How Much Is That Auto in the Window?

I ran across an article from a couple of years back that appeared in the Wall Street Journal about car dealer practices that aren’t very consumer friendly. The author, Charles Passey, interviewed me for the piece.

Mr. Passey asked me to supply him with examples of car dealers’ worts practices. I sent him copies of invoices, buyer’s orders, dealer addendum labels, and names of people I knew around the US who were experts on unfair and deceptive advertising by car dealers. It was important to me because having what I’ve fought against for so many years written about by a national publication adds credibility. Not only does the Wall Street Journal have the largest circulation of any newspaper in America, but it’s also arguably the most respected daily publication. 

One might ask, why don’t local newspapers write stories about car dealers’ unfair and deceptive sales and advertising? The answer, like so many, is “follow the money”. Every local newspaper has an auto advertising section with most of, if not all of the dealers in that market. Newspapers seem to be the advertising choice of many dealers, although TV and online have definitely cut into their revenue in large metro markets. TV ads are so expensive that most dealers have no choice but to use the newspaper and online. Car dealers are the single largest source of ad revenue in many newspaper markets. 

Now I know that journalistic ethics require a separation between the news, editorial, and advertising departments. But that’s the way it used to be. Today local newspapers and even some national ones are struggling for survival. Ethics go out the window when it comes to survival. Would you steal food for your child if you believed you had no other recourse?

Another reason that I’m encouraged by this Wall Street Journal article is that every auto manufacturing executive reads this newspaper every day, especially articles about automobiles. Also, most car dealers also read the Wall Street Journal. Reading a negative report about deceptive car dealer sales practices in a highly respected national newspaper has got to get their attention. Many manufacturers and most car dealers seem to be in denial about how they endeavor to trick their customers with misleading, false ads and sales practices.

I have to believe the auto industry will awaken one day and realize that almost all other retailers in the 21^st century have left car dealers in the dust. Most car dealers are still employing the “get ‘em in the door any way you can and make as big a profit as you can get away with” shabby tactics that were common practice fifty years ago. Most manufacturers and some dealers are beginning to realize that car dealers are held in the lowest esteem of any other retailer. Car sales and service complaints top the list and car dealers rank dead last or close to it in the annual Gallup poll, HONESTY AND ETHICS IN PROFESSIONS, along with Congressmen, lobbyists, and lawyers. 

I tell manufacturers and my fellow dealers that if we don’t regulate ourselves, you can bet the government will step in and do it for us. Federal Trade Commission is conducting hearings all around America asking for input about unfair and deceptive trade practices by car dealers. If the government steps in like they did with our nation’s banks, car dealers and manufacturers can expect to be up to their eyeballs in expensive regulations, red tape, and bureaucracy.

Anatomy of the Dealer Fee: Car Dealers’ Dirty Little Secret

Car dealers hide virtually all the profit they make when they advertise or quote you a price on a car.

By adding a phony fee (usually disguised as a government fee) after you’ve committed to buy the vehicle, they can advertise or quote you a price lower than they or another dealer can afford to sell the car for…usually below their true cost. The term “Dealer Fee” has become generic like Kleenex for tissue. Car dealers began changing the name from “dealer fee” to less recognizable names, as you’ll see in the example below. Some car dealers are even advertising “We Do Not Charge A Dealer Fee” because they’ve changed the name to Electronic Filing Fee, Tag Agency Fee, Doc Fee, etc.

Last week on my radio show we mystery shopped a Honda dealer in Pompano, Florida. My shopper responded to an online advertisement for a 2009 Honda Civic for $6,998. The salesman informed the shopper that there were some additional “fees” he must pay including a “Dealer Administrative Fee” of $799, “UCI” (Used Car Inspection Fee) of $1,495 and unnamed “Taxable Fees” of $200.50. The dealership increased the advertised price by $2,499.50.

The Florida law addressing dealer fees and the regulation and enforcement are “jokes”. The current Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi, “looks the other way”. Governor Rick Scott also does not consider this massive deception of Florida car buyers an issue. Hopefully the newly elected AG, Asley Moody and Governor, Ron DeSantis will do the right thing by strengthening and enforcing the laws of Florida addressing the blatant car dealer deception.

Meanwhile my advice to Florida car buyers is this: Be aware that all car dealers (except me) charge hidden fees by various names. The only legitimate fees that should be added to the price of a car are Florida sales tax and Florida license tag and registration. These are government fees paid to the state of Florida. With this awareness, demand an out-the-door price from your car dealer which includes all charges except GOVERNMENT FEES. Compare this price with at least two of that dealers’ competitors. Be sure you’re comparing “apples and apples” …same year, make, model, accessories and the same MSRP. NEVER be switched to a different vehicle. This is car dealers’ favorite trick, so they can raise their price. Also, never be switched from a purchase to a lease; or from a lease to a purchase. If you prefer a lease, in addition to comparing “apples and apples’, be sure your down payment, all up-front out-of-pocket cash requirements, length of lease, and annual mileage allowance are identical when comparing lease payments.

Why Do Car Dealers Lie about their Prices?

You probably already know that you can’t buy a new or used car for the advertised price; the out-the-door price always ends up thousands of dollars higher. Car dealers are the only retailers that routinely trick their customers like this, at least to the degree that car prices are understated.

Have you ever wondered why virtually all car dealers do this? Imagine that you owned a Ford, Honda, Chevrolet, or Toyota dealership in Southeast Florida. Each of these car brands has as many as 20 dealers and no fewer than 12 selling the IDENTICAL product. Toyota has 19 car dealerships between Ft. Pierce and Key West. Every Toyota dealer pays Toyota the exact same price for their cars; but Toyota dealers don’t sell those cars to their customers for the exact same price. They mark up each car as much as they can…the highest price that the customer will pay. If a Honda dealer sells 25 identical Honda Accords in a given month, the likelihood is that each sold for a different price; the typical variation in profits on the identical vehicle can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Let’s say you owned a Honda dealership. The Honda manufacturer gives you a quota…a minimum number of Hondas you must sell monthly and annually to fulfill your contract allowing you to sell Hondas and often to receive volume cash bonuses. The only way you can do this is to price your Hondas “competitively”. But, you also must maintain a high enough markup on each Honda, so that your dealership remains profitable. This is the “Catch 22” and dilemma of all car dealers. A South Florida Honda dealer has EIGHTEEN other Honda dealers advertising the same cars he sells. If you advertise a Honda Accord for a higher price than most other Honda dealers, you won’t sell enough to meet your quota; if you advertise that Honda Accord for a lower price you’ll sell lots of Accords, but you’ll lose money on every car.

Therefore, all Honda dealers and all car dealers of all makes see only one viable course of action. Advertise their cars at a very low price, lower than their competition (and lower than they can or will sell the car for), so that the customers will come in to buy. Once the customer is in the dealership, the “games begin” to raise the advertised price to a price as profitable to the dealer as he can negotiate. The tools the dealers use to accomplish this are many…hidden profits (aka dealer fees) disguised as government fees, dealer pre-installed accessories, and switching the customer to a different vehicle or a lease rather than a purchase.

Car dealers see themselves as having no choice but to sell cars this way if they’re to remain in business. They blame their actions on the auto franchise system and there is some truth to this. Apple sells you iPhones directly, but Toyota cannot sell you a Toyota directly; car manufacturers MUST sell through their dealers. This system is mandated and entrenched by state law in all 50 states. The manufacturers created the dealer franchise system in the early twentieth century because they couldn’t sell their cars fast enough directly. Once a critical mass of dealers was created by the auto manufacturers, the dealers organized and lobbied their state legislatures to created laws protecting their franchises from the manufacturers. The main reason they did this was because the manufacturers were granting franchise agreements to too many dealers…” over-dealering”. Too many car dealers selling the same car in a market creates too much competition because it drives the prices down. Unfortunately for the dealers, there were (and are) already too many. Today, car dealers are overprotected, enjoying exclusive markets with state laws making it almost impossible to control, much less, eliminate even the most “problem” car dealers.

The auto franchise system is over 100 years old and obsolete, but it’s entrenched and will remain for the foreseeable future. New vehicles will, one day, be sold online directly by the manufacturers and maybe even through Amazon or Walmart. Vehicles will be built to order and delivered within a week. The price you see will be the price you pay, and you will be able to return the car for a full cash refund if you change your mind. Service, maintenance, and repairs on modern vehicles is minimal. Separate service centers will still exist to handle this need. Service centers will also have new vehicles of each model for you to inspect and test drive. Tesla is doing today exactly what I described, except for the one-week delivery time and unconditional moneyback guarantee.

But there’s a larger reason why car dealers get away with their deceptions. That is “because they can”. Auto manufacturers realize they’re stuck with the dealer franchise system and “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. Auto manufacturers have huge political lobbying clout and, when you add the car dealers and their associations’ money, state and federal politicians have no choice but to “play ball”. There are about 17,000 franchised car dealers. They have enormous lobbying power nationally through NADA, the National Auto Dealers Association, and they also have enormous lobbying power in all 50 state legislatures. The political donations that Big Auto and Car Dealers give politicians make the NRA look small by comparison.