Advertising fee = fluff ??

Dealer wants to add $640. advertising fee on a new Tacoma. Is this normal ??

 

Not on any car i have ever purchased.... Id tell them to stick there advertising fee up their rear, and knock some more off the price for the audacity to push that crap on you

 

You betcha. Lets them advertise a lower price then stick you in the end.

To avoid such nonsense, always shop the pre TTT price. I don't care what they call various line items, only what the bottom line is before TTT.

Dealer I bought mine from had that too, even on a used unit. We got to that point, I stood up, put my checkbook away, told him to call tomorrow if he wanted to sell the truck for the price we'd struck previously.

I didn't make it to my vehicle before the manager was all over me with an 'adjustment' offer.

Foot power is your best tool, along with proven buying power. Eagerness and excitement are your enemy.

 

TDA fee is quite common but good luck getting them to waive it if you're already at or near invoice pricing on a vehicle purchase like the tacoma

 

Check your state. You can line out fees. I took delivery of an ordered truck, and they tried to hit me with a lot inventory tax. It just came off the truck!! Nope. Each state has a list of what you HAVE to pay, and what's optional. Always go into the final negotiation with that list.

 

Southeast Toyota is famous for this.

G.

 

its a legal charge but you can dispute it.

but, i get why dealers have a bad rep but lets be honest for a second; when we expect invoice pricing and AAA service, and bragg about deals, should we be surprised with them trying to tack on "fees"?

 

My dealer tried to stick that on me. Then they have the audacity to put their own sticker and license plate frames on the truck further free advertisement for them. Those are the first things off the truck. I actually made a service manager take their dealership frames off that they so graciously put on when I had the truck in for service. Told him when they start sending me a monthly check I'll keep them on.

 

Never heard of such a thing . Never seen it at a Texas dealership , Pat lobb , Sportcity , Classic . Don't want to eather !

 

That's because Texas has other ways to screw you

 

They are just smart enough to bury it in the price, not make it a line item.

 

Best way to deal with all the added costs is to offer to pay invoice + $500. Of course they have to show you the invoice. Some dealers won't but many will. If they jack you around go to the next dealer. I'm old and have bought a lot of new vehicles and it works every time if you're willing to shop around.

 

That's right. Ultimately you're going to pay what they want you to pay. It is a business and 99% of the time even if you THINK they're losing money, they aren't. Dealers have adjusted to mitigate the flow of information these days, so there are hidden ways for them to get kick backs from corporate for moving XX units of certain models, dealer hold back, buried profits, etc. Also they can hit you up with dealer adds like window tint, paint protection, alarm systems. Some dealers at some periods of time are more motivated to sell a unit than at other places/times. Lot of factors at play here. I've found a good way to deal is to offer something over invoice, with no dealer adds, no warranty, no extra bullcrap. You can always buy a warranty and stuff later within the first 24k to 36k miles. I tell them I want the truck for $500 over invoice final purchase price (pre Tax title, tags) etc. I want it straight off the delivery truck with just the plastic pulled off and washed up. NO dealer adds on the price. You have to be SPECIFIC, and firm, but cordial ...it helps. Let them know you aren't going to wade through the BS. And skip the sales guys lurking on the lot out front, go straight to upper management if at all possible (Quality Director, Fleet Manager) the higher up you go, you cut straight through a lot of the layers of "Fat"

If the TDA is a line item but you ultimately are paying $500 over the invoice price of the truck, so be it! It's still a decent deal. These guys have kids to feed and stuff too remember that.

 

This is what I did, but the factory invoice includes this line item as it is charged to the dealer.

 

all of them had it on the invoice side the paperwork they showed me....it was labeled TMF, or Toyota Marketing Fee. It was $1k!!!

 

This.
I'm trying one last dealer in the DFW area then f*&% them, I'll be going out of state.

 

What dealers have you tried? just curious

 

I live in Oklahoma and got our last three Toyotas in Tx. Cheaper . Sportcity don't mess around selling new . They are as cheap as we have found . 120 miles trip well worth the savings to me .

Guess I never seen an invoice before .

MM

 

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2013/05/16/7-car-dealership-fees-and-services-to-avoid

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/don-t-pay-unnecessary-dealer-fees.aspx

Seriously - you can tell them you won't pay them, and they will line them out. Done it four times now.

 

I've been to Pat Lobb, Sports City and Freeman. They all have given me a price within about $100 of each other and all had the TMF fee on the invoice side of the sheet. So even when they said they were giving me the truck for invoice it was actually a $1000 over because of the fee.

I've looked into that fee, also known as TDA, and from all that I could find it's charged by Gulf States Toyota (includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) to the dealers for regional advertising. I've heard people claim they didn't pay the fee but NOBODY has even shown their actual sales contract as prove they didn't. From the dealers I've talked to,and people who've bought from them, all have said they didn't/won't budge from it.