The 5 WORST States to Buy a Car In

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Ray and Zach list off and discuss the top 5 worst states in which to buy a car. It's more than likely you'll get ripped off with bogus add-ons, high doc fees, and other nonsense if you dare to buy a car in these places. Of course, you may end up having a great experience, but the odds are against you.

[mrreesetopher]

Went to the dealership today in South Florida to make an offer on a car and they wanted a $1, 200 doc fee. Made my reasonable offer as advised by my CarEdge coach and when they didn't accept it I walked. Felt good to know I had made a good offer and didn't have to second guess my decision to walk away.

[dalenihiser]

To be clear, dealers DON'T have to charge a Doc Fee. With that knowledge in mind don't pay it. If the dealer responds with everyone pays it, ask for an additional discount (no trade) plus tax or ask for additional trade allowance plus tax equal to the amount of the Doc Fee. States have allowed dealers to get away with what amount to nothing more than theft. Why? Aside from dealer greed, doc fees are above the tax line meaning States are collecting a little extra sales tax on every dealer sale. For the fun of it ask the dealer to show you the print where customers are mandated to pay a doc fee.

[ReconXOverland]

You should talk about that new study as reported by the WSJ that dealer markups helped contribute to inflation by 16%.

[msmolly]

I live in Wesley Chapel, FL. There are 7 dealerships within a 5 minute drive. Stretch that to 20 minutes and it goes up yo 12. These dealerships ALL have FULL show room, lots and even more cars on remote storage lots. Thera is DEFINATELY no shortage around here.

[stigsmcqueen]

Great video as always. Here are some additional evaluation criteria that could be added: state has banned direct-to-consumer sales by the OEM, state allows pre-payment penalties for paying off the loan early, and state charges the same sales tax regardless of whether the customer trades in a car toward the purchase or not (meaning if a customer is buying a $30, 000 car and trades in a $14, 000 car, the customer is taxed based on a $30, 000 sale rather than the $16, 000 that they actually paid out the door). There are many potential criteria that could be added, but these are just the first few that came to my mind.

[MrKillerRC]

I can confirm Florida doc fees are a deal breaker. Plus they do add-ons. So be sure to ask for an invoice before you drive or fly there.

[Mecknificent]

1. Florida
2. California
3. Georgia
4. Texas
5. New Jersey (north specifically)

[jeffb]

I think Dad hit the nail on the head regarding salted roads. Many car dealers come to the south to buy used cars for their lots because they don't want cars that have rusted out frames from cars driven in the north because of salted roads. Me, I keep my vehicles a long time, so the difference in fees would be negligible to me. I simply won't buy a vehicle from the north.

[robme]

Surprisingly, I was able to buy a new 21 Corolla SE hatch 6spd in FL out the door for $22, 900 including 7% state tax. Pros of FL: $20 a year registration fee - no state inspection. NH has no state tax but they get you on expensive annual registration fees.

[dwds]

VA should've made this list as well...doc fees at the dealerships in Alexandria are $884 and many dealers here are marking up their prices too.

[greatray]

Always negotiate an out the door price so there are no surprise add on fees after a price has been agreed on. If the dealer wants to add a doc fee then he needs to include that fee in his negotiation with you. I'm walking if a dealer attempts to add on fees if I ask for an out the door price.

[PalmSpringsPatriot]

I will be getting my new Prius L this week as it finally arrived after 3 months sitting at the port in Long Beach, CA. The dealer wanted a 15K premium for the car and after a lot of negotiating and a social media campaign we settled on MSRP and NO DOC fees. If you know what you’re doing you can beat the dealer at his own game.

[jeffreyzabawski]

You're right about the Employee Discounts in Southeast MI. If you're not a Employee good chance that your Parent was one, or you know somebody that can give you a Friend's And Family Discount that's currently Working for one. And at least for Stellantis just as long as one of the Spouses is still alive, the Discount still applies to the family, and it's always hassel free.

[Micah_D]

As a resident of Southern California looking to purchase a truck very soon I started this video saying, "please don't say California, please don't say California." I knew it was wishful thinking, though.

[jeffmorse]

Move to the Daytona Beach area this fall, but fortunately I have a 2021 Subaru so I won't be shopping for a car in Florida for a number of years. Place sounds like a mess for buying a car in.

[JavierGarcia-hdxm]

I paid $399 for fees in Florida, all cash late December 22. I made the deal in 30 minutes; i told the sales person if you go talk to your manager i’m walking out. We agreed on the price, he talked to the finance manager and we had a deal.

[eggsngritstn]

As a Tennessee car buyer, the Georgia doc fees are out of control. In Tennessee the doc fees range from zero to $1000. Virtually all of the new car dealerships charge at least $600.

[RicardoFlores-ufpk]

I just went to try and buy a car at Hyundai doral (miami, Fl) and they where adding 1, 299$ Doc fee plus and additional 700$ in government fee and a hidden market adjust of 1, 300$ that was never told or seen until the moment we needed to sign the papers. Manager Edwin treated us very bad and rude and refused to make a deal with us because we wanted to know why this 1, 300$ never came up in the negotiation. The car was listed at msrp and everything revolved around that.

[mundotaku_org]

I lived in South Florida for 20 years and just moved to Pennsylvania. I was blown away by not being fucked by the dealer. I went with my own financing and they were super fine with it. I bought on September when inventory was low, so I expected to pay sticker price (which was great on a used car) and NO FUCKING DEALER FEES, title fees were also a reasonable $300, the car had 3 months warranty and fresh inspection. Heck, they allow me and my wife to test drive the car without someone next to us!!! I was simply blown away. I am never buying a car in Florida ever again!

[terracenight]

Ugh I just moved to Florida from Hawaii. Hawaii was doing markups PRIOR to all this craziness. I thought Florida would be better but NOPE. The cool thing about Hawaii there was a dealer chain called Servco advertised all their cars as “We will never sell a car above MSRP.” They also include all fees and taxes on their websites. Unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to buy a car while in Hawaii. I’ve graduated to driving the wheels off cars I have now.