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Read your Retail Installment Contract - it will call out all the fees and things. Most dealers pay the origination fees, but often make up the difference in something call 'participation', where they charge you a higher APR and share the extra interest charges with the lender

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And most dealers, especially nicer manufacturers, are completely open and willing to negotiate all these percentages. Especially now with loan rates well below inflation, you can really save a lot of money by negotiating things other than purchase price, even if you end up with a higher purchase price at the end.

With dealer stocks being low and demand being high, there’s little room for negotiation on any material term right now. That’s the whole point of this article.

You're completely right, my mistake. I haven't bought a car since 2019 but my partner got one about 6 months ago and it was as you say, basically "this is the price, take it or leave it."

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