Brad Willis

Recently, I read a post from a fellow complaining that the San Diego area Audi dealers would not cut a deal close enough to invoice for his liking, so he instead bought from an L.A. area dealer. He MAY have paid more and not realized it. Apparently, dealers in certain areas have to pay into an advertising pool. This charge is 1% of invoice and is passed along to...you guessed it, the customer. I'm told that this is not an issue of the dealer gouging the customer, but rather a requirement that the dealers in certain areas charge that fee, which is directly reflected in the invoice. Los Angeles dealers apparently have this fee as they pay into the regional advertising pool, and San Diego dealers do not. I'm sure that the situation is similar in other parts of the country as well.<p>Of course one might pay the advertising fee and still come out paying less, but it's interesting to know that this charge is added in some areas.