The hidden fees that can drive up the cost of what you buy
CBSN
Like most Americans shopping for cars these days, Bret Bonnet is fairly resigned to paying a stiff price. So he was thrilled when he came across a 2022 Ford Expedition with a MSRP of $70,000 advertised on Cars.com for just $63,000. Until, that is, Bonnet spoke with the dealership and discovered the actual price would be far higher.
"They said, 'There's a 'market adjustment' fee of $5,000 on all our cars," said Bonnet, co-founder of a branded products distributor. The hidden fee made the 40-year-old Chicagoan so angry he scrapped the entire purchase.
It wasn't the price, Bonnet explained. "I get it… things cost more, and cars are in short supply these days." Rather, it was that, in his view, the dealership was trying to put one over on him. "You can put the actual price online — you don't have to artificially deflate the price and then say, 'By the way, there's a $5,000 fee,'" he said. "Now that they wasted my time and had the audacity to bait and switch, I'd never give them my business."
