Second Hand Car Dealers' Admin Fee

[Kexandra]

hi..

 

i have been charged $500 "admin fee" for a used car by a dealer..

Being the first time purchasing a car, I wasn't sure whether it was normal for dealers to charge that extra fee but the salesman assured that this is a standard charge that all dealers will practise.

 

I have placed my deposit of 2k.

Is there anything I can do now to waive off the bogus fee?

 

 

pls help...

thanks.

[Mcf777]

no such thing as Kopi money or football money (aka admin money)

this is just another income by them.

 

when u placed a deposit with them, did they state on the invoice that is the "Final amount".

No more additional money?

[Kexandra]

there is no indication in the invoice of those additional cost

just the

- agreed cost $X

- deposit $2000

- balance $X - 2000

 

 

according to the salesman, he say the 500 admin will be part of the "driveaway cost" which will include..

admin fee - 500

transfer fee - 550+

insurance - to be confirmed

1st instalment - to be confirmed after loan approval

 

 

 

have i been cheated?

im so upset.

[Limxiaoming]

there is no indication in the invoice of those additional cost

just the

- agreed cost $X

- deposit $2000

- balance $X - 2000

 

 

according to the salesman, he say the 500 admin will be part of the "driveaway cost" which will include..

admin fee - 500

transfer fee - 550+

insurance - to be confirmed

1st instalment - to be confirmed after loan approval

 

 

 

have i been cheated?

im so upset.

 

 

Don't be upset.

 

U have not been cheated.

 

Its common that parallel importers collect a admin fee when u purchase a car from them. U have urself to blame for not getting the full picture before committing.

 

Transfer fee is paid to the government whenever a transaction takes place between a buyer and a seller. Which means u bought a 2nd hand car.

 

U expect them to pay insurance for u? some ppl insurance is $500+ some ppl insurance is $8000+. U cant expect ppl to pay for u ur insurance.

 

U took a loan from a bank and its natural that u pay ur 1st installment.

 

The only thing that u can leave out is maybe the admin fee. Some ppl bought a car without giving a admin fee. All depends on who u liased in the 1st place. But U were not cheated bro. Parallel importers usually charge a admin fee.

 

U were not cheated haha so take it easy

[Civic2000]

Yes. Transfer and insurance(I sourced my own) are besides the agreed upon car price.

 

My understanding is, if I buy the pre-own car from the 2nd hand car dealers, I paid him based on negotiated price, which includes transfer fees (which I believed he has already factored in the selling price) but I have to buy my own insurance or he arranges for the insurance on my behalf ( paid by the buyer). However, if it is a buy and sell between 2 individuals, who should pay for the transfer fee? I did once sold my car to another person, the buyer did the transfer documentation on his own and he actually paid for the transfer fee.

 

[Little_prince]

iirc .. think buyer pay transfer fee...

 

you can check it out at onemotoring...

[Kexandra]

i can perfectly understand that i have to pay transfer fee + insurance + 1st instalment

 

but now that i read through this thread.. it appears that the so-called 500 admin fee is really bogus since they already earn commission from everywhere else of my purchase.

 

you are right.. i didnt read up prior to committing on the purchase. =(

500 is not a huge sum, but sufficient to make me really heart pain..

 

such a bad first timer experience.

[Picanto]

i can perfectly understand that i have to pay transfer fee + insurance + 1st instalment

 

but now that i read through this thread.. it appears that the so-called 500 admin fee is really bogus since they already earn commission from everywhere else of my purchase.

 

you are right.. i didnt read up prior to committing on the purchase. =(

500 is not a huge sum, but sufficient to make me really heart pain..

 

such a bad first timer experience.

 

its like that one lar........if got carrot to chop, these 2nd hand dealers will never let the carrot go. $500 is a lot, but still can earn back.

[Detion]

Die Die dun pay for the admin fees... Its more like the agent extra commission. If placed deposit already must take back from them and say you dun wan to buy liao. If you had spend enough time bargining with them, they will just waive off the admin fees. This is because they also dun want to watch their time spend on you to be wasted.

 

You just have to pay for the insurance + first instalment + transfer fee.

 

Just remember before putting down deposit, request for insurance quote, everything write down black and white including all the prices and when can take car.

[Kexandra]

U mean pay deposit already can still take it back? Sure? How do I go about doing it??

[Detion]

If the price is black and white on paper and the total is there as well, with either the company letterhead or the agent's signature. Then suddenly they add on the price, the deal is off as according to the law the original deal is off and the dealer have to return you your deposit. You can ask them to return immediately or threatened to post online, seek newspaper help and file a case in small claim tribunal.

[Kexandra]

They didn't suddenly add in the price. I think they took advantage of the fact that I'm a first timer..

Little did I expect they will treat me as carrot

[Jaguar]

I think we have to be fair, if indeed the price paid for the car were high it ok, But by talking a high loan and have to inflat the price on the invoice or sale and purchase agreement to secure a higher loan, then it fair to pay for the different in GST. Please be inform that all car dealer are tax on GST base on profit margin.

[Detion]

Most of the second hand car dealer will add in the admin fees after you paid the deposit. If they tell you before hand, then ask them to waive and make them think that you are interested but walk away if they do not bunge after spend a few minutes negotiating the price. There will always be better deal

[Kexandra]

Which means there's really nothing much I can do now since I didn't negotiate before paying the deposit?

 

Haiz.. I wanna cry liao

[Theoryjack]

hmm.. im thinking of getting a 2nd hand opc. have a tight budget and have no wish to bust it. im aware of things like transfer fees but its only after i followed thru this thread i realised that admin fees, legals fees etc are all BS.

 

jus wanna say thanks to buddies here who share their experience when buying from used car dealers. anyway, for a <3yr opc, any recommendations? was looking at hatches like of rio, cerato, getz, gen2(exception) etc.. any recommended used car dealer and WS to recommend? and how do i go about sourcing for my own insurance?

 

have been reading up intensively over the past week, hoping someone could clear my doubt. meanwhile i'll try to search further in the forums.. :)

[The_mark]

Hi guys, im new to this forum as well.

 

Just went down to UBI to check out prices for new Honda Fit 2008 last weekend, and found prices to be all around the 60k range.

That's when I looked into the 2nd hand.

 

My scenario is such that, I had a CRV to tradein, and most dealers offered only 40k.

That was when one dealer offered 42k, then it flooded my mind, and committed without asking for much details of the car.

 

It was a 10 months old Honda Fit 2008, dealing at $49.5k.

After reading more forums after that, then I found out that there are many things to take note for buying 2nd hand cars.

 

What I read was, should send for STA evaluation if the car is really sound and accident free as they claim.

Should I ask them if it has been checked, and insist on it?

 

In addition, how does warranty for 2nd hand cars work?

In my case, the dealer claim that warranty is not transferrable, and that I can opt in to warranty by paying $300 for a 2 yr warranty from ComfortDelgro.

Is that the norm?

 

For collection of car, what should I look out for?

Is it a reasonable and normal to ask for all oils, spark plugs and all basic servicing to be done before handing over of the vehicle?

What about all the waxing and polishing?

 

Is it all too late, coz I've paid a 2k deposit to them, such that they probably wouldn't entertain any of my request?

very stress ah... coz I dun know much about cars in the first place. Did I get chopped? Pls help....

[Little_prince]

think the op in warranty is suspicious... dun fall for it