The Dutch competition authority is investigating ‘road-ready’ costs that are added to the bill for some new cars.

In a wide-ranging investigation into ‘price transparency’, a spokeswoman for the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) told DutchNews.nl it will also look at whether booking fees for theatre tickets are fair.

The consumers’ lobby group Consumentenbond has asked the ACM to investigate alleged misleading pricing in the costs of cars.

It claims that Dutch cars aren’t always actually available for the advertised price, due to ‘road-ready’ and delivery costs. These might include partially filling the tank or sorting out number plates, but are not always included in advertised prices.

Consumers, it says, need to be able to compare accurate prices with other vendors, and certainly don’t want a nasty shock when the bill turns up.

At the end of 2014, the Consumentenbond started a campaign calling for car importers to give all-in prices. Research it did that year showed the cheapest sellers of the 40 most popular cars added between €660 and €1,300 to the advertised price.

€3,000 extra

One new Toyota Yaris, says the Financiele Dagblad, was €3,000 more expensive.

‘Companies that are unclear about prices and conditions make for unfair competition,’ a spokesperson told the paper.

But the car industry association RAI told the Financiele Dagblad that it is working hard on the problem. A spokesperson said: ‘Adverts state “see the conditions of sale on the website”, where you can find the road-ready costs. This is also included in bids, and you can find it everywhere.’