I probably don't want to know the answer to this, but I'm too curious not to ask. My dealer charged me $400 marketing assessment fee, which according to an invoice they showed me, is what Nissan charges the dealer for all its cars. I tried to argue that I shouldn't have to pay that, and that I wanted invoice cost as I saw it at Edmunds and other various sources, which apparently do not include advertising/marketing fees. Other than that, I got my car at Invoice + $50 + this $400 MA fee.
Did I get taken for a ride?

 

Considering yo got your car for $450 over invoice I'd say ya got a nice deal (better than mine). I really don't pay attention to what name the dealer puts on the price. The bottom line is what you actually pay for it.

 

depends on whether or not they added this fee before or after negotiating the cost. if they added this after you settled on a price then they ripped you off and you should have got up and walked out right then. you never know what will happen if you go back and tell them you feel ripped off - maybe a refund, maybe free oil changes... always worth a try.

in the future, always get the 'out-the-door price', which is the absolute final price including sales tax, tags, title, invoice, destination and whatever else before you even talk to the money guy. this way you have an apples-to-apples number to take to other nissan dealers locally or online to start a low-bid competition for your business.

 

The MA Fee or Holdback is a marketing allowance that the mfg.s add to every car the dealer orders, to help the dealer with the cost of radio & print adverising etc. I used to work for a Ford dealer several years ago and the fee was $350.00. We never went below dealer invoice or "into the holdback fee" as they called. So iIf your dealer showed you their invoice cost and the "ma fee" was INCLUDED in that cost, then I would say they were on the level and you got one H*%L of a deal. If however, the person in finance or someone else ADDED the $400.00 to the deal you worked with the salesman afterwards, then something is fishy and you should challenge them on it.

Either way, ENJOY your Max!


2K GXE, Icelandic Pearl
Mods: K&N Drop in

 

you got taken.
the only thing you should pay is
Price of car (hopefully @ invoice)
destination fee $400-$500
doc fee $45
Tax (varies)
License/registration

no way you should pay Marketing Fees for them, that's part of their overhead costs.

 

Some dealers will bite into their holdback, especially if you are going to finance through them or take an extended warranty. The $400 sounds a bit high. I looked at the paperwork for my car and the only marketing fee I could find was $90. I am in CA.

 

Well the $400 MA was itemized in their invoice, along with the destination fee, so basically what I paid was their total invoice cost + $50. That was the deal we worked out. Afterwards, when doing the paperwork, nothing else was added except of course title+tag. It just turns out that if you look up the "Invoice" cost in the various books and the web, they include destination fee but they leave out this "MA" charge by Nissan. I was told this is not a dealer-added fee, which of course I wouldn't have paid.
I was also under the impression that holdback was separate from this MA fee, that they get around 3% or so of MSRP from Nissan directly, to pay for costs associated with keeping the car on the lot. So if this is true, they still made more than $500 on the deal.. what I wasn't sure about is if they lied to me and they're also pocketing this $400.

-sentient