British Columbia's Vehicle Sales Authority has issued a warning for car buyers to beware of extra fees that get added in after you've negotiated a price for a car.

The most common is a documentation fee. It's a made up fee by dealers in B.C. for about 40 years. It's a way for dealers to add profit back into a car deal and typically used to run about $300.

"Now we are seeing them as much as $1500 or $1600 and there is no extra documentation to justify the increase. They are using terms such as administration fees or environmental fee. There is usually an inference it's a government fee they have to pay to someone else," Ken Smith the Registrar of Motor Dealers said.

The only required fees are sales taxes, the battery levy of five dollars and the tire levy of three to five dollars per tire depending on the size of your vehicle

The president of the Vehicle Sales Authority and Registrar of Motor Dealers Ken Smith says the law requires full disclosure of all dealer fees and charges in the advertised price. He says adding in fees after the fact is a deceptive act.

"We're seeing too much of it . We're seeing a few dealers doing an awful lot of it it's probably because they are having trouble making their numbers and keeping their sales up," Smith said.

Buyers who have extra fees sprung on them at the end can be complain to the VSA and may be entitled to a full refund of fees collected or the right to cancel the sale. So, if it's happened to you contact the Vehicle Sales Authority and complain. And if you are buying a car and these extra fees are sprung on you at the last minute take your business somewhere else.

This doesn't mean dealers can't charge fees. They can charge anything they want -- they just have to disclose their fees in advertised prices and tell you any extra fees before you come to a final price. No nasty surprises at the end when you think the deal is complete.

The Vehicle Sales Authority can impose fines or in even suspend the license of dealers which fail to comply. They can be audited, given cease and desist orders -- many unpleasant things can happen including being ordered to give refunds to affected customers and if a dealer is doing it a lot -- that could be a huge amount of money.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen