers to advertise a lower price, while hiding the fee in the small print, to entice folks to visit the dealership. We all know the prime objective for any dealer is to get buyers into the dealership.
Anyone interested should google Earl Stewart On Cars, a dealer in Florida who has some honest insight into these fake fees.
What documents does a dealer actually prepare and how much does it actually cost a dealer to submit the paper work to the DMV? With computers most of the paperwork is prepared by the F&I salesman in the box with little effort. We all should understand the various tactics these F&I folks have available to increase dealer profit. A smart buyer simply says NO to anything offered by these sales people. Why should the document fee be any different?
Any additional document related effort is likely performed by a clerical worker probably earning less than $20 an hour. I suspect the actually effort related to a single purchase is far less than one hour.
So dealers are charging upwards of $500, some much more, for effort than likely costs them a couple of dollars. And, those costs are mostly wages, which is already included in the selling price as a dealer cost.
It is important to understand, dealers who charge these fees must, legally, include the fees on the sales contract. If the do not, they run the risk of being sued. However, that does not mean a buyer has to pay the fake fees.
The best way to counter these fake dealer fees is to first arrive at a price objective and second reduce that price objective by the amount of the fake fees. For example, a price of $20,000 is negotiated and, in the box, the F&I person adds $500 making the price $20,500.
A smart buyer will simply state, with the doc fee I will buy the vehicle for $19,500. This restarts negotiations which is a good thing. At that point the dealer has already concluded a sale has been made. They will not likely let that deal walk away over a fake fee. If they do, there is always another dealer.
On the service side you get your bill for parts and labor, and then you may see an environment fee or a small "lube" fee that covers any incidental use of a bit of oil or grease or whatever. Those little fees add up.
Best we not get started on the airlines....
Any suggestions for Extended warranty? hyannishonda, saccuccihonda, curryacuracare or any other?
Consider, the provider of the ESC must make money. They are highly trained actuarial folks who compute the expected payout of the ESC. The ESC provider adds profit and provides that to the dealer, who then adds additional profit.
For example, likely an ESC will cost the ESC provider $600 or so. The ESC provider adds $300 and sells that ESC to the dealer for $900. The dealer then adds its profit and trys to sell the ESC to the car buyer at $2,000 or more. So, ask yourself, is it really smart to pay $2,000 or more for a product the actuarial experts say will only pay back $600?
You would be much better off to put the $2,000 into an interest bearing account. If an unexpected repair should occur, the $2,000 is readily available. Of course, in the likely event such a repair does not occur, you have the $2,000 not the dealer.
I have had Acura and Honda vehicles for years. Not once did I have a repair which would have been covered by an ESC.
Also, many insurance companies, GEICO for example, sell mechanical breakdown insurance for a lot less than the dealer F&I sales people will attempt to extract from a buyer. Best to recognize it is rarely wise to rely on anything an F&I person says. They are highly trained in the art of deception. They sell every day while we buy once every few years. It is no contest. GOOGLE F&I training to see some of the tactics they employ.
Based on the infomation on this forum and other sources I set the price target for the new car as 45000, my trade in is a 05 sienna xlelimited awd, full loaded, brake rotor and pad, and tires are within 4 months, only 80300 miles, sqeaky clean history, i wished to get 10k for it, but all 3 dealers offer me 9200, New car 46250, 3 dealers offer same offer, in the end one dealer reduced to 46075 for the new car, so i did the deal.
I knew i was overpaying about 1k before doing the deal, but that is the best deal i can get, (in north philadelphia area, pa), at this moment.
Any specific dealer/salesman recommendations and/or ones to avoid would be appreciated. Willing to purchase anywhere in the metroplex for the right price.
I am in Arlington so Vandergriff is closest, but like I said, willing to purchase anywhere in the metroplex.
Thanks in advance for the responses.
What colors are you recent buyers getting?
MSRP - 49,500
Selling price -44,455
cap cost reduction - 0
residual - 30,959
plates and reg - 132.50
destination fees - 595
doc fee - 352
MF - .00120
monthly - $499 - $531 (with tax)
I couldn't get them to eliminate the doc fees. But generally happy with this deal
Therefore, many dealers have the doc fee pre-printed on the sales contract. Of course, from the dealer's perspective, this simply perpetuates the doc fee fraud by lending some degree of false authenticity to the fee.
That does not mean every customer actually pays a doc fee. The most effective way to handle the doc fee is to consider it part of the price paid. In you case, you paid $44,807 not $44,455. In today's MDX market, that seems like a very good price.
Regarding this so-called fee, buyers need to ask themselves if it really costs a dealer $352 or more to prepare a few forms, most of which are prepared by the F&I person to complete the sale. Any additional costs related to the documents are very insignificant, usually performed by a clerical worker who probably earns $20 an hour.
Furthermore, a dealer has many costs such as rent, heat, power, office supplies, etc. None of those costs are added to the price. By definition, price includes all dealer cost plus dealer profit. There is no reason, other than deception, why dealers have fought so hard to get these doc fees into the mind of the consumer as a normal part of the car deal.
The doc fees are not required by law nor are the required by the manufacturer. Therefore, they are not a fee.
For the dealer the fee accomplishes two things. First it allows them to advertise a lower price, with the doc fee always in small print. This gets more people to visit the dealership, which is their primary goal. Second, it allows dealers to make more profit since not all customers are aware of the doc fee scam. And it truly is a scam.
Can anybody tell me what kinda of extra incentives to expect on this coming thanksgiving/blackfriday for a mdx? Anyone got any experience from last year blackfriday to share?? I have already agreed of a price for a base mdx awd Msrp 45460 for 40400 plus tax tag and processing. Thanks you much!!
Looks like even with our crazy taxes I'm getting it for close to MSRP OTD. What do you think, good deal?
Next best offer was 51.2k but a 500 doc fee so higher OTD at 56.75.
got a better OTD price of 55.5k and a selling price of 50090 for a fwd, advanced 2015 mdx. The other option is a 55.7k with a1.b1 service for 3 years.
I hate paying this price, but I really want that lane assist/adaptive cruise/collision mitigation. Wish I could go without the entertainment package.
The best offers I had that time were from an Acura dealer in Northern NJ for 45,700 and an Acura dealer from MD for 45,650 for the same configuration but their documentation fees were lot more than of my PA dealer.
When I did my math the real difference was about $350 between the best offer and my local PA dealer’s initial price before TTL. The PA dealer who is 5 minutes from my home wasn’t willing to match the prices of out of state dealers but gave couple of hundred more on my trade-in. Considering what most of others in MD and VA paid before the TTL, I knew I was overpaying too but you are correct the best you can get in this area at this moment is closer to what you have paid. I am very happy with the vehicle.
Interesting. 48500 is the OTD I paid in PA for 2015 AWD TECH
Thanks & good work!
In DFW - i got the dealer to agree to this price: Lease - 36 months , 10K miles
Down Payment : $3500
Monthly : $450
Residual: 61%
I am buying 2 cars from this dealer.
Hope this is helpful.
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Total 55.1k OTD. 4k was just taxes.
Only extra was wheel locks.
1.9% financing for 36 months.
I think I got a decent deal.
I am in the market for Acura MDX AWD Tech and Entertainment package in the Dallas-FortWorth area. If I am able to negotiate a dealer price between 47000 and 47500 (just for completeness, TTL Not included), a good price or am I paying too much?