Ralph: So here's the question for today.
Have you ever felt duped by those obscure charges tacked on to your auto purchase or lease?
If so you're not alone.
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.
So stay tuned today as we explore the frustrating, fine print.
Of dealer fees And more importantly, what you can do to combat them be prepared.
Ralph's going on a rant today.
Welcome to our wacky Wednesday show.
I am so glad you chose to join us.
I just want to thank you for listening and supporting the program.
I'm Estep Farm in the beautiful Saggio Accounting studio today.
Let me put on my podcaster hat and put down those overalls and shove that adding machine to the side.
And let's get into some financial wisdom from a Christian perspective today, we're talking about the bane of many car buyers existence.
Once dealer added junk fees.
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.
I'll share my own frustrating dealer fee stories today.
Some common schemes to watch out for, and most importantly, tips to fight back against these schemes for fair treatment.
Don't forget to subscribe to the show and join our email list.
You do that at askralphpodcast.com so you don't miss tomorrow's show tomorrow.
We're going to be talking about gift taxes, what they are and how do they impact both the giver and the receiver.
It's a topic you don't want to miss folks.
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.
This is a great one.
Dishonest money dwindles away.
But whoever gathers money, little by little makes it grow.
What a great verse as we seek to grow our finances, little by little.
As we discuss questionable dealer fees today, may this verse remind us of the value in ethical financial dealings that build trust and prosperity.
Buying or leasing a new car should be an exciting time for your financial journey, whether you're upgrading your ride.
After years of driving old Betsy.
Our purchasing your teenager's first set of wheels, a new vehicle often symbolizes possibility and freedom.
I remember when I was 16, it was such a thing of freedom to get behind a wheel.
Unfortunately, the bliss of a new car ownership can quickly shift to buyer's remorse.
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.
Believe me, I've been there.
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.
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.
By signing the dotted-line exhausted late to pick up my kids.
I'd realized I'd been bamboozled.
Into paying several thousand dollars above sticker price.
Whatever happened to truth in advertising.
While my ego was bruised.
I learned a lot about common schemes.
Dealerships use to inflate profits.
These include things like slipping in various junk fees during finance negotiation.
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.
Sad, but all too common.
Since that I'm pleased to say I purchased a new car and new or used vehicle without paying a dollar in junk fees.
So how did I do that?
Well, that's what we're going to talk about now.
I followed these three key steps and these really are the three key steps
first.
You've got to do your homework before ever stepping foot in a dealership.
consumer sites like edmunds.com.
Breakdown, what the fees are, legitimate fees in your state, the average pricing for different models and what incentives you likely qualify poor.
I printed all of this data, including fair market purchase price ranges for easy reference.
I printed it and took it to the dealership.
Secondarily, when the finance manager starts slipping in charges for theft deterrent systems.
Nitrogen filled tires or exterior paint production.
Camly ask them to remove each item.
If they refuse, remind them that you have thoroughly researched fair pricing for this make for this model and the trim selected.
If needed pull out your printed reference sheets, commonly restate that you will not be paying anything or added products at this time.
Listen folks, this is where these finance guys make money.
And I don't begrudge them making money, but you have the right to buy what you want to buy.
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.
Then turn around and walk out the door.
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.
It worked for me more than once.
That's the honest to God truth.
Now, this has been a bit of an issue for the past several years, since the shortages of inventory with COVID.
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.
And he's seeing more haggling in the dealership where he works.
So there are positive changes coming to the auto purchase process.
beyond these specific tips, as we said, Proverbs 13, 11 offers guidance.
dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money, little by little makes it grow again.
What a great.
Verse
unethical business practices may generate short term gains.
Sure.
The dealer might make that sale.
They might get those extra ad-ons, but the truth is they erode customer trust and loyalty over time.
Dealer seeking faithful customers focused on value.
will tread carefully on fees, seen as deceiving buyers.
They need to be honest with you.
They need to present all these things to you as something you don't have to buy.
One of the things that really annoyed me, we just recently bought a minivan.
We cart our two German shepherds around him.
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.
And I basically said to him, look, I don't want all those things.
And they politely said to me, well, Ralph, if you don't want it, we've got other people lined up to buy it.
So unfortunately until all of these inventory issues resolve themselves, you're just going to have to look and do some comparison shopping.
Now here's the deal folks.
We should extend grace, but also stand firmly for fair treatment.
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.
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.
If you want me to take a rant on something, share what's going on in your world.
While you're there.
Make sure you join our email list so we can send you our daily email with what's going on with the show.
And if you need some specific guidance.
You're welcome to schedule a consultation with me right there.
Now if you know someone who's in the market for a car.
I'm going to encourage you to share this episode with them and help them avoid being taken by these dealer junk fees.
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.
So let's do a bit of a recap.
In this episode, we explored the frustrating world of dealer added junk fees.
They're often slipped into car purchases and leases, right at the last minute from alarm systems to paint sealants.
Another thing they put on these fabric coating.
Things these charges can add thousands to your automobiles purchase price.
We covered my personal stories of being duped by dealers.
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.
firmly refusing added products and be willing to walk away and buy elsewhere.
Listen, it's an emotional experience.
I get it.
But you've got to stand your ground and do what's right.
So please visit again askralphpodcast.com for more financial advice, grounded in godly wisdom.
May God bless you.
Abundantly.