<p>It's actually not the "price" of the car that has me worried. American Express, Consumer Reports, and AAA all have an Auto Buying Program that negotiates prices for you. I'm a memeber of all three, and I trust all three. They all seem to use the same third-party to do this negotiating, because I get the same exact price (down to the dollar) from all three. </p>
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<p>Anyway, the price I've been quoted is for a 2010 Honda Accord, and it's $2200 below invoice. Yeah, <strong>below</strong> invoice! I mean, that seems pretty damn good! The dealer who is obligated to give me that price isn't the closest dealer to me, and I really don't know anything about them. So I've taken that price and shopped it around to some other dealers. Some never responded to me, probably because they saw the number and decided they can't/won't match it. Others have sent a generic "Come on down and we'll beat any offer". </p>
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<p>Problem is, that "$2200 below invoice" doesn't include everything. It doesn't include tax of course, although I know what that is and can easily calculate it. It's all the other stuff that worries me. "Doc fees", for example. This is a fee so that the dealer can have some paper pusher hit the print button on their computer a few times. It's a few minutes worth of work, but dealers can charge anywhere from $100 to $400 for it. Then there's the DMV fees. These should be standard, set by the state, for something around $200 or $250. But supposedly some dealers pad that total just to get some more money out of you. And then there are "dealer installed security packages" with things like window etching or wheel locks. These are $30 or $40 options, but they make you pay $300 or more for them. And they pre-install these things on all their cars, so you CAN'T get a car without them. </p>
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<p>So even though you might agree to a good "price", you can end up getting hit with a bunch of outrageous fees if you stop paying attention. And like I said, I've tried asking the dealers to list these fees ahead of time, but they're all trying to evade the question. I know these fees will be there, and I know they're unavoidable. But if one dealer is more outrageous than another, it can turn the tables and actually make the best offer into something less than the best offer. </p>
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<p>Yeah, I'll still be prepared to walk out of a dealership if the fees show up and they're too outrageous. But I'd really like to avoid wasting my time walking into dealerships that just want to con me...</p>
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