3 Steps to Avoid Dealer Added Fees

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So here's the question for today.

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Have you ever felt duped by those obscure charges tacked on to your auto purchase or lease?

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If so you're not alone.

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I had this very issue a few months ago when my wife and I were buying a new Toyota minivan, and boy was I annoyed.

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So stay tuned today as we explore the frustrating, fine print.

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Of dealer fees And more importantly, what you can do to combat them be prepared.

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Ralph's going on a rant today.

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Welcome to our wacky Wednesday show.

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I am so glad you chose to join us.

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I just want to thank you for listening and supporting the program.

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I'm Estep Farm in the beautiful Saggio Accounting studio today.

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Let me put on my podcaster hat and put down those overalls and shove that adding machine to the side.

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And let's get into some financial wisdom from a Christian perspective today, we're talking about the bane of many car buyers existence.

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Once dealer added junk fees.

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These pesky charges for navigation systems rust, proofing, window etching, and more can quickly add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to your automobile purchase.

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I'll share my own frustrating dealer fee stories today.

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Some common schemes to watch out for, and most importantly, tips to fight back against these schemes for fair treatment.

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Don't forget to subscribe to the show and join our email list.

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You do that at askralphpodcast.com so you don't miss tomorrow's show tomorrow.

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We're going to be talking about gift taxes, what they are and how do they impact both the giver and the receiver.

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It's a topic you don't want to miss folks.

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So let's start today with our Bible verse today's Bible verse comes to us from the book of Proverbs chapter 13, verse 11, and it says this.

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This is a great one.

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Dishonest money dwindles away.

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But whoever gathers money, little by little makes it grow.

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What a great verse as we seek to grow our finances, little by little.

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As we discuss questionable dealer fees today, may this verse remind us of the value in ethical financial dealings that build trust and prosperity.

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Buying or leasing a new car should be an exciting time for your financial journey, whether you're upgrading your ride.

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After years of driving old Betsy.

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Our purchasing your teenager's first set of wheels, a new vehicle often symbolizes possibility and freedom.

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I remember when I was 16, it was such a thing of freedom to get behind a wheel.

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Unfortunately, the bliss of a new car ownership can quickly shift to buyer's remorse.

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When you realize the final price, bore little resemblance to the advertised sticker price, that's assuming you can even get a real copy of the sticker price.

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Believe me, I've been there.

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A few years back when money was really tight, I found what seemed like an unbelievable lease deal on an SUV for my growing family.

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However, after four hours of sitting into dealership, they wore me down with ad-ons like an overpriced alarm system, nitrogen filled tires Who knew that you needed nitrogen filled tires and paint sealant.

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By signing the dotted-line exhausted late to pick up my kids.

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I'd realized I'd been bamboozled.

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Into paying several thousand dollars above sticker price.

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Whatever happened to truth in advertising.

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While my ego was bruised.

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I learned a lot about common schemes.

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Dealerships use to inflate profits.

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These include things like slipping in various junk fees during finance negotiation.

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Refusing to remove these charges when called out and waiting till the 11th hour, when buyers are worn out before presenting the real price, shady.

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Sad, but all too common.

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Since that I'm pleased to say I purchased a new car and new or used vehicle without paying a dollar in junk fees.

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So how did I do that?

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Well, that's what we're going to talk about now.

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I followed these three key steps and these really are the three key steps

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first.

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You've got to do your homework before ever stepping foot in a dealership.

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consumer sites like edmunds.com.

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Breakdown, what the fees are, legitimate fees in your state, the average pricing for different models and what incentives you likely qualify poor.

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I printed all of this data, including fair market purchase price ranges for easy reference.

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I printed it and took it to the dealership.

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Secondarily, when the finance manager starts slipping in charges for theft deterrent systems.

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Nitrogen filled tires or exterior paint production.

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Camly ask them to remove each item.

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If they refuse, remind them that you have thoroughly researched fair pricing for this make for this model and the trim selected.

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If needed pull out your printed reference sheets, commonly restate that you will not be paying anything or added products at this time.

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Listen folks, this is where these finance guys make money.

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And I don't begrudge them making money, but you have the right to buy what you want to buy.

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And finally, if the dealership still refuses to budge on, removing junk fees, stand up politely and tell them, you'll take your business elsewhere.

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Then turn around and walk out the door.

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With internet research on fair pricing, you can quickly visit another dealer and reference the first's inflated charges as a reason to earn your business.

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It worked for me more than once.

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That's the honest to God truth.

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Now, this has been a bit of an issue for the past several years, since the shortages of inventory with COVID.

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But I had dinner with a friend who works at a dealership this weekend and he told me the inventory is actually starting to grow.

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And he's seeing more haggling in the dealership where he works.

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So there are positive changes coming to the auto purchase process.

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beyond these specific tips, as we said, Proverbs 13, 11 offers guidance.

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dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money, little by little makes it grow again.

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What a great.

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Verse

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unethical business practices may generate short term gains.

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Sure.

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The dealer might make that sale.

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They might get those extra ad-ons, but the truth is they erode customer trust and loyalty over time.

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Dealer seeking faithful customers focused on value.

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will tread carefully on fees, seen as deceiving buyers.

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They need to be honest with you.

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They need to present all these things to you as something you don't have to buy.

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One of the things that really annoyed me, we just recently bought a minivan.

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We cart our two German shepherds around him.

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And unfortunately, one of those things that have been on order for a while, when we got to the dealership, they had already added this flashing light on the back and etching and this and that, and the other thing.

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And I basically said to him, look, I don't want all those things.

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And they politely said to me, well, Ralph, if you don't want it, we've got other people lined up to buy it.

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So unfortunately until all of these inventory issues resolve themselves, you're just going to have to look and do some comparison shopping.

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Now here's the deal folks.

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We should extend grace, but also stand firmly for fair treatment.

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When being taken advantage of in that case, I basically had to buy those things because truth be told there wasn't another dealer who had the same vehicle that I could go and buy.

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So before we wrap up Ii want to remind all of our listeners to visit our podcast page at askralphpodcast.com there you can leave us a review, share your thoughts, Or even send a message with questions for future episodes.

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If you want me to take a rant on something, share what's going on in your world.

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While you're there.

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Make sure you join our email list so we can send you our daily email with what's going on with the show.

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And if you need some specific guidance.

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You're welcome to schedule a consultation with me right there.

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Now if you know someone who's in the market for a car.

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I'm going to encourage you to share this episode with them and help them avoid being taken by these dealer junk fees.

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And ad-ons sort of my personal mission for today is to try to educate people and bring them to a level of awareness about these ridiculous fees.

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So let's do a bit of a recap.

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In this episode, we explored the frustrating world of dealer added junk fees.

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They're often slipped into car purchases and leases, right at the last minute from alarm systems to paint sealants.

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Another thing they put on these fabric coating.

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Things these charges can add thousands to your automobiles purchase price.

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We covered my personal stories of being duped by dealers.

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We talked about typical junk fee scams and specific negotiation tips to refuse these fees and drawing wisdom from Proverbs 13:11, listen folks, the key is doing your homework on fair local pricing.

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firmly refusing added products and be willing to walk away and buy elsewhere.

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Listen, it's an emotional experience.

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I get it.

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But you've got to stand your ground and do what's right.

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So please visit again askralphpodcast.com for more financial advice, grounded in godly wisdom.

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May God bless you.

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Abundantly.