Out of State Surcharge

[DmaxDenaliXL]

I found a Yukon that I liked and is a 99% match to what I've been looking for. Called the dealer and asked if it was available for purchase. He said it was ordered for their stock and he said it is available for purchase. Sounds great. Next question was where are you located. I told him Missouri and he said, "Oh, then do you know about the out of state surcharge?" I said no and he explained that since I was out of state, they charge an additional $5000. I asked if it was a state government thing and he said "No. It just allows us to better serve our existing and local customers."

Is this legal? Any work around ideas?

 

[sanman28]

They can pretty much charge what they want….and call it what they want. You are, of course, free to shop elsewhere. Seems scummy to me.

 

[StephenPT]

At the end of the day, a dealer can charge whatever they want. If it's a sunny day, they could add another $5000 to the sticker and call it a "sunny day fee." In most situations a customer will look at that and walk the other way, but given the lack of inventory right now, many customers are willing to pay whatever it takes to get the ride they want. This dealership has chosen to deter out of state buyers in hopes that it resonates with their local customers. Who knows if it's a good strategy or not...

 

[Stbentoak]

Yes a lot of times they will try to stick it to out-of-state people, as they know you probably won’t be back for service or back at their dealership for anything, so it’s a one and done situation. They only have one shot to nail you vs if you are local….

 

[Banks22]

Stbentoak summed it up, also there’s a few extra steps/paperwork for out of state sales, really not a big deal but ya know definitely $5000 worth ha. I’m in michigan and had almost done deals on 2 Tahoe’s in Ohio until 1 added $2000 paint/protection plan and other was a demo with 2700 miles amd wouldn’t give discount. Both were giving me GMS. This was also last May of 2021. Things have changed to say the least...

 

[SerialNo1]

I found a Yukon that I liked and is a 99% match to what I've been looking for. Called the dealer and asked if it was available for purchase. He said it was ordered for their stock and he said it is available for purchase. Sounds great. Next question was where are you located. I told him Missouri and he said, "Oh, then do you know about the out of state surcharge?" I said no and he explained that since I was out of state, they charge an additional $5000. I asked if it was a state government thing and he said "No. It just allows us to better serve our existing and local customers."

Is this legal? Any work around ideas?

I was in the same boat looking at a yukon and they were going to charge me $5000 on top of the sticker price for "fair market value" then another $3000 for being out of state

 

[Illnasty]

I found a Yukon that I liked and is a 99% match to what I've been looking for. Called the dealer and asked if it was available for purchase. He said it was ordered for their stock and he said it is available for purchase. Sounds great. Next question was where are you located. I told him Missouri and he said, "Oh, then do you know about the out of state surcharge?" I said no and he explained that since I was out of state, they charge an additional $5000. I asked if it was a state government thing and he said "No. It just allows us to better serve our existing and local customers."

Is this legal? Any work around ideas?

We went through this at the Lexus dealership. They are 2 miles from my house and I asked if they are selling for MSRP (we needed a car and bargaining isn’t a thing these days) and the salesman’s said that since we live close by they’ll do the deal for MSRP but they are charging people from out of state more. He said those people aren’t coming back for service so there’s nothing in it for them. It’s just the climate we’re in right now. Will it get better? Who knows. But I’ll tell you this, people paying over MSRP will have the value of their vehicle drop like a ton of bricks.

 

[todayusay]

Ditto with what everyone else said. Our local dealers are charging over sticker for out of state buyers and I’ve been hit with the same when trying to buy one out of state. One dealership, we had agreed in principle after two days of discussing the vehicle (initially wasn’t “available“), and then when I asked for them to send the final numbers over it had a $5k market adjustment added….on top of a $2k tint job. When I asked about it, the salesman just said he was the messenger.

as far as additional costs for buying out of state, i just bought a truck from out of state…the only thing different from buying from the dealer down the street was…if you financed with them, sales tax had to be paid at the time of the sale vs later at the revenue office (financed elsewhere or paid cash, sales tax wasn’t due at the time of the sale)…and I think they charged $150 for a state to state transfer fee…possibly just a made up fee, but at least it wasn’t $1500

 

[wjburken]

Well, it could be worse. Some dealers in Canada are putting liens on vehicles.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2022/02/gmc-yukon-owner-cant-sell-vehicle-because-dealer-has-1-lien-on-it-video/amp/

 

[like2detail]

I've been in the auto industry for 25+ years, mostly at the dealer level, and now do consulting work for one of the largest automotive inventory management software companies in the market. The real problem is that there is more to the deal than gross profit. So many people are selling their trades online and people that travel to purchase will never return for service. Dealers are beginning to recognize that selling a vehicle at MSRP to a client from out of state with no trade that will never return for service is bad for future recurring revenue. They have to figure out a way to do more with less. Some dealers truly do want to continue to provide good service to their previous clients. That isn't easy to do with as much as half the available inventory as before. Others are trying to take advantage of people for extra profit.

I worked for a Lexus dealer way back when the SC430 redesign launched. We never charged over MSRP even though the wholesale/auction market was 20k higher. We did make people sign paperwork saying that we had the first right to buy the car back for a one year period to stop people from using them to profit. Looking back that probably wouldn't have held up but we were trying to take care of our local clients.

Just my $.02. I can understand how frustrating it can be.