There are many fees associated with the state, and all of that money actually goes to the state, not to the dealer, with the exception of the “doc” fee, which is the fee that the dealer charges for processing your paperwork, and that fee is just profit for the dealer. Oftentimes, when haggling over the price of the car, the dealer will only give you an estimate of the state fees at first, in order to save time. Once you go back to the finance office, they’ll calculate your exact fees based on your particular situation. It’s usually done this way to expedite the negotiations, and because the estimates they give are usually only off by a hundred bucks or less either way, it doesn’t make much difference in the decision making process. If you ask, however, and don’t mind the time and questions that it takes, they’ll usually calculate everything out to the penny for you. The big one is sales tax is 6% of the “purchase price minus trade in value,” so if you’re buying a $40,000 car and trading in a car for $10,000, your taxable amount is only $30,000, which would be $1,800 in sales tax. This will be the same no matter which dealer you go to. The rest of the fees will be smaller state fees like registration, title fee, notary, messenger, etc. These fees all vary depending on your particular situation, but they are all mandated by the state and should be exactly the same between dealerships for the same situation. The reason that it’s time-consuming to give an exact number is because every deal is different, and the fees depend upon the class/weight of the purchase vehicle, wether you’re transferring plates or getting new ones, if you’re trading in a car, if there are liens involved, etc. The fees are mandated according to this chart on the Penndot website. https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/dvspubsforms/BMV/BMV%20Forms/mv-70s.pdf The big takeaway from this is that only the Doc fee should be different between dealerships, the rest of the state fees should all be the same. I think the maximum doc fee is capped at $422, but I might be wrong about that. All of the fees will be clearly spelled out on your buyers order and your MV form, and it’s illegal for a dealer to keep any money that’s listed as a state fee, and the state performs routine audits to make sure dealers are in compliance. Answer from SuggestAPhotoProject on reddit.com