wolfmax

When I brought my new car home yesterday (with 5 miles on it!) I was feeling good about everything and paying invoice price.

However, after digging a bit deeper, I think I got screwed. it seems many of you have nabbed them at well BELOW invoice. Plus, like an illiterate fool, the dude suckered me into a 100k warranty for $930. I passed on the other schtuff.

They also charged me $300 for advertising, and $240 for documentation, etc. I could kill myself for not tying that stuff under the original deal -- meaning, I should have paid invoice price INCLDUING everything but tax and license. What's this documentation fee?!?!?!

I was so excited, and I was late for another engagement, which made me too eager. Bummed about my performance, but still thrilled with the car! Anyone else overlook things while caught up in the moment?

Simpleman

Edmunds.com says the A.E. with 5speed, Bose, cd changer, splash guards, microfilter, and leather trim package goes for $27.3k invoice, and $27.1k TMV.

How is this pricing possible, for below invoice? Are there rebates or incentives floating around I don't know about?

Well, I'm debating between this and the CL-S.

UMD_MaxSE

iTrader: (1)

Any dealer who charges for advertising and BS fees like that is a crook. Sure, they may have a really good price on the car, but when they add in the other stuff, watch out. I have been to one dealer who did this and simply walked out when they started adding on this type of stuff. But don't sweat it. Now you know, and the next time will be better. As long as you learn from it and still love the car, it's OK. So, enjoy the Max....

maxleaner

Per the dealer I'm buying my AE from, there is a $500 rebate going on right now to the dealers ("why he is able to sell me the car for 27,700 including all fees" (minus tax) for a car that invoices at 27,400 including destination charge. Apparently that has finally caught up to Edmunds. The TMV at the time I made my deal was 28,188 (1/15/01). Now it's saying 27,240 - a good deal in January is now me getting screwed for $500 in April. Oh well - at least I have a clause in my purchase agreement that says any rebate or incentive above the 500 will be passed on to me. Unfortunately, if all the Nissan incentives are hidden and unpublished, it will be hard to prove.

I too, agree the Ad fee is total BS. If the local dealers or Nissan need additional funds to advertise then their regular profit margins will allow, then raise the invoice or sell at a higher price, period. Next thing you know they'll try to assess a "dealership infrastructure fee" to cover the cost of that fancy showroom.

I usually tell the dealer if he wants to advertise his business on the back of my car, my fee will always be equal or more than his. (Either way I still remove the decal after I get the car).

maxleaner

I looked at Edmunds explanation of TMV caculations at
http://www.edmunds.com/edweb/tmv/about_new.html.

It says they don't take incentives and rebates into account on TMV pricing. I'm beginning to suspect their new calculator still needs some work. Either that or there's a huge glut of Maximas out there that no one is buying.

The TMV price of 800 over invoice I got in January was on Edmunds old calculator.

Edmunds also seems to say Ad fees are OK as part of the deal. That's a shame IMHO. It turns it back into a shell game with profit. We got rid of dealer prep charges, now we'll assess an ad fee. Oops, that didn't work, let's up the documentation fee. Oh oh, they're on to us on that one, let's go back to the $500 pin stripes we put on every car...It goes on and on.

TimW

iTrader: (6)

first the advertising fee has been on every invoice since the earliest 2K's. they are basically charging you for all those commericials that got you in there. All that siding across the desert isnt cheap I guess. Anyway, this isnt a dealer fee.

A documentation fee can be a bad thing.. or maybe not. You see, when the dealer hooks you up with a loan/lease, one of two things can happen.. You can use who they want you to and they get a kickback from the bank that does the loan.. Or you can pay a fee for them to set up the lease and such. Of course they can be shafting you, but I cant really sit here and say that from here. Either way, you pay.. I'd rather see the fee that all that backhanded crap.

Also, car prices vary widely throught the country as does resale. The max is much more popular in the south, prices are higher and so is resale.. in NY and CA, where they have had a hard time selling them, you can buy under invoice.

All that matters is that you like your car, they treat you well for service, and you feel like it was a value compared to the choices you had at the time you purchased.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Dude, If your not 100% firm on a 5-speed manual, GET the Lexus IS300. The thing is fully loaded for around the CL-S price. I wish I would have saved a little longer and passed on the Max due to some problems and Nissan's B.S.. Lexus or Acura will treat you better. I'm bitter, but hopefully you wont be disappointed after spending this much money like I am.

greggmax

I once was buying a car and there was a $100 computer fee along with the advertising fee. I told him the price I negotiate includes everything but tax and tags, so if you have these other BS charges, be sure to include them in the quote. If you don't object to them, the next thing is they will add in a detailing fee or some other crap. BTW, it seems to me that the price people pay varies with when the car is bought. I think if you buy the car when the new model year is introduced, you will generally pay more. The dealer also gets a holdback of 3% of invoice or MSRP. That is how they can sell under invoice.

jazzy8

In the Boston area, I saw an ad in the paper for a new 2001 AE SE with Meridian, leather, and auto (I think) advertised for 26,400. I assume the destination charge of $520 was additional. Just food for thought.

NYC2SD

Here is the breakdown (from my 6 years of working in the Finance office of a dealer) The doc fee, is charged to handle all of the office work and aministrative people who touch your deal. Usually holdback on a Maxima is about $500 - $700. So take the invoice and subtract the holdback and that is the real "cost". Then the doc fee usually covers MORE than their administrative costs. Any extra is pure profit. The money they get from the bank when they finance you depends on how many points they hold and that is called finance reserve. For example...the cost of the loan is 7% and they charge you 8.25%..that is 1.25% APR they are make on your $20 thousand dollar loan for the next 5 years. Not to mention there is usually a $200 to $900 mark up on your extended warranty.

nisMAXse

NYC2SD,

Funny you should mention the doc fee. When I bought my Maxima back in October, I thought I had covered everything as the deal was coming to a close. And at the very last second, the dealer tacked on this doc fee! This was 3 months in looking to buy this car and I was just tired of dealing with the whole car buying process. So, I said what the hell and let it go since it was only a couple of hundred dollars and I was still getting somewhat of a good deal. I even got a Nissan car care kit out of it (minus the clearcoat protectant for some reason!). In hindsight, I think if I would've just walked out on that dealer and to this other dealer I was negotiating with, I could've got even a better deal on the *EXACT* same car!!!!! Oh well...

NYC2SD

The doc fee is often regulated by the state that you reside in. There is usually a cap of what a dealer can charge. In CA it is only $45 (at least that is what it used to be). The real money is in the extended warranties and aftermarjet options. For example..dealer cost on a Lojack system is usually about $200 or less and they charge $500-$600 for it. Those lame window etchings they sell, usually cost about $40 and they sell them for $200-$300..and so on.

wolfmax

a

starstreak

You think that's bad? I got my Max GLE '00 in oct '99 and paid over $26k here in Hawaii.

Maximum Velocity

iTrader: (3)

That's about how much mine was too. Where did you get yours from?

starstreak

Got mine at New City. I knew the Loan officer. The sticker was 32k (Ugh.) I wanted the SE instead of the GLE, but the SE came with Leather,auto a/c,auto, moonroof, so the price was like 2k more than the GLE. I wish I got the SE. But I was pushing my limit.

Maximum Velocity

iTrader: (3)

That's cool. We knew someone too at New City. The fully-loaded SEs are really hard to come by. I got my car in June of 2000 and there weren't any SEs that were fully loaded. They got in an Icelandic Pearl SE about a month later, but it didn't have leather. It just had the C&C. They also did a search, and said none were coming in. By the way, what color is your GLE?

starstreak

That pearl white.
Hey, does your car keep polish? I swear, I can wax my car and two days later, it feels smooth, but not like I waxed it.

MaxSEAE

i think i got my car for an axceptionally good price....invoice was 28,400 or what was said by the dealer and this paper he showed me...i bought the car for 27,650 which was i think a very good deal...my fam bought like 5 cars from them already and so i got a pretty good deal...they didn't have the car i wanted and so they had to look around for it and also, my car is a ae fully loaded auto. the auto added a little more to it. i'm very happy with my car and i know i said this in every thread so far after i got my max but i love my car.