Yahoo Autos YouTuber Documents Car Dealer Charging Huge Fees For A Used Hellcat
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Car dealers are notorious for playing tricky games when you’re looking to buy a vehicle. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, either you’ve been incredibly fortunate or you get worked over hard without realizing it. But one YouTuber is fighting back, documenting how his friend was charged all kinds of ridiculous junk fees as he tried negotiating for a used Dodge Charger Hellcat while trading in his Scat Pack.
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The YouTuber claims his friend has positive equity in the Scat Pack. We have no way of verifying this so you just have to take him at his word. Usually that puts you in a reasonable position for negotiating, depending of course on how much equity one has in their current ride.
Having some cash on hand is also helpful. But even with these positives, there are many dealers who will play games and try backing you into a financial corner, giving you a deal that puts you in a world of hurt for years to come.
In this case, according to the YouTube video, the asking price for the Dodge Charger Hellcat started out at $56,000 as listed on the dealer’s website. That seems like a pretty good deal, all things considered. But once negotiations for the sale began, with all the fees that amount ballooned to over $72,000.
Among the extra fees used to push the price of the Hellcat up by more than $12,000 is a “Tropical Advantage Plan” the dealer puts on every vehicle. We see this kind of thing all the time with dealers acting like they’re doing you a big favor. For that money, you get door edge guards, a GPS tracker, paint sealant, wheel locks, and a $500 credit for its body shop (good only for the first 36 months of ownership).
Other fees include $2,781.69 for used car reconditioning, $1,199 for a vehicle inspection, and $3,000 for outside financing. We guess they do some buy here, pay here transactions or something? Or maybe all of this is just a way to make more money off unsuspecting customers?
The dealership employees play all the usual negotiation games during this aggressive transaction. Our biggest piece of advice is once a dealer starts with this garbage, get up and walk out. If you’re not willing to walk away from a car, you will get stuck with a bad deal nine times out of ten.
Check out the video for yourself.
Image via Hoodrich Credit/YouTube
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