Jakeman

I'm picking up my 997 this Saturday. The dealer agreed to a price in writing of "6.25% over invoice TBD at delivery." Other up-front charges disclosed at the time of ordering are $256 for vehicle registration, $6 tire tax, and $169 for doc fees.

When we went over the final numbers I noticed an additional $475 in the invoice price. The salesman said that this is $345 dealer prep and $125 for detailing.

Is this reasonable? He's resistant to dropping the charges (of course)...and they were not disclosed beforehand. He said that this is how they calculate the invoice price and as it was TBD, it's not a secret.

Thanks,

Jakeman

robbonds

id resist..dealer prep and detailing are not part of invoice..they are dealer addons

tell him not to prep or detail the car

1999Porsche911

In many states, dealer prep is illegal unless specifically indicated BEFORE signing of contract. If it was not disclosed at the time the contract was signed, you do not have to pay.

4thporsche

I wouldn't tolerate it. Take your business elsewhere.

ChipAZ

Why would you want to detail a new car? Prep yes. Some of these dealers just try to squeeze every little penny. They figure you have "got have this car itis" and you will ignore the screwing you over part.

QKENUFF

Give em a gentle nudge and see what the reaction is. Over the years of service and assistance, the few hundred will be long forgotten, the bitterness if there is a big disagreement will be a long remembered thorn and potentially spoil the othewise enjoyable experience of picking up a new car. Many ways to look at this one..
Use good judgement, and try to leave the scene happy either way.

SrfCity

Yea, they're getting you with a few gotcha's there. If the guy holds his ground then go over his head and contact the GM. If you make a fuss these little surprises will go away.

1999Porsche911

Decide whether you are a man of principle or not. Tell them to keep the car unless the extra charges are removed. Then walk away if necessary. No big deal. There are other dealers and other cars. However, if the contract shows this charge, no matter how small the print, you need to stepup and pay.

1Carnut

If I can remember dealer prep is on the invoice, as for being billed to clean a car, that is insane. I have never had that happen, and I buy alot of cars.

jcnesq

I think that is TOTAL BS! They have lots of profit in the car already, they didn't disclose those charges to you (I assume), and as a practical matter they have no related costs. I would not want them to detail the car under any circumstances - if they do more than wash it, the most they would do would be to have a minimum wage guy spend 15 minutes putting cheap wax on.

Frankly, I really hate the auto dealer industry - way too much BS!

tkids

They should eat it! Typical dirty car dealership trick. Hopefully they didn't have the min. wage employee put a bunch of swirl marks in the paint with the "Cheap wax job"!

Paul523

+1
both of those add-ons are laughable. How dumb for the dealer to jeopardize potential lifelong customer's goodwill for a few nickles.

jplanaux

if u decide to pay those fees, then i am here to tell you that there are rennlist fees associated with this thread. you must pay everybody who responds to your question. $100.00 per favorable response and $99.50 for an unfavorable response. The undecided get $10 per day until they can make up their minds. pay up or tell those turkeys that they are as idiotic as this post. i would also name the salesman and dealership.

me - i made my deal - total up front. you can do this if you know what options you want and you hold fast.

points

My dealer threw both of those charges in.Champion in pompano beach knew that i would be back for other items and they were right.

Eric - Plug Guy

Those are some pretty low doc fees, I'd eat that and tell them to stuff the balance.

But....if you want to play hardball, tell them no way on any of it, and for sure tell them NOT to detail the car, they will ruin it. Take the car once it's ready to go, and pay what was agreed. Nothing else.

IF, and ONLY IF, they persist, be willing to pay the doc fees (most dealers charge $300-$600 for this), but it's still 90% fluff.