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Many states are passing laws that allow car dealers to charge higher prices for the paperwork involved in selling a vehicle, such as preparing registration, titles, and license plates. Currently, 30 states have no caps on such fees, allowing dealers to add on charges that were not advertised or negotiated. Such fees, often called documentary fees, or doc fees, average $400 to $700 in states that have no fee caps, and in some states, there could even be a sales tax on top of the fees.
In many states, these fees don’t even have to be disclosed, and oftentimes, the amount charged is considerably greater than the amount of work warrants. In many cases, the customer only has the chance to see the fees just when signing the contract, when many customers would be reluctant to negotiate or question further, or worse, yet, they would just sign the contract without reading it.
Car dealers argue that higher fees are necessary to comply with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that requires dealers to have a plan to protect customers’ privacy and to implement it. Other laws require that dealers check customers to see if they are listed as potential terrorists, and dealers must be able to verify that such checks were done. However, it is difficult to see how these would significantly increase costs.
Other fees that may not have been explained or negotiated in advance, or included in the documentary fees, include vehicle prep fees, for cleaning and inspecting the vehicle; finance markups for handling the financing, which may be up to 3% of the loan amount; and dealers often add large markups to extended warranties and accessories because customers rarely shop around for these items. Extended warranties, in particular, are rarely worth any price, because they only cover what is not likely to fail, and rarely cover things that are far more likely to need repair.
Hidden fees, of course, have always been an effective way for a seller to increase profits without having to advertise, or even mention the fees, in advance. An effective way to eliminate the fees is to turn the tables. At the closing, the dealer is expecting the customer’s signature on the sales contract, so the customer can demand that the fees be rescinded, or he won’t sign the contract. That should force most car dealers to deal.
There is also a chat section at CarTalk.com where you can chat about your vehicle, or ones that you are interested in. However, this website has an extremely annoying car-honking-horn sound that repeats every minute or so, and it seems to be on every page. It's especially annoying if you are using a tabbed browser, and have multiple pages loaded in the background.
Below are some of the pages at Cars.com:
"The residual values are a percentage of the manufacturer's suggested retail price (including destination charge) and are provided by Automotive Lease Guide. These 2006-model-year vehicles are expected to hold the most of their original value within their vehicle class after three years. Find the residual value of any other 2006-model-year vehicle with our residual values tool."
"The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does not test all cars. Like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, IIHS concentrates its crash tests on the highest-volume vehicles.
This table represents the 2006-model-year vehicles IIHS selected as top safety picks. The winning vehicles afford the best protection in front, side and rear crashes, based on IIHS tests."
This is a good site to find information about buying cars and trucks. For new vehicles, this site lists not only the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (often referred to as the MSRP, “sticker” or “list” price), but also the dealer invoice price, which is the price the dealer paid for the vehicle, and the transaction price, which is the price buyers are typically paying at new-car dealers. Kelley Blue Book (KBB) calls the transaction price the New Car Blue Book Value, and this will be very useful for haggling for the best price at the dealer. Another nice feature is that when you specify a specific model that you are looking for, including options, KBB will list available local dealers for that model in a sidebar. Check the dealers you would like to get a quote from, submit the form, and they will send you a quote. KBB lists the local dealers based on your zip code that you give it when accessing the site. It stores the information as a cookie so that when you go back, you don't have to input your zip code again, unless you turned off browser cookies. Detailed car descriptions also include what you may or may not like about the car.
The information on used cars is similar, but the relevant prices listed are the retail value, which is the price that a dealer would charge, the trade-in price, which is what a dealer would pay you for your car, and the private-party value, which is the value that you can expect to get or pay when dealing with anyone who is not a dealer. These prices, of course, depend on the condition of the vehicle, and KBB provides prices for various conditions.
For both new and used cars, you can research vehicles by make or model, or by category. Categories include sedan, coupe, convertible, wagon, hatchback, pickup, SUV, van/minivan, and luxury models.
You can list your vehicle for sale here. Your listing will be available at KBB.com and Cars.com, and over 175 other sites. The Basic Package cost $20 for 2 weeks, but includes only a manufacturer's photo. The $40 Enhanced Package includes free renewals until you sell your car and 3 photos of your vehicle, ad statistics and reporting, window sticker and bill of sale; and the $55 Premium Package additionally includes a money-back guarantee if you don't sell your car within 90 days, a free CARFAX report, and 12 photos of your vehicle.
The search engine for used vehicles allows you to search for vehicles of particular models, within a specified price range, and within so many miles of your zip code. The search results display the model year, the make of the vehicle, asking price, mileage, who the seller is, the category of the car, color, and how far the place of sale is from your zip code. Most of the sellers seem to be car dealers, but this is certainly a good way to find relevant cars in your area quickly.
This site also has buying tips, and other pertinent information, including finance and insurance quotes, reliability ratings, and resell value ratings. Includes pages listing cars that have the best resale value for the current year, and also the most researched vehicles on KBB.com.
Special features are the Auto Show Coverage, which provides information about new cars being displayed at auto shows, and there are special sections for motorcycles, personal watercraft, and snowmobiles.
This site allows you to check the record on a particular used vehicle by entering the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) into its search engine. The information displayed includes the following:
You can get unlimited vehicle history reports for $24.99. This package also includes crash test results, reliability ratings, safety recalls, and operating cost estimates for each vehicle.
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