Greg said:
a local Dodge dealer here in MI has added a $160 "doc fee"
From this page:
http://www.illinoisdealers.com/memberarea/vol02no9.htm
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DOCUMENTARY SERVICE FEE FOR 2003: $52.57
The maximum documentary service fee for 2003 will be $52.57. This is
an approximate 2.2% increase in the 12-month Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers issued by the U.S. Department of Labor. The "doc
fee" is subject to Retailers Occupation Tax as part of the gross
receipts of the sale of the car.
Pursuant to 815 ILCS 375/11.1, every retail installment contract under
the Act shall contain or be accompanied by a notice containing the
following information:
"DOCUMENTARY FEE. A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT AN OFFICIAL FEE. A
DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT REQUIRED BY LAW, BUT MAY BE CHARGED TO BUYERS
FOR HANDLING DOCUMENTS AND PERFORMING SERVICES RELATED TO CLOSING OF A
SALE. THE BASE DOCUMENTARY FEE BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 1992, WAS $40.
THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT THAT MAY BE CHARGED FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS THE
BASE DOCUMENTARY FEE OF $40 WHICH SHALL BE SUBJECT TO AN ANNUAL RATE
ADJUSTMENT EQUAL TO THE PERCENTAGE OF CHANGE IN THE BUREAU OF LABOR
STATISTICS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX. THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW."
Please note that if your dealership is operating under a Consent
Decree related to documentary fees, the Consent Decree may have
requirements in addition to those set forth in the above law.
------------
Generally it seems that the sentiment about the doc fee is that you
have to weigh the cost of your time to perform the relavent
registrations with your local DMV vs having the dealer do it for you.
Some say that you need to budget for a day off work to do this
yourself.
Other info about the doc fee pertains to some state gov'ts determining
that this fee is essentially an addition to the cost of the vehicle
being purchased and as such, from the gov'ts point of view, is a
taxible item.
A survey of message boards shows that this doc fee ranges from as low
as $50 to several hundreds of dollars. The doc fee seems arbitrary
and in some cases has been increased steadily to a point where 90% of
customers do not complain about it (but apparently 10% do). This
seems to be somewhere between $150 and $200.
Click and Clack said this in 1994 regarding a question about a $40 doc
fee:
http://cartalk.cars.com/Columns/Archive/1994/June/05.html
"Actually, it's short for "Documents Fee," which is what the
dealership charges for standing in line at the Department of Motor
Vehicles to get your license plates and registration."
See also:
http://cartalk.cars.com/Columns/Archive/1998/June/14.html
http://tax.state.nv.us/taxnew/documents/ntn041998.pdf
I guess if you follow the rule of thumb that the price of things
double every 10 years then a $40 doc fee in 1994 would be $80 in
2004...
