Thinking of buying a 200. I’m in USA (Alabama)

[girupb]

What's a documentation fee?

Profit for the dealer

 

[nalabama]

Exactly. A charge to cover their supposed expenses for preparing the paperwork involved in the sale of the vehicle and preparing a title application. Some dealers will even state it covers the cost of the finance guy “counseling” you regarding your financing options. In other words, just a charge for a normal cost of doing business. For dealers that use this ruse, it allows them to advertise a lower price. It is unethical, and the first sign that you are dealing with a sleazy dealer.

 

[auttiman]

I’m gonna take mine off-road a good bit. That said, which transmission is best for off-roading, the 6 or the 8 speed?

And I’m in Anniston, Al.

 

[JohnJB]

I’m gonna take mine off-road a good bit. That said, which transmission is best for off-roading, the 6 or the 8 speed?

As someone who has wheeled both, I prefer the 8 spd off road as I want as much mechanical advantage as possible. The lower gearing of 1-2 compared to the 6 spd makes it better IMO. Crawl ratio on the 8spd in 1-2 is 41.5/23.3 respectively; on the 6 spd 1-2 it is 34.1/20.1. It's not drastic but certainly noticeable.

There are plenty of folks who believe the 8spd behaves poorly on-road due to harsh shifts and whatnot. I can't say I ever felt that in my experience but I also come from a world of very "unrefined" vehicles. The throttle pedal mapping is comically lethargic, but that can be remedied.

 

[Sedalia]

What's a documentation fee?

pure profit

 

[Sedalia]

Exactly. A charge to cover their supposed expenses for preparing the paperwork involved in the sale of the vehicle and preparing a title application. Some dealers will even state it covers the cost of the finance guy “counseling” you regarding your financing options. In other words, just a charge for a normal cost of doing business. For dealers that use this ruse, it allows them to advertise a lower price. It is unethical, and the first sign that you are dealing with a sleazy dealer.

I'm not so sure about the "sleazy" part, inasmuch as they are all a little sleazy. I bought mine from a dealer with a very high doc fee so I just lowered the price accordingly and they were happy to agree because they usually aren't allowed to negotiate the doc fee. Overall, I got a much better price than I tried at the other dealers.