Research
What dealers put on the quote: the add-ons, the doc fees, and what to ask
The last 90 dealer quotes scanned on DealPrepare, from 22 states: 39 carried priced add-ons, a median of $933 per quote, and 21 of 36 doc fees ran more than $50 over the state figure. Here is what was on the quotes, what it cost, and the data to check it.
Last reviewed October 6, 2026. Download the data (CSV)
Headline findings
- 39 of 90
- quotes carried at least one priced add-on
- $933
- median add-on total on those quotes
- 21 of 36
- doc fees ran more than $50 over the state average
- $495
- median printed doc fee
43% of the documents.
The highest was $5,995. Factory options are left out.
Among those, the median gap was $280; the largest was $596.
Across the 69 documents that printed one.
On the 36 quotes that carried both priced add-ons and a doc fee, the add-ons came to more than the doc fee on 27. The doc fee gets the attention; the add-ons are usually the bigger number.
Every add-on and fee on a quote is a line the buyer can ask about. Most buyers never do, because they do not know which lines are the dealer's and which are the state's.
The free quote scan on DealPrepare reads one document at a time and checks every one of these lines. This page is what the same rules say about the last 90 quotes together.
The add-ons
73 priced add-on lines on 39 quotes, grouped by what the product is. The most common were accessories, paint and appearance protection, theft and gps products. A quote with add-ons carried a median of $933 of them and a mean of $1,589; one carried $5,995.
| Product family | Quotes | Printed price |
|---|---|---|
| Paint and appearance protectionA sealant or coating applied to the paint, the interior or the glass, sold under names such as ToyoGuard, Xzilon and Permaplate. | 9 (11 lines) | $249 to $998, median $495 |
| Theft and GPS productsA GPS tracker, a recovery service or a theft-registration product installed before delivery, such as Pulse or LoJack. | 9 (11 lines) | $249 to $1,795, median $699 |
| VIN etchingThe VIN etched into the glass, sold as a theft deterrent. | 3 (3 lines) | $299 to $695, median $299 |
| Service contracts and extended warrantiesA service contract or extended warranty beyond the factory coverage. | 4 (10 lines) | $995 to $5,995, median $2,895 |
| GAPGuaranteed asset protection: it covers the gap between a loan balance and an insurance payout if the car is totaled. | 2 (4 lines) | $895 to $1,195, median $1,045 |
| Tire and wheel protectionRoad hazard coverage for the tires and wheels. | 2 (4 lines) | $799 to $1,096, median $948 |
| Other protection plansDent repair, key replacement, prepaid maintenance and similar plans. | 4 (7 lines) | $269 to $749, median $299 |
| Credit life and disability insuranceInsurance that pays the loan if the borrower dies or cannot work. | 0 (2 lines) | no price printed |
| AccessoriesTint, floor mats, wheel locks, cables and other accessories installed by the dealer. | 18 (25 lines) | $79 to $1,889, median $399 |
| Dealer packages and programsA named bundle only the dealer sells, often several products at one price. | 9 (9 lines) | $199 to $4,905, median $500 |
| Factory and port-installed optionslisted, not countedOptions the car was built or shipped with. Listed here, never counted as something the dealer added. | 1 (6 lines) | $200 to $1,240, median $492 |
Quotes: documents with at least one priced line in the family; lines: every printed line, priced or not. Printed price: the dealer's figure as printed.
Doc fees against the state table
69 of the 90 quotes printed a documentation fee, and 36 of those name a state with a figure in DealPrepare's doc fee table. 21 of those 36 (58%) ran more than $50 over the state's typical fee. Among them the median gap was $280 and the largest $596. The median printed doc fee across every quote was $495.
- Florida7 quotesmedian $1,299 printed, average $999; 5 of 7 over by more than $50
- California6 quotes, capped by lawmedian $85 printed, average $85; 0 of 6 over by more than $50
- Georgia3 quotesmedian $977 printed, average $599; 3 of 3 over by more than $50
Florida: 5 of 7 quotes ran more than $50 over the state's $999 figure; the median printed fee was $1,299. California: 0 of 6 quotes ran more than $50 over the state's $85 figure; the median printed fee was $85.
The other dealer fees
Beyond the doc fee and the government pass-throughs (title, registration, tax), four kinds of line showed up. Each is counted once per quote; the printed names are the dealers' own wording.
Dealer prep, pre-delivery and admin charges
On 21 quotes, median $99, up to $1,295.
A charge the dealer adds for preparation, delivery, administration or filing. It is neither a government fee nor the doc fee, so it is worth asking what it pays for.
Printed as: “Electronic Filing Fee”, “Document Prep Fee”, “Dealer Admin Charge”, “Dealer Prep Fee”.
Market adjustments and dealer markups
On 2 quotes, median $325, up to $500.
A price increase printed as its own line. It is part of the price, and the price is the part of a quote that moves.
Printed as: “Market Adjustment”, “Paid Reserve”.
Unitemized fee lumps
On 18 quotes, median $171, up to $3,605.
Several charges in one line, such as "non-tax fees" or "upfront charges". The itemized list says which are the state's and which are the dealer's.
Printed as: “Non Tax Fees”, “Taxable Fees (Estimated)”, “Additional Fees”, “Other Fees”.
Lender and acquisition fees
On 19 quotes, median $895, up to $1,095.
A fee set by the lender or the leasing company, most often on a lease. Dealers sometimes add to it, so the lender's own figure is worth asking for.
Printed as: “Acquisition Fee”, “Acquisition Fee (lease bank fee)”, “Prepaid Finance Charge”, “Acquisition Fee (lease bank)”.
Method and limits
The last 90 unique dealer quotes scanned on DealPrepare, from 22 states and 19 makes. When the same document was scanned more than once (133 scans in all), or uploaded twice, it counts once.
These are quotes that someone chose to check, so they lean toward quotes with something worth checking. Treat the figures as what buyers who look closely are finding, not as a survey of every quote written.
The dealer's state is the one printed on the document, or the one the buyer gave when scanning it. 42 of the 90 quotes name neither, so they count everywhere except the state comparison.
Every line was classified by the same rules the free scan applies today, whichever version read the document first, so the whole set is grouped one way.
- No dealer is named anywhere in this study or in the data file. A printed line that carried a dealer's name was changed to read "Dealer" instead. At one or two quotes per store, a store's figure would say nothing fair about that store.
- "Over the state figure" means more than $50 above the typical doc fee for the dealer's state in DealPrepare's doc fee table, which the doc fee pages publish with their sources. A fee printed at a state's legal cap is never over.
- VIN etching is shown on its own because it has its own page. A line that names several products at one price is a dealer package. Factory and port-installed options are listed but never counted as something the dealer put on the quote.
- A printed figure under $20 is a quantity, a monthly amount or a misread, never the price of an add-on, so such a line is listed but not priced.
- Nothing here is a finding about any make, any dealer group, or interest rates. The sample is too small to carry those, and the study says so rather than guessing.
- The data file has one row per add-on or fee line: a quote number, kind, family, the printed name, the amount, the dealer's state, the make, the model year, the year of the scan and the document type. The quote number groups the lines of one quote, so every per-quote figure on this page can be rebuilt from the file; it is assigned in state and make order and says nothing about when a quote was scanned. A quote that printed no add-on or fee line has a number but no rows.
- The data file is published under CC BY 4.0: use it freely, in any piece, with a link to this page as the source.
Got a quote? See what is on yours.
Upload the dealer's quote. Every fee is checked against your state's figure, every add-on is read on its own, and the price is checked against live listings near you. Free, no credit card.
Drop the quote here, or tap to choose
PDF or a photo of the paper. Handwriting is fine.
Free account, no credit card. Results in about two minutes.