Is a “delivery fee” on a used car at a dealership legit?
Its not atypical. I wouldn’t pay one though. If you’re not ready to walk away then you just take whatever “extras” they want to tack on.
The last time I bought from a used lot (which was a long time ago now) I took their asking price and basically said I’ll give you exactly that and not a penny more so its got to include everything - taxes, title, tags, “fees” of any kind. That’s what I got. It helped that I was standing there holding the cash.
It’s legit but entirely optional. A buyer can flatly refuse. Often the lot owner insists that his salesmen collect the fee, giving them no choice in the matter. But a stubborn buyer will insist the car’s price be lowered by exactly the amount of the fee. If you are disciplined enough to do what cigroller did, that’s the way to go.
Personally, I don’t care how a dealer breaks out and itemizes the price. All that matters is if the final price is acceptable or not. (This doesn’t count fees that don’t go to the dealer, such as sales tax or a registration fee, of course.)
When negotiating a car simply ask for delivered price + tax. Whatever fee they want they can place into delivered price.
I work for a dealer and yes its Legit, sort of… Legally if you charge it on one, you MUST charge it on all. With that said there is no law saying you cant reduce the amount of the car the same as the fee to make up for it. As others have said ALWAYs ask for the OUT THE DOOR number, that is the only number that really matters… IE they can say they are giving you 10,000 for your trade and only charging you $5000 for their car… OR they can say they are giving you $5000 for your trade and charging you $10,000 for their car… Its $15,000 no matter how you slice it. Customers tend to focus too hard on one part of the number, and not the bottom line. I had one customer argue with me that we were ripping them off because we were showing her $2000 less for her trade then another dealer, even though our out the door number was lower for a few hundred $$$…
If you pick the car up at a dealership there is no reason for a delivery fee. Just another bogus charge to get some more profit. If you got the car delivered to your home of office, then there is a reason to charge.
If the dealer purchases a car from another dealer, or at auction the cost to put it on his lot is a part of the price, no delivery charge. New cars have a delivery charge because the dealers are spread out across the country so the costs of delivering a car is different based on location.
I’d refuse to pay a delivery charge for a used car.
It’s a bit unusual on a used car but could be legit if you’re making a special request of them to obtain a certain type or color of car, etc. FOB charges are mandated on all new vehicles no matter if the vehicle is only shipped 5 miles. It would be the same as 500 miles.
If the dealer is having to ferry in a red whatever from 400 miles away at your request then there is a fair amount of additional expense involved.
You might clarify exactly what’s going on here.
If this fee includes arranging the title transfer and license plate, it’s pretty standard…people expect all this paperwork to be done as a “courtesy” but on a low profit sale, the dealer will charge you for it…
Just ask them…'What’s this “delivery fee” for??
To claify, I assume by “delivery fee”, is the same as “doc fee”, is the same as “dealer fee”… Different names for the same thing… Is it profit for the dealer yes, does any one get paid on it… NO it is not part of cars gross but does go to the bottom line of the dealership. As I said before though, the law is if you charge it on one you must charge it on all (at least as far as the paper work is concerned). I know in my area it ranges from $299 all the way to $599… Some dealers break it down into two fee’s but it is all the same.
If this dealer is at all chain-like it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a specific delivery fee. Carmax does this. If you go shopping online and search beyond whatever lot you’d buy from geographically, they will list a “Delivery fee” for any vehicle you might want that would come from a different location.