The majority of states have new car fees of 2,000 to 4,000. It says: “ Dealers who procure, or assist purchasers to procure, certificates of title for vehicles sold by them, may charge the purchasers for such services not more than five dollars for each transaction.” (M.G.L. The overall fees for new cars range from 315 in Alaska to 6,369 in Louisiana. “And consumers should shop around, especially if a particular dealership tries to hit you with non-negotiable documentation fees.”Įditors Note: There is a statute that deals with this practice by dealers. “Car buyers need to look closely at what they are being charged for”, Anthony said. The Office of Consumer Affairs advises consumers to make these fees part of the negotiation process and to bargain with a dealer to take the fees off the final agreed upon price. Generally, “document preparation” fees are not revealed until the final stages of a negotiation over the price of an automobile. The Office of Consumer Aff airs will refer some of these car dealerships to the state Attorney General‘s Office for further investigation. State law requires that title or registry fees must be separately itemized and cannot exceed the cost charged by the registry. Some dealers also claimed the fees were for title or registry purposes. Dealerships gave various reasons for the fees, including “September 11th and Homeland Security issues.”.New car dealerships were more likely to charge the fees than used car dealerships.About 50 dealerships charged between $275 and $300.128 dealerships charged documentation fees.The survey of 180 car dealerships across the state found: 14-52, to require the advertisement to state in at least eight-point bold type that state or local tax, registration fees or dealer conveyance fee or processing fee is excluded from the advertised price, effective JJune Sp. “We found that many car dealerships are charging consumers exorbitant fees for costs that are negligible and in some cases telling car buyers these are required charges by state or federal law, which just isn‘t true.” (a) to expand the dealers subject to this section from new car dealers to dealers licensed under Sec. ![]() “As consumers gear up for Presidents’ Day sales, they need to know that in most instances dealerships are hitting them with unnecessary fees claiming they are for paperwork and documents.”, said Barbara Anthony, Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Reasons ranged from a 9/11 security fee to storing documents for eight years at Downtown Crossing to paying insurance agents. Almost 70 percent of the dealerships called charged the fees, which ranged from $45 to $399, and the many reasons given for the fees appeared to be very questionable and literally made up by the auto dealerships. The Office of Consumer Affairs surveyed almost 190 car dealerships across the state asking if these fees were charged, the amount and the reasons for the fees. ![]() Massachusetts car buyers are being charged so-called “documentation preparation” fees that can range as high as $400 supposedly for processing paperwork and storage of documents,according to a state-wide survey by the Office of Consumer Affairs. The following article was provided by Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents in their February 2012 Registry News:
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