Trungvt

So I'm picking up my NX tomorrow morning that I special ordered, I noticed on the pricing sheet that there's an $665 fee to the invoice of the car, labeled "LDA". Come to find out that it stands for "Lexus Dealer Association", should I be paying for this fee? Or should I challenge it?

NickTee

I challenge every fee other than those that are state/federally mandated.

Trungvt

Thanks, let see if they will take it off.

leej865

Tell that dealer you have a fee too...it's called a 'finder's fee'. You drove to the dealership and found the car you want, and for that, you are only charging them $665. That should take care of it since they cancel each other out.

tsopranoMB

every dealer charges differently for their DOCUMENTATION fees...

congrats on the car, glad Natalia special ordered the one you wanted!

My0gr81

While I agree that dealer charge documentation fee and every buyer should challenge them, it is quite a stretch to call "dealer association fee" a documentation fee. Do you work for a dealer that does that?

wildeklave

Because of online knowledge on pricing the dealers do not make as much per vehicle as they did in the past. Many customers negotiate for about $500 to $1000 over invoice. Things like a documentation fee, extended warranty, financing, and other charges is how they make extra money per vehicle purchase. If they assist you with financing they may be making 25 to 50 basis points on your purchase which can be a few hudred extra dollars. For warranties the commissions can be as high as 40% of the purchase price. If you opt for paint protection from the dealer that will have a couple of hundred dollars to the dealer too.

In the pre-internet days you had to scan Sunday newspapers and drive from dealer to dealer to get the best pricing. Since there was no internet finding the invoice prie was more difficult. Dealers were making thousands per each new car sold at that point. now with TrueCar, Costco, and Edmunds they make much less.

While it stinks that they hide costs in things like a doc fee, lda fee, or maybe charge for a title service we have to understand that this is how the dealer makes money. If the dealer is not making money there are no loaner cars or free car washes.

You can challenge any fee but unless the dealer has extra inventory they have no incentive to waive the fees. Until the new RX comes out the NX will remain the hot vehicle and in higher demand vs. inventory. For those who can wait for the 2016 model then you can get deals on the 2015, unless Lexus makes no changes for the new model year.

My0gr81

@wildeklave The point is not about adding surcharges to pad margins, it's about trying to hide them as "quasi" official or mandated fees. If that dealer was truly intending to have that LDA fee be a documentation fee, why not just call it that? other than to try and hide it?

On another point, dealer invoice price is the most misrepresented dealer cost for a particular vehicle. That price usually includes a cash hold back component that gets refunded to the dealer. So a $40k dealer invoice with a $2500 cash holdback means the paper cost of the car is really $37750. Then at the end of the month, there are manufacturers quota incentives based on volume on a sliding scale and off course at the end of the year, there are other volume incentives. Most volume dealer make like a bandit selling at "dealer invoice" or just a few hundreds below. Those fees, pre-installed dealer options and other business office upsell items just pad the margins.

Trungvt

Well they didn't take it off cause they said that's what Lexus charge the dealer. After going back and forth, they knew I wanted the car, and I really wanted the car, so I took their offer. It was $665 over invoice price, a saving of $2400, so that was still a great deal.

Will post some pics after I install mudguards and door moulding trim this weekend.

My0gr81

Aren't there other dealers in the area? should have walked and made a trip to NY or PA too, just to compare but also to show that you had options. They would have called you back, guaranteed.

Trungvt

I searched and called around to multiple dealers for several months, up until the end of January. I couldn't wait any longer to order it the way I wanted, and this Sales associate was the only one who offered me Invoice Price. Walking away would have drove me crazy, knowing they could sell it to someone who wanted the F-Sport with the options that I ordered. Especially with the power rear door, which is not available in the northeast. But I think the price is better than those I hear who paid MSRP, although we're almost half a year in.