Money Expert Seth Godwin: 5 Fees You Should Never Pay at a Car Dealership
Written by
Heather Altamirano
Edited by
Daria Uhlig
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While the cost of buying a new or used car has fallen since the crazy high prices of the pandemic, transportation is still many households’ biggest must-have expense aside from housing. But that doesn’t mean you have to overpay.
Sneaky dealerships will upcharge for every little thing, so money expert Seth Godwin advises monitoring the price of the car closely.
“The amount of fees you have to look out for when buying a car nowadays is absolutely ridiculous,” he stated in a recent Instagram video.
Here are five fees Godwin says to watch out for and never pay at a car dealership.
Tire Nitrogen
Some dealerships make it seem like they’re doing you a favor by filling your tires with nitrogen. Nitrogen has some benefits, such as a slight improvement in maintaining air pressure, but Godwin warned, don’t be fooled.
“Unless you live in an area where the temperature fluctuates on a regular basis, nitrogen in your tires is completely unnecessary. Most dealerships’ nitrogen machine isn’t even plugged in in the first place, and the air around us is already made up of 78% nitrogen.”
Window Etching
Window etching is the engraving of the car’s vehicle identification number on the windows. This helps discourage thieves from stealing your vehicle because thieves will have to replace the windows before selling so the car can’t easily be tracked and found.
“This can actually be beneficial to have, but the markup dealerships charge is ridiculous,” Godwin said.”Especially when you consider that a lot of local police stations will do it for free, and window etching kits are cheap.”
Advertising Fees
Some dealerships charge a fee to offset their advertising costs. The fee can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, according to Capital One, and Godwin said paying it is “asinine.”
“Advertising is baked into the cost of everything we buy, cars included,” he stated.
Dealer Prep Fees
Dealers often charge up to $500 to wash your new car and get it ready for you to drive home, according to Capital One, which noted that the fee is negotiable.
“Just like advertising, prepping a car is already baked into the price,” said Godwin. “Them charging extra for it is just padding their pockets.”
Additional Dealership Markup
When dealerships believe they can charge more than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price due to high demand for a particular car, they might add a fee known as the additional dealership markup. Godwin said to steer clear of this costly tactic.
This fee “is the most infuriating because it’s essentially a big middle finger to you, the buyer,” he stated. “There’s no justifiable reason for it; it’s literally just a way for the dealership to make additional money on the deal. And this is why you always need to ask for a full itemized breakdown of everything you’re being charged for on your vehicle. Because it’s literally called ADM, which stands for additional dealership markup.”
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