Administration Fees on used car sales. What are your thoughts?

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DSM10000

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I have seen an increasing number of used car sales outlets adding an "Administration fee"

These have ranged from £49 to £199.

One did state that it was to cover preparation of the car, cleaning costs and paperwork,

Surely these costs should be included in the sales price?

I find them off putting and just another way of increasing profits..
 
Just another profit centre, as DSM10000 has said, there is no way I would pay it, I would just walk away. I wonder if you did walk would they waver the Admin fee to retain the deal ? :rolleyes:
 
Almost certainly. It's effectively expecting you to pay them for the privilege of selling you the goods.
 
Like theatre "booking fees", especially at the venue itself - yet another way to extract money
 
it’s a farce. you are in effect paying people a further privilege to do what they are already paid for.
if I am faced with such, I would say take it off.
 
Evans Halshaw tried that on with me when I was looking for a used Kia Sportage for my daughter. I told the salesman that car dealers never used to charge an administration fee and that I would not accept it. When he resisted, we just got up and walked away. We then went to Inchcape VW in Stockport and bought a used Peugeot 3008. They couldn't have been more helpful - no sharp practice add-ons, beautifully prepared car on collection including their standard hand-over procedure in a dedicated 'showroom' even though it was not a VW. I agree with others above, admin fees are just a sneaky way of maximising profit just like Ryan Air with their seat prices - I never fly Ryan Air either.
 
it’s a farce. you are in effect paying people a further privilege to do what they are already paid for.
if I am faced with such, I would say take it off.
Trouble is, in the case of theatre (and some travel) tickets the only way is to not go!
 
The thing is these things have a habit of catching on, eventually all traders may follow suit, then no one will have a choice, or have two choices, pay or buy privately🙁
 
. I agree with others above, admin fees are just a sneaky way of maximising profit just like Ryan Air with their seat prices - I never fly Ryan Air either.

(With airlines HMG should just say they have to pay VAT on all charges over and above the fare. So seat booking, baggage fees, priority boarding, whatever - all should be subject to VAT if charged separately. I would also suggest that HMG rule that all charges over and above the fare should also be fully and automatically refunded if the flight isn't taken with no adminstration fee.)

I suspect that the afdmin prices on used cars serve three purposes. 1) Reduce the sticker headline privce 2) provide an element on the price that can be held separately during any discount negotiaton 3) or provide an element of the price that can if necessary be capitulated on durig a discount negotiation while holding the sticker price.

As regards admin fees on used cars then I think perhaps HMG should be a bit creative and suggest that if the car dealer chooses to break down charges separately fees then they should give a comprehensive accurate breakdown of all the costs including the price they paid for the car and sales commissions and transfer charges between branches. And that said breakdown must be in large type and be placed prominently on or next to the vehicle. And that the total price must be displayed even more prominently. If the customer negotiates they must provide an amended breakdown to reflect what the customer is paying for.

We used to have the shenanigan sof the 'on the road price' on new cars which used to lead to the timewasting sector joke of a salesman pulling out a calculator at the start of any discussion on price.
 
The thing is these things have a habit of catching on, eventually all traders may follow suit, then no one will have a choice, or have two choices, pay or buy privately🙁
If enough potential buyers refuse then the dealers will eventually have to stop this practice but they will probably just increase the screen price.

Unfortunately honesty and transparency are quite rare in certain areas of commerce.
 
I view it as an ever increasing attempt to disguise their profits, as said no transparency.

It's common for London restaurants to include service charge within the total, but now it seems 12.5% is the norm.

I now favour 'Spoons for their more honest approach, "there's the good value price, feel free to make your mind up". It takes away the risk of being stung unexpectedly.
 
I negotiated hard on an admin fee from VW Redditch for a used Golf, 3 years old I think.

I focused specifically on the admin fee, and pushed as hard as I felt I could without basically having to walk away and refuse to buy the car. They reduced the price by the admin fee, and chucked in some other extras, but they said they couldn't compromise on the management fee as a standalone item.

It did surprise me, but the exact same car was already £1k more at my local VW dealer, so I knew the price was basically the most competitive in the trader supplied market even before the negotiation, so I figured there wouldn't be much wiggle room.
 
If enough potential buyers refuse then the dealers will eventually have to stop this practice but they will probably just increase the screen price.

Unfortunately honesty and transparency are quite rare in certain areas of commerce.
That’s the thing though, would many potential buyers refuse, many will just suck it up, and the dealers won’t care less with the ones who refuses, as they probably know there will there others who will be along soon, who will pay up.
 
Evans Halshaw tried that on with me when I was looking for a used Kia Sportage for my daughter. I told the salesman that car dealers never used to charge an administration fee and that I would not accept it. When he resisted, we just got up and walked away. We then went to Inchcape VW in Stockport and bought a used Peugeot 3008. They couldn't have been more helpful - no sharp practice add-ons, beautifully prepared car on collection including their standard hand-over procedure in a dedicated 'showroom' even though it was not a VW. I agree with others above, admin fees are just a sneaky way of maximising profit just like Ryan Air with their seat prices - I never fly Ryan Air either.
I don’t pay any extra for a seat on Ryanair.
 
I have refused to buy a car recently because of this.

£199 is extracting the urine!
That’s only admirable if you aren’t just cutting your nose off.

I certainly wouldn’t be missing out on the ideal spec’d car for the sake of £199.
 

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