"Dealer Marketing Group" Fee?

[Via Chicago]

Evening, all. Tonight I got a quote on a Stinger, and everything seems pretty squared away. The only item of uncertainty for me is a "DMG" fee, which shows up as a line item under the dealer costs on the invoice. It doesn't raise the MSRP any, just the dealer invoice cost (to the tune of $482). I'm working on securing Costco pricing, which is an amount relative to dealer invoice, so that DMG fee is meaningful to me. Has anyone else encountered this sort of thing? A bit of googling indicates that this is a common thing and is often not negotiable, but I just want to make sure I'm not forking over an unnecessary $482. Thanks all.

 

[mldavis2]

That is a fee that dealers pay to a local marketing group that is used for TV and media advertising. It is an advertising fee that varies with the location and advertising aggressiveness of the dealership or the group in which the dealer is a member. There is no way around paying it unless you can get them to waive it, or go find a rural dealer or another dealership that doesn't spend $$$ on advertising. It is local advertising, not factory advertising, so it can vary considerably. That's why you should shop around.

 

[MurlinatoR]

Evening, all. Tonight I got a quote on a Stinger, and everything seems pretty squared away. The only item of uncertainty for me is a "DMG" fee, which shows up as a line item under the dealer costs on the invoice. It doesn't raise the MSRP any, just the dealer invoice cost (to the tune of $482). I'm working on securing Costco pricing, which is an amount relative to dealer invoice, so that DMG fee is meaningful to me. Has anyone else encountered this sort of thing? A bit of googling indicates that this is a common thing and is often not negotiable, but I just want to make sure I'm not forking over an unnecessary $482. Thanks all.

Hey [MENTION=382]Via Chicago[/MENTION]! I replied to your post on the other forum. [MENTION=456]mldavis2[/MENTION] hit it right with the marketing details. As for the value of it's cost, it's only added to the dealers out of pocket cost, not the MSRP. It's just like the destination fee or any options that the factory has put on a vehicle except in this instance it's not tacked on to the MSRP. It is a cost of doing business for the dealer and thus increases their total bill to Kia for the vehicle.