Greetings -

I test drove a '09 Pure Silver MCS last weekend and am hooked. However in reviewing the itemized breakout of fee's I notice a $300 dealer prep fee. Anyone know what this is and what it entails? I'm not thrilled about paying $300 for the lot boy to wash my mini.

Thanks!

 

It's just what they put on the sticker instead of 'dealer markup.'

 

Yep. Just be glad it's only $300. Many here have paid more (myself included).

 

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/scams.htm#Scam7

Tell 'em to drop the fee. Remember, for less money you can buy a Civic SI with equal performance, and they know it ... and it's a sucky economy. They want to sell you this car, right?

2009 Civic SI: 190hp, standard ABS/Stability/Traction (cost extra on a Mini), standard limited slip differential (also extra on a Mini), 8000 rpm redline, and at under $22k you'd have money left over for suspension goodies.

You're buying a Mini despite it's premium price and poor reliability record ... they should be glad you're coming in the door!

Good luck and enjoy the new ride!

 

Lucky for me, there was no dealer prep fee on my order. Maybe you could negotiate for some dealer accessories to even things out...

 

Must be dependent on market demand. MINI is one of very few brands that has maintained high demand even during a global recession. They have less incentive to give you a discount if there's a guy walking in the door right behind you who doesn't mind...

 

Dealerships really need to do a better job of explaining what this cost is.

When your car comes from the prep center on the truck it will have plastic stick on covers in various places to protect it in transit, and while most of the cosmoline is gone it will still need to be cleaned thoroughly (the lot boy part) it also will be checked over thoroughly by a technician, put on the computer to verify it has all the software it's supoosed to, and any dealer installed accessories will be installed. There are also costs associated with selling the car, including paperwork, title transfer, loan docs and so on - all these things have a cost associated with them, and while it's nice to think that the dealer will just pay those costs out of the profit from the sale of the car, there are other costs that are doing a really good job of sucking up all that money too. Everything from infrastructure costs like those incurred in building a nice clean facility to employee pay, taxes, advertising, flooring costs to have new cars and demos on the lots, free service loaners and on and on. It's a wonder any of them can stay in business......

Remember that the next time you want to buy a car at $100 over invoice - that's part of why shop labor rates are over $100/hr, parts cost as much as they do, and the F&I dept is so keen on selling you their "packages" of warranties and such - they have to make money somewhere.

Some dealer prep fees are reasonable, some I've heard of in Florida are outrageous - up to $1000 or more. $300 doesn't sound bad to me.........our dealer is one of the lowest I've seen, IIRC their prep fee was $169.

Oh, and they can't just "waive" it, state law says if they charge anybody a prep fee, they have to charge everybody - and it has to be the same fee for everyone and it has to be posted in the dealership that they are charging it and why. The only way they could "get rid of it" would be to discount the car by the same amount - in essence the sales dept would pay if for you out of their profit.

 

I suggest you read this:

http://www.car-buying-strategies.com/car-buying.html

I'm not saying people should cheap out and lowball dealers, but I've bought a few cars at under "invoice" prices and the dealer was sure to profit off me or they wouldn't have done the deal to begin with.

 

When I ordered my Clubman last week, the Documentary Fee (their version of Dealer Prep) was $599.95. Since Florida does not limit this fee, the dealership can charge any amount it wants. Thankfully, this was the only add-on in addition to the expected title and license fees and they made me a bit of a deal on the accessories in which I was interested.

Unfortunately, one does not have the kind of leverage you might have when buying off the lot instead of placing an you-ifyed order.