Junk fees: Documentation, Floorplan, Advertising, or Dealer Prep Fees—all of which can range from $200-$900--are just “smoke and mirrors,” according to one car salesman. These fees are added on top of the MSRP and exist only as a way for a dealer to pad their profit. It’s best to just cross them off the contract rather than haggle the fees down—paying even half of the junk fees is paying too much. The Destination or Transportation charge may be expensive (between $600-700), especially with the price of gas always increasing, but it’s a legitimate fee and can’t be waived.

Holdback: Even when a dealer sells a car for the invoiced price, it’s possible that they’ve turned a profit. After a sale is complete, manufacturers credit dealers with a holdback-- typically 2 -3.5 percent of the MSRP. Dealers use bank financing to purchase cars from a manufacturer until they’re sold to customers, and the holdback helps dealers pay the interest and financing charges. It’s a small amount of money that helps the dealer offset the cost of doing business. Many people think that the holdback is untouchable, but it depends on how badly the dealer wants to move the car. The longer a car sits on the lot, the more a dealer owes the bank, and it’s possible that a dealer will take a loss on a car. “You have to take the good with the bad,” one former car dealer explains.

Dealer cash: Around the time new models are rolled out, car manufacturers realize that they’ll have to offer financial incentives to help dealers move older models off the lots.  While customers will see advertisements for rebates and other customer incentives, some manufactures don’t offer rebates because they believe it cheapens their product. Instead of rebates, car makers offer what is known as “dealer cash” to incent dealers to make brisk sales. Unlike rebates which go directly to the customer, dealer cash goes only to the dealer. It’s up to them to decide if they want to pass the savings on the customer, but they don’t have to. Unlike rebates, dealer cash is not advertised and customers have no way of knowing when manufacture-to-dealer incentives are being offered. It’s safe to assume that when the dealers are trying to clear the lots for new models you can dig deep into their profit margin.

Pity party: Everyone’s gotta make a living, right? Even when customers insist that they want to pay invoice, dealers can usually guilt customers into paying a few hundred dollars over invoice by arguing that everyone has to make a profit. Placed prominently on the dealers desk is often a picture of the dealer’s family or drawings by their children helping them make the sale that mommy or daddy has to put dinner on the table. “I can usually get customers to pay a couple hundred dollars over invoice using that tactic,” says a veteran dealer.

Dehorsing: Dealers don’t believe that car buyers will come back once they leave the lot. Unless they have your car. To secure a second chance to sell you on a new car, dealers will allow you to take the car for a few hours—typically to show their friends or spouse. Known as “dehorsing,” the chances of you purchasing the vehicle go up considerably the longer you’ve been in the car. The goal of the dealer is to get you talking about it to your friends and family and feel comfortable behind the wheel of the new car--so comfortable that you want to buy the car. The more you’ve driven the car, the more likely you are to buy it, says one automotive sales trainer.

Swallow your trade: Selling new cars isn’t the only way dealer’s can make profit. Used cars hold just as much profit potential--and sometimes even more depending on how well a customer researched the value of their vehicle. “A lot of times I’ll pile on the fees or double dip on the fees to confuse the customer. I’ll get them so distracted fighting the fees that they won’t eve notice that I’ve just stolen their car,” says a car salesman. In other scenarios, customer may believe their car is worth more than it really is. To appease these customers, dealers may offer them a high price for the trade in, but then tack on extra profit to the new car. One strategy for consumers is to negotiate the purchase price of the new car before divulging that they want to trade in their current vehicle.

Spotting and Rollbacks: Dealers will allow you to take a car home after a deal’s been struck even though financing paperwork hasn’t been completed. They’re not just being nice, they’re trying to make a long-shot sale. “Spotting” is a strategy best used on customers with poor credit. The sales and F&I will come to terms that a customer thinks he or she can afford and send them home with the car. Many of those customers will receive a call within a few days informing them of the bad news: they were turned down for the auto loan and need to re-do the paperwork, typically at a higher interest rate or with a higher down payment. These “rollbacks” return to the dealership and either hand over the keys of the car or renegotiate financing terms. “They always agree to the higher interest rate because their family has seen the car and everyone they know has seen them in the car and they’d be too embarrassed to say that they couldn’t get financing for it,” says a salesman familiar with the tactic. In fact, dealers expect to see a few rollbacks each month. If they don’t, they assume that their sales and financing teams aren’t being aggressive enough.