If You Know Their Rules ...
You Can Play Their Games

Advertising fees
Some dealers will add a separate charge for advertising. Their excuse is that the manufacturer charges them a fee on every car to help defray the cost of reaching you with their ads and commercials. You might respond by saving:

"Since I never see any of your ads, I guess I won't have to pay the fee. "

Or you might suggest that since advertising is a cost of doing business, it should be built into the profit. If they insist on adding the fee to the price, make it clear that since you are shopping, the additional cost could put them at a disadvantage against the other dealerships you plan to visit. A statement to this effect will not be lost on a salesperson. If the dealership will not budge on the advertising fee and you decide that, all other things being equal, this is the dealership where you'd like to do business, try and use your agreement to pay the advertising fee to win a concession on another point.

Destination Charges
All manufacturers charge their dealers a destination or transportation cost, and this number is shown on the Monroney. This is a standard pass-along fee and one that they will not negotiate because there is no profit for them in the charge.

The Costs you Don ‘t See

The second set of numbers is what the manufacturer charges the dealer for the car and the options. This is referred to as the invoice or "tissue" cost. The difference between the MSRP and the invoice is the markup and targeted profit figure.

During your test drive, find an opportunity to copy down all of the price information on the window sticker. Or if you prefer, just drop into a dealership and, should you be approached by a salesperson, announce that you are just looking. Usually that's enough to send them back to their desks, figuring that since you're not a buyer "today" you're not worth talking to. The major task here is to be sure that you write down all the key information including the dealer add-ons.