I'm negotiating a Prius deal as a 'dealer invoice plus'. I've identified everything on the so called dealer invoice (holdback, financial reserve fee, etc...) except a $705 charge for TMF. Toyota Marketing Fee? What is it? Is it really on the true dealer invoice? Do they really expect me to pay that? Any comments you have are appreciated.
That apparently is an advertising fee that they charge people in Texas (and maybe elsewhere). I've read about it here on PriusChat, but don't recall what the final conclusion is (whether or not it could be avoided). Here's a PriusChat/Google Search of "Marketing Advertising Fee in Texas": Online resource for the Toyota Prius offering discussion forums, research, and shopping. - Search Results for marketing adverstising fee in texas
On the one hand, a dealer will get what he considers a necessary profit. On the other hand, everything is negotiable. Calling a charge mandatory, standard or customary is just a ploy to try to convince you not to question it. As compdunz writes below all that matters is the bottom line. Your job is to get bids from multiple dealers, play them against each other, and get the best price. Each dealer can carve it up anyway he likes with as many acronyms as will fit on the page.
The dealer can pay his own marketing costs. Obviously, the dealer is free to do what he wants. But, I would shop out of state if that's what it took to avoid this garbage. Of course, I feel the same way about "dealer prep". I'm not sure but I think I've lost that battle!
We have a similar "fee" here in Michigan (TDA=Toyota Dealer Advertising). When talking with the dealers they said it was something every Toyota dealership in the area (Michigan, Indiana, Ohio) have to pay. The funny thing is that when I got quotes from 8 different dealerships the TDA varied from $0 to $180 to $400 to $450. Let what ever dealership you deal with call their profit what ever they want to. I only looked at the bottom line. I still asked for a detailed quote but I went with the dealer who gave me the lowest price.
Yes, while the concept of "invoice" is useful for negotiations, it's a variable number and inherently misleading because it suggests that it is the dealer's "cost", when in actuality the dealer pays less than that because of holdbacks and financing arrangements with the manufacturer. So while "invoice" is useful, at the end of the day, I want to know what the final price is, and how much below MSRP that number is. In this regard, it seems that PriusChatters have been reporting paying about $2000 below MSRP in 2008 (especially in February).
There are quite a few new communities in So Cal, that tack on those kinds of advertising fees to the cost of reselling your home to subsequent buyers. The sick thing is I seldom if ever, see any ads for those communities. Heres one of our neighboring communities for example: Coto de Caza I now WE never have seen any ads on TV, not even a local community TV station. Sheesh. Any way to make a buck.
TMF = Too Much Fun, which you have driving a Prius. Of course, in the world of car sales, TMF = Take More Finances, which is a way for them to get more of your money. :wof:
