Originally Posted by CGameProgrammer

I think you're acting a bit rashly, Terry. Your experience is no reason not to buy that car -- it's just a reason to avoid that shitty dealer like the plague.

1) Do not buy any accessories at all. Because dealers are legally required to show exactly what their markup is and exactly what the MSRP is, it makes it a bit harder for them to justify to customers a high markup. But there's a loophole -- charging very high prices for accessories. Not only do they transparently mark up the prices of the accessories, but on top of that they charge huge amounts for "labor". So you always want to buy a car completely devoid of any accessories and avoid any dealer that automatically installs a bunch of them and gives you no choice.

2) They are ripping you off if they're giving you $4500 less than the blue-book trade-in value for your car. Hell, I was offered $1000 less and I considered that a rip-off I grudgingly accepted.

3) There should be no paperwork fee at all, though maybe you can settle for a $50 one... but it's really just a bullshit fee they use to try to eek out a bit more profit from the sale.