RV dealership fees

[wfisher07]

I see a lot of people saying run if a fealership charges fees. I get why you would say that but it if you do that you are only hurting yourself and making an uneducated decision. I Have my mortgage and real estate license, I have sold cars and RV's almost all business charge fees. Granted I think it looks better if the dealership just added the fees to the sales price which in some cases they do. But If you run from a place that charges 5k in fees and buy an RV that is 10k more expensive than the place with fees you are only hurting yourself. In the RV business there is an amount all dealerships will give you for your trade. If one dealer gives you 5k more than the other place then proabably the raised their prices by 5k. The only thing that matters is the bottom out the door price.The fees, howe much you get for your trade none of it matters. The RV company I work at have the same RV for 10k less then the other places. We have fees to recoup money for shipping rvs, fixing them and paying empoyees. Also for fixing the rv. People say it is bad business the RV should be fixed before it sells. That doesn't make sense in a lot of situations because people say I want new tires 5k then decide to back out. The company now loses money and may have issues putting into the rvs that are actual sold. It is much more cost affective to fix the rv once it is sold in most situations. If you own your own business and want to spend all your money on something that you don't know if it will sell is up to you but business want to make a profit. When it comes to negotiation it depends on many factors. If a dealership bought the rv for a good price they can give you a good price if they are losing money or are breaking even they cant give you a better deal. The moral of the story is if you want a good deal only look at the out the door price forget everything else. Ask if that's the best price they can do and make an offer. If you don't like dealerships you can do private sale but we actually go through and fix things and spend a lot of money doing it. Make sure you go to a dealer you trust.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I'll pretty much agree. There are lots of sales & advertising tricks to make pricing look attractive or appeal to bargain hunters, so there is no point in getting bogged down on one or two line items in the sale contract. It's pretty much a matter of the right hand gives and the left takes it away, so make your final decision based on the bottom line, not a trade-in value or asking price. By all means, read and understand how that bottom line was arrived at and maybe use some of those items as possible negotiation points, but don't be surprised if that bargain sale price evaporates when all the fees are added up.

 

[old RV guy]

I see a lot of people saying run if a fealership charges fees. I get why you would say that but it if you do that you are only hurting yourself and making an uneducated decision. I Have my mortgage and real estate license, I have sold cars and RV's almost all business charge fees. Granted I think it looks better if the dealership just added the fees to the sales price which in some cases they do. But If you run from a place that charges 5k in fees and buy an RV that is 10k more expensive than the place with fees you are only hurting yourself. In the RV business there is an amount all dealerships will give you for your trade. If one dealer gives you 5k more than the other place then proabably the raised their prices by 5k. The only thing that matters is the bottom out the door price.The fees, howe much you get for your trade none of it matters. The RV company I work at have the same RV for 10k less then the other places. We have fees to recoup money for shipping rvs, fixing them and paying empoyees. Also for fixing the rv. People say it is bad business the RV should be fixed before it sells. That doesn't make sense in a lot of situations because people say I want new tires 5k then decide to back out. The company now loses money and may have issues putting into the rvs that are actual sold. It is much more cost affective to fix the rv once it is sold in most situations. If you own your own business and want to spend all your money on something that you don't know if it will sell is up to you but business want to make a profit. When it comes to negotiation it depends on many factors. If a dealership bought the rv for a good price they can give you a good price if they are losing money or are breaking even they cant give you a better deal. The moral of the story is if you want a good deal only look at the out the door price forget everything else. Ask if that's the best price they can do and make an offer. If you don't like dealerships you can do private sale but we actually go through and fix things and spend a lot of money doing it. Make sure you go to a dealer you trust.

The notion that if a dealer bought an RV for a good price they’re not going to just make more on it but pass the difference on to the consumer is magical thinking for the uninitiated. They’re going to get what the consumer will pay and the last thing most want to hear from a dealer is we’ll fix it up right after you sign here and the check is in our bank. The moral of this story is you paid less for the RV because it had crap tires now you want me to pay for the tires you should have already put on it. If you didn’t anticipate it needing tires and buy it accordingly you won’t be around long anyway.

 

[RayIN]

For the reasoning you present; I have a different method of negotiating. I determine what my vehicle should be worth for trade-in, then what the price of the prospective vehicle is I'm considering.
That differential in prices is my stance. A salesman can manipulate the numbers however they choose, but my differential price is my upper limit and I tell them that upfront.
It sure takes the wind out of their sales technique, and I've walked away from many sales lots without a purchase as a result, but did eventually find my terms.
As to dealership fees, I include that in the price of the prospective vehicle for my calculation.

 

[Kirk]

When I was buying RVs, I really didn't care what the discount on the new one was or how they figured out values or even what they were allowing for my trade-in. All that I wanted to know was how much money to drive away with the new one. My offer was that I'll give my old RV and $xxx, yes or no.

 

[RayIN]

When I was buying RVs, I really didn't care what the discount on the new one was or how they figured out values or even what they were allowing for my trade-in. All that I wanted to know was how much money to drive away with the new one. My offer was that I'll give my old RV and $xxx, yes or no.

"Give my old RV", now that is an appropriate term.

 

[darsben]

The out the door price is what I look at. I do not care much what the "made up" fees are just that the bottom line is what I offered to pay. The dealer can split up the money anyway he wants to. Reminds me that in the 70's Chrysler had an ADP fee. It was not what you think. It stood for Added Dealer Profit.

https://www.autotrader.com/car-tips/new-car-delivery-or-destination-charges-explained-213280

"Additional dealer markup: Sometimes seen as ADM or ADP (additional dealer profit), this cost does not need to be paid by you. It’s just one more initialism you don’t need to pay for — so don’t. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some dealerships charged market adjustments. This is one more fee you do not need to pay. But there are times when the scarce availability of vehicles calls for this to get added to your final invoice. However, one dealer may charge a market adjustment fee while another charges nothing. Shop around. You can always walk away before anything gets signed."

 

[old RV guy]

A buyer in the used market, which is what the op is talking about, who walks in off the street shopping for out the door price, payment and/or this is what my trade is worth and I’m real good at this, is a dealer’s dream come true.

 

[Seilerbird]

I always buy from a private party. No problems at all. I sell my old RV and buy another one. Two separate deals and no hidden bs.

 

[old RV guy]

"Give my old RV", now that is an appropriate term.

In many cases buyer’s who are real good at this, in spite of the fact they do this once or twice in a lifetime and the seller does this multiple times a day, are buying two things, the new RV and the RV they’re think they’re trading.

 

[Kirk]

"Give my old RV",

I have left more than one RV and automobile dealer "finance & insurance" guy and/or salesperson very frustrated because when they start massaging the numbers I just cut them off and tell them that I'm not interested and I'm unwilling to listen to it. If they insist on continuing, I get up and leave the room. That game is all about confusing the buyer and I will not play. If I make an offer and they wish to counter offer, that I'll listen but that's it.

 

[jymbee]

Shop around. You can always walk away before anything gets signed."

 

[DutchmenSport]

Well, when you REALLY think about it, it's the same thing automobile sales do too.

They advertise the car for $100 as the MSRP. It has the cheapest battery and the cheapest tires.

Now that you have seen the car and test driving in and you are in love with it.... you learn the rest of the story when you get ready to sign the bottom line ...

$100 more for "delivery"
$100 more for "vehicle prep" .... what that means is, they vacuumed the carpet and made sure it had oil up to the fill mark on the dip stick.
$100 more for an extended warranty.
$100 more for rust protection
$100 more for paint protection
$100 more for tire protection
$100 more for a road side assistance protection
$100 more for Serious XM
$100 more for that internet connection service (which is paid monthly by the way)
$100 more for the spare tire that was never included in the original manufactured vehicle.
$100 more for title, state and federal taxes.
$100 more for "GAP" insurance

So, now you sit down to sign that dotted line. The finance officer keeps explaining, the actual cost of the car is ONLY $100. With monthly payments at $10 a month, you'll have that paid for in 11 months (you have to account for interest).

By now, you are so much in love with the vehicle, you fail to realize you are actually financing, not $100, but you are actually financing $1300, but no problem, your payments are still low enough now and still within your budget ...


It just ..... WHEN you add the cost of the interest you pay back over the next 5 years, that $100 vehicle, financed at $1300 will actually cost you $2600!

BUT, BUT, BUT .... I got such a good deal on that car and I love it SOOOOOO much!

 

[jymbee]

Last new car, after quite a bit of back/forth with various dealers, I finally got a good price without any of these "extras". When it came time to sign I saw there was an extra $100 for locking lug nuts.

"Huh? What's this...?" I don't want/these

"Oh, that's pretty much standard", sez the sales guy.

"Well, I don't want them so you can take them off please", I tell him.

He slid went back into that mysterious back room where apparently the head decision maker sits on a throne trying to make sure all sales include as much BS as possible, and comes back out-- rather irritated-- "never mind". They just left the nuts on and no additional charge.

 

[old RV guy]

Last new car, after quite a bit of back/forth with various dealers, I finally got a good price without any of these "extras". When it came time to sign I saw there was an extra $100 for locking lug nuts.

"Huh? What's this...?" I don't want/these

"Oh, that's pretty much standard", sez the sales guy.

"Well, I don't want them so you can take them off please", I tell him.

He slid went back into that mysterious back room where apparently the head decision maker sits on a throne trying to make sure all sales include as much BS as possible, and comes back out-- rather irritated-- "never mind". They just left the nuts on and no additional charge.

He figured losing the deal wasn’t worth losing the pittance they paid for the lug nuts.

 

[DutchmenSport]

Too bad, you could have REALLY driven the point home by saying, I didn't ask for them, I didn't want them, I'm not paying for them, so take them off anyway!

 

[jymbee]

Too bad, you could have REALLY driven the point home by saying, I didn't ask for them, I didn't want them, I'm not paying for them, so take them off anyway!

Thought about that, but...
For all I know the lock nuts have saved my tires multiple times from theft, but I really doubt it. In fact, more often they're an issue when I'm in a shop to get tire work done and forget to tell them where the "keys" area.

 

[old RV guy]

Last new car, after quite a bit of back/forth with various dealers, I finally got a good price without any of these "extras". When it came time to sign I saw there was an extra $100 for locking lug nuts.

"Huh? What's this...?" I don't want/these

"Oh, that's pretty much standard", sez the sales guy.

"Well, I don't want them so you can take them off please", I tell him.

He slid went back into that mysterious back room where apparently the head decision maker sits on a throne trying to make sure all sales include as much BS as possible, and comes back out-- rather irritated-- "never mind". They just left the nuts on and no additional charge.

The mysterious back room is called "The Tower", thats where the floor manager sits and where the kabuki theater is orchestrated from. The salesman's role is to pretend he or she is in your corner and the manager in the tower is the adversary. The four square, trade value, purchase price, down payment and monthly payment, shell game takes place between the salesman's desk and the tower. The object is to get you confused and anxious and focused on what's coming out of your pocket in the now and every month, the down payment and the monthly payment. If they ever get you focusing on those two, your a** belongs to them. The top two figures are where they make the money, the bottom two can be anything the mgr. in the tower wants them to be. Then you go into the closing where by comparison the scumbag in the tower was Mother Teresa, the closer is the best salesperson who ever worked the floor and the tower and that's where the hosing really takes place and the money is really made. Fee's, Extended warranties, paint protection, fabric protection, blinking brake lights, .......

 

[John From Detroit]

Standard means they all come that way and there should be no extra charge.
"pretty much standard", Means they are commonly ordered but if you did not order them.

You are in your rights to refuse them.

There are things like Delivery and dealer prep that really should be included in the price of the vehicle up front.. They are added fees but... There is of course another hand/shoe.

Some states (Of which Michigan is one) your registration fee is based on the Price of the Car.. This does not include delivery and dealer prep so you save money every year at renewal.