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Drive Down The Price Of Autos

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 11, 2009

Automobile dealers are in a huge sales slump, a fact obvious to all observers. While there are many economic reasons for the lack of sales, there also is a self-inflicted one: Dealer fees running as high as $699 are unprecedented in any other area of our economy. Your shoes are not priced at $100 with a $10 "handling fee" added when you approach the cash register.

Dealers, many times, do not disclose the fees except through tiny, hard-to-read print in their ads or in lines of figures on sales contracts not pointed out to the buyer. This is double-pricing at best and false advertising at worst. Stopping it will help car sales. State the price honestly, with a fair profit in the price.

Not all dealers charge the fees. Those are my dealers. I have bought 42 new cars in my life, and I plan to buy more - without dealer fees. The factories already pay the dealers for car prep. Think it over, dealers.

JAMES MUNRO

Seffner

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