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8.6 Document Preparation Fee
We covered this in Section 3, but it’s worth reinforcing here in the advertising context. The document preparation fee — also called the document processing charge or “doc fee” — is capped at $85 for PIP dealers and $70 for non-PIP dealers under Vehicle Code Section 4456.5. If you advertise prices that exclude the doc fee and then add it at the time of sale, that’s generally acceptable as long as you disclose that additional fees apply. But if your advertising states a price as the “total out-the-door price” and then you add a doc fee on top of it, that’s misleading.
Remember: the doc fee must never be represented as a government fee. It’s a dealer service charge. If your sales documents, advertising, or verbal representations suggest the doc fee is a fee imposed by DMV or any government agency, that’s a separate violation.