Elite Motors Took a deposit, jacked up the price, and was dishonest about the law. Mundelein, Illinois

I spent the first part of this week negotiating a price on a vehicle. Every time I got a price, the guy would be like "well, I got to talk to my manger" or "you have to talk to this other salesmen". Every time I talked to that other person, the price would go up another $100. The other guy would claim I agreed to all sorts of fees ask  for more money.  After putting up with this for days, I finally got someone to commit to a final price. The agreement was the price + tax, title, and registration. No fees. Just send in the deposit, he told me, and he'd send over the contract. I could pick up the vehicle that weekend.

Well, I gave them my deposit and the the contract came in. Bottom line was far more then I was expecting. It broke down to the agreed upon price plus tax, and $154.38 in Documentary fees. WTF? I called the guy, assuming documentary fees include things like title and registration. Nope, that's separate he told me. He said I agreed to the price plus tax, title, and DOCUMENTARY fees. After telling him I didn't want to pay any fees for a few minutes, and pointing out documentary fee sounds like a fee, he sent me over to the finance guy who told me that documentary fees are required by state law and there's nothing he can do about the fee. The kicker? The contract says:

"Documentary fee is not an official fee. A documentary fee is not required for handling documents and preforming services related to the closing of a sale. This notice is required by law."

What they left out is what the rest of the law actually says,

"DOCUMENTARY FEE. A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT AN OFFICIAL FEE.A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT REQUIRED BY LAW, BUT MAY BE CHARGED TO BUYERS FOR HANDLING DOCUMENTS AND PERFORMING SERVICES RELATED TO CLOSING OF A SALE. THE BASE DOCUMENTARY FEE BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2008, WAS $150. THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT THAT MAY BE CHARGED FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS THE BASE DOCUMENTARY FEE OF $150 WHICH SHALL BE SUBJECT TO AN ANNUAL RATE ADJUSTMENT EQUAL TO THE PERCENTAGE OF CHANGE IN THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX. THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW."

Funny how they left out something which says its required by law, but I'm sure their lawyers know what they're doing.

Anyway, the guy just straight out made something up to get another $154 after the price was set and the deposit collected. He even said that it would be easier for him to lose the sale rather then waive the fee.

Feels great to be treated so poorly.