Gov. Newsom vetoes car dealer bill that would have hiked fees on buyers

"In his veto message, Newsom said the fee increase made little sense since a car buyer would be paying a dealership for only minutes of data entry. At a time when Californians are already struggling with the high cost of living, Newsom wrote, this bill would raise the document processing fee to three times the current $85 cap far beyond what an inflation adjustment would justify."

"Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association, said in an emailed statement that the state's car sellers were extremely disappointed by the veto. Maas said the current $85 cap on the document-processing fee is by far the lowest in the country. The now-dead fee increase, he said, would still have been at the bottom quartile of such charges across the nation."

Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 791, which would have raised dealer document-processing fees from an $85 cap to as much as 1% of a vehicle's purchase price, capped at $260. Newsom said the increase was unjustified because buyers would pay for minutes of data entry and the change would triple the current cap beyond inflation adjustments. Dealers expressed disappointment, saying the $85 cap is the nation's lowest and the proposed increase would still be in the bottom quartile nationally. Dealers say legislative mandates raise costs while preventing them from recouping expenses. Newsom signed SB 766 adding consumer protections including three-day returns under $50,000 and upfront cost disclosures.

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