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". Is this charged to every lease, or am I being charged a "hidden fee" also? Thanks in advance.

ejvette

Im in NY and I Leased my vehicle last month and yes the $ 700 "lease/bank fee" charged by lexus/toyota financial is standard. I have always leased and the fees when they started many years ago were a modest $200-$300. When i shopped BMW I was quoted a lease fee of $ 925.

When i was negotiating with the sales manager he showed me the tissue on the car and on the bottom there was a fee of around $500 which was labeled "LDA" which i questioned and i can't remember what exactly he told me but i believe he said it was a fee to the Lexus Dealer Association related to advertising i do remember thinking it was typical dealer "BS" and i was being screwed out of $500. The tissue on the car came out to exactly as reported on Edmunds but there was this additional item added on.

kalvano

LDA is probably something like Local Dealer Advertising.

We don't have it here, but if thats what it is, it is a legit fee that the dealer has to pay.

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.

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.

kalvano

The acquisition fee is legit, but it can be waived, as well.

Like I said, our fee's run about $200. That's all that is absolutely necessary.