Amy N

I was negotiating to buy a new Lexus, and I noticed that the dealer is charging me around $500 for an LDA fee. I'm in Northern California.

What is this fee, and is it something normal that everyone pays for, or did the dealer try to squeeze in a "hidden fee" on me?

Also, since I'm leasing, the dealer charges about $700 "leasing fee". I think some place refers to this fee as an "acquisition" fee. I'm told this might be the fee to pay for commission to the guy who sets up the lease for me. Is this charged to every lease, or am I being charged a "hidden fee" also? Thanks in advance.

BTW, the dealer is willing to offer the car to me at $1000 below dealer invoice.

Dave Mac

Amy: I paid a lease acquisition fee of $600 when leasing my ES350 through Toyota/Lexus Financial Services and they convinced me it was non-negotiable. I don't know what the LDA fee of $500 is and you should have them give you an explanation of what it is. It may be Lexus Dealer Advertising which dealers sometimes try to add if they are truly selling the car for below invoice. I haven't seen that charge on a Lexus lease.

Enjoy your new car.

Dave Mac

kalvano

They are selling it to you at a $1000 below invoice and making up the difference in BS fee's.

Granted, it's California, so some things will be different, but I know our fees here are about $200.

Amy N

OK, I found out that the LDA is the "Lexus Dealership Advertising" fee. The dealer has to pay for that. So I'm OK with this.

Now, the $700 the dealer is charging is called the "acquisition fee". The problem is that I'm not going to a different leasing company to lease this car. I'm sticking with Lexus Financial. So wouldn't this be a profit that this dealer keeps to themselves?

According to this weblink, this fee is a rip off. What do you think?

http://www.automotive.com/auto-loans...sing-faqs.html


The Undisclosed Acquisition Fee

An acquisition fee is required by most leasing companies in order to open a lease. This fee, also known as a lease origination fee, is usually around $450, but can be as high as $700. Originally this fee was invented by the dealers, who would claim the car leasing company charged the fee. The dealer would then pocket the fee. But the leasing companies caught on, and began charging the acquisition fee on their own. The dealers are trained to integrate the acquisition fee into the lease in order to let it go unnoticed. To avoid this, always ask for everything, every single dollar on your lease agreement, to be itemized and explained clearly. This way you can save yourself from paying these or other hidden costs.