s-plan assessment fee?
 

Hey everyone, i recently went to the dealership on rt. 17 in jersey and i told them i was an splan participant. They gave me a quote of 28816 pre-tax for a six speed with the touring package. Being the dumba$$ that i am I believed him when he said that this was the plan price. Later I calculated it out using the sheet that i got from the program and i came out with 27562. I called Mazda and they told me some state may charge something called an assessment fee but he wasnt sure if jersey was 1 of the states. My quesiton is does anyone know if this is true for jersey and also if I put a deposit on the car for them to hold it could i still get it back if they are trying to jerk me? Thanks

My 2cents,

There is no such thing as an assessment fee. It states in the plan that all fees are included in the plan price. Do you have the S-Plan worksheet? If not I think it is somewhere on this site, let me know if you can’t find.

I would write a letter to the dealerships customer service department and Mazda customer service stating that you should not be charged this access fee and how the people at the dealership who you talked to are unwilling to make a fair transaction (call them out by name) and how it changed the image you had of Mazda and it’s dealerships.

Then, in writing, tell them exactly you want them to do. And state at the end that if this issue is not resolved within a reasonable amount of time you will file a grievance with the Attorney General, Federal Trade Commission, and American Automobile Association. And will be added to the Online Consumer Complaints Database and all applicable online forums.

Hope this helps,
Ron

The dealers have the S-Plan pricing documented in writing, tell them to show it to you or give you a copy.

I don't know about NJ but MA does have the fee of $100 which coincidentally brings the S-plan price to invoice price. I was shown a print out from some MNAO web page (url on the top corner of the printout) with the S-plan pricing and it has the fee. I called other dealers and found out that they are doing the same thing as well. So either this is a concerted effort among most of the dealers in MA or it's true that some assessment fee is charged for some areas.

I just bought my S-plan RX8-MT w/Sport pkg Monday. There is IIRC a $199 assesment/fee on my paperwork. I'll look again this afternoon.

PS: I'm in TX

Thanks for all your responses. It looks like there is some sort of fee but not to the tune of 1200. It looks like me and East Coast Mazda is going to get into it on Saturday.

If you all look at the S Plan FAQ on the Ford website, it clearly states that there are NO FEES allowed under the plan. Period. Fast talk all they want, it's in black and white.

My dealer tried to throw their $800 or so of fees onto my Splan contract. I pulled out the FAQ, underlined the appropriate item and slid it in front of the sales manager. HHe quickly returned with the corrected contract. Every fee charged by a dealer is pure profit. They love fees and will do everything possible to convince you that they have to charge them.

Years ago, I walked into every closing room at a busy Chevy dealer and whispered to all the buyers to be sure to tell the dealer they aren't paying any trash fees. Every one of them got the fees eliminated just by asking and holding their ground.