[PennBF]

Does every car dealer add "Dealer Prep" to the invoice?

[EdFNJ]

No but many do. It's like the $3-6000 they add to the sticker for pin stripes and "undercoating." First words to them would be remove it or I walk. MANY years ago cars needed "dealer prep" but now they wash them and that's enough.

Dealer Prep Fee
This is a fee, usually ranging between $100 and $400, that a dealer will try to charge for preparing the vehicle for sale. It's a ridiculous attempt at making extra profit because vehicle preparation is simply a part of doing business. Get the dealer to drop this fake fee before agreeing to purchase.

[dewilson58]

nope

[JohnN]

Dealer prep is pure profit for them.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by PennBF

Does every car dealer add "Dealer Prep" to the invoice?

You must of looked at a Jenkins dealership since they have many in the area. Two years ago when I was shopping for a new 2018 car, I went to Jenkins Hyundai of Leesburg and got their best price for a Hyundai Kona. It even had $500 veteran discount and they gave me $24,500 for my trade. They wanted $3,600 and my car for Limited model with turbo and leather, sunroof, everything but all wheel drive.

I then went to Hyundai of Central Florida in Clermont and looked at Kona's. They would only give me $24,000 for my trade. However, they only wanted $200 and my car for the same Limited model. They have no dealer fees, no prep fees and even the floors mats were included.

[retiredguy123]

The best way to buy a car is to only discuss one number with the dealer, the out-the-door price, which includes eveything right down to the trade-in, taxes, tags, and title. That way, who cares what the dealer charges for dealer prep or anything else? As soon as you engage in a discussion about any other numbers, you will lose money. But, you need to know what the out-the-door price should be by using a third party pricing guide, like kbb.com or edmunds.com.

[PennBF]

The reason I asked the question is that I went to a dealer in Leesburg and was looking for a price on a new car. When I looked at the price list they had a line item of about $800 for Dealer Prep. I said I would not pay for Dealer Prep as this was just "Fluff" and added Dealer Profit. The sales person responded with then I was not going to buy a car in Florida as every Dealer charged for Prep! That was as far as we got when he said thanks for coming in and good bye. I felt like I was being thrown out of the Dealer ship for challenging the line item rather than a cordial thanks for stopping in. We live and learn.

[xkeowner]

I haven't trade cars for a while but the last two times I did I had dealers that added "administrative or office fees" on the contract. Since they had a dealership decal and license plate frame om the the car I demanded an advertising credit in the same amount. One agreed and one lost a sale.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

The best way to buy a car is to only discuss one number with the dealer, the out-the-door price, which includes eveything right down to the trade-in, taxes, tags, and title. That way, who cares what the dealer charges for dealer prep or anything else? As soon as you engage in a discussion about any other numbers, you will lose money. But, you need to know what the out-the-door price should be by using a third party pricing guide, like kbb.com or edmunds.com.

Amen, I hate the hassle. If I'm trading in I just tell them I'll give you my car and the clear title along with a check for X number of dollars for the new car, and then tell them they can write it up any way they choose as long as the end result is the amount on my check. Be fair with your offer though as they are in business to make a profit. If they added a bunch of other stuff to the car I don't even take that into consideration, I only work off of the true MSRP.

[manaboutown]

In my experience price depends a great deal on how in demand or scarce a particular model is. On a run of the mill car, SUV or pickup truck a deal can almost always be made at some dealership. That is not always the case on a rare or high demand vehicle.

[Pinball wizard]

Originally Posted by PennBF

The reason I asked the question is that I went to a dealer in Leesburg and was looking for a price on a new car. When I looked at the price list they had a line item of about $800 for Dealer Prep. I said I would not pay for Dealer Prep as this was just "Fluff" and added Dealer Profit. The sales person responded with then I was not going to buy a car in Florida as every Dealer charged for Prep! That was as far as we got when he said thanks for coming in and good bye. I felt like I was being thrown out of the Dealer ship for challenging the line item rather than a cordial thanks for stopping in. We live and learn.

Couple of thoughts...

1. It's YOUR money to spend as you like.
2. He was rude. I would have responded "then I guess you don't want to sell a car today".

[VApeople]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

The best way to buy a car is to only discuss one number with the dealer, the out-the-door price, which includes eveything right down to the trade-in, taxes, tags, and title.

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

If I'm trading in I just tell them I'll give you my car and the clear title along with a check for X number of dollars for the new car.

Yeah, that is exactly how we have done it since 1995.

We bought a Toyota RAV4 last year and traded in our 2005 Honda Accord. We offered to give them our Honda plus $25K for the new car and they accepted. We wrote them a check and drove the new car home.

The most important thing is to get a car that you truly want and will enjoy driving for several years, like our 2003 Acura RSX.

[VApeople]

Originally Posted by PennBF

he said thanks for coming in and good bye

Don't worry. I have been told that by several dealers when we lived in Fairfax County VA.

In Fairfax, there were a lot of dealers so if one didn't like our offer, we would simply go to another dealer and offer $100 more. Eventually we would find one to sell us a car.

Around here, there are fewer dealers so we tried to compute a price that had a better chance of being accepted.

[John_W]

Since 2012 I've bought 4 new cars and I've used this method each time. I go to autotrader.com and just above 'search' click on 'advanced search' and select however far you're willing to drive. I usually select 75 miles, the four purchases I made were in Winter Haven, Clermont, Leesburg and Sanford. This way your getting dealer prices from leesburg, Ocala, Orlando, Tampa/St. Pete and everywhere in between.

Select the brand, model, new or used, if used how many miles, transmission, the colors you prefer, engine size, and options like leather, etc. Then hit search and you'll see your choices with the prices. Generally a dealer will have an online salesman who photo will pop up and you can talk to him.

The first one I bought this way was a 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo with automatic in October 2012 from Red Hoagland Hyundai in Winter Haven, about a 90 minute drive. The list price was $23,925. Next I go to Kelly Blue Book KBB.com and see how much I should pay. I then also enter my trade to see how much I should get.

Now armed with this info, I spoke to the online salesman on the website about the Veloster. He took the phone and walked out to the car and answered any questions I had. I told him I'll be there in less than 2 hours and to hold it, if possible.

When I got there, I took a test drive and then asked the salesman what was his best price, he said 23,000, I told him I wasn't paying more than $22,600 that was the KBB price. Then I asked about my car since the appraiser had driven it, and they said they would give me $16,000. I told them, I wanted $16,500 and we have a deal, five minutes later he said, you have a deal.

Autotrader Car Search

Kelley Blue Book | New and Used Car Price Values, Expert Car Reviews

Here was the car, it was a great little car. I kept it 4-1/2 years and 30,000 miles. It was 201 HP Turbo, of which most Velosters on the road are not turbos, but the sluggish 138 hp engine. That's one reason I had to search, Jenkins of Ocala called a week after I bought the car to say they had a turbo in stock but wanted almost $25,000 for it.

The last car I bought was a 2018 Hyundai Kona, and after I found the car I wanted on autotrader.com, I then went to the dealer's website, Hyundai of Central Florida in Clermont. Their much more aggressive and list their best prices on their website with no dealer fees, no prep fees, no dealer accessories. I stopped at Jenkins in Leesburg, simply because they were on the way and wanted to see a Kona in person since they were new. While there I got their best price and went onto Clermont. The difference by driving to Clermont was $3400 cheaper. It's the out the door price that matters. Even though Jenkins offered $500 more for my trade and gave me a veterans discount, their price plus my trade-in was $3600. In Clermont their price with my trade was only $200 out of my pocket and since sales tax is calculated on the difference, that was much cheaper, only $14 for sales tax.

[UpNorth]

Years ago, I went shopping for a new car and knew exactly what I wanted. I typed out the description and made 4 copies with 4 envelopes. I went to 4 dealers and told the salesmen that I wanted him to go to the sales manger and give me their best price on the car. They were to write it down on the sheet and seal it in the envelope. They had one chance to make the sale, since I was going to 3 of their competitors and doing the same thing. After all 4 were done, I was going home to open the envelopes to find out the "winner". There was nearly $1000 difference between the lowest and highest bidders. The lowest bidder was obviously the one I bought from. With this method, you are in charge of the price you will pay, and the dealer can't play games.