Chicago Dealers Get 1.2% Hike in Allowable DOC Fees

OAK BROOK, IL – Chicagoland new-car dealers will be allowed to charge customers a $166.27 Documentary Service, or DOC fee, on the purchase of any new vehicle in 2014, a $1.97 or 1.2% increase over the allowable charge in 2013, reports the Chicago Automobile Trade Assn.

The fee, which goes to cover the cost of paperwork involved with each sale, dates back to the early 1980s. At the time, some dealers began quoting lower prices than their rivals to attract consumers, but made up for the low advertised prices by adding a variety of questionable and often high fees to the sale to boost the bottom line.

Fees ranged from a DOC fee to cover the cost of doing paperwork on the sale to a special charge for removing the wax-like coating applied to foreign cars shipped by boat to the U.S. to prevent rusting from saltwater.

Charges ranged from $25 to $100 or more, though removing the cosmoline coating, for example, required only a simple wash. Some dealers got so inventive one charged customers a fee to wash their trade-in so it was presentable for sale on its used-car lot.

At the urging of CATA to ensure all dealers competed on a level playing field by eliminating hidden fees, the Illinois attorney general stepped in and ruled a DOC fee would be permissible at a maximum of $40. However, the attorney general's office allowed a provision to raise the fee annually based on the national cost of living index, resulting in the increase to $166.27 for 2014.

Dealers have the option to apply the DOC fee, but if they do, all customers have to pay the same amount to avoid charges of discrimination.