# Vehicle delivery and "destination" costs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638 "2014-11-04T16:37:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/21 "2014-11-07T02:17:43Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Go back and read what I was responding to: > My point is they already are in the price of the car. When you look at the lower right corner of a Monrony sticker that number includes the destination charge. Yep. [Here’s a snippet of a sticker from a Focus.](http://home.comcast.net/~jz78817/stuff/sticker.PNG) The “sticker price” (total MSRP) includes destination and delivery. So I have no idea what the OP is on about, nor do I know what is meant by making d&d “competitive.” ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/22 "2014-11-07T14:18:44Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Haven’t read a Monrony label lately I see. > Destination charges from the car maker are clearly printed on the Monrony. Yes they are. And as stated above those charges are added to EVERY car at a flat rate. So why show them as a separate item? With that in mind why not list an axle price separately? Or maybe a steering wheel price? Or corporate executive pay component? If every boomer model car in sold in the USA has a delivery price of $450 what’s the use of making that a separate line item on the sticker? It’s clearly embedded in the price. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/23 "2014-11-07T14:23:12Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > … There is no reason to hold that price off to the side other than to try to confuse the buyer. Which is why the ads say “$28,999 + dealer prep and destination charge” instead of $30,000. ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/24 "2014-11-07T14:38:16Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Yes they are. And as stated above those charges are added to EVERY car at a flat rate. > So why show them as a separate item? > With that in mind why not list an axle price separately? > Or maybe a steering wheel price? > Or corporate executive pay component? > > If every boomer model car in sold in the USA has a delivery price of $450 what’s the use of making that a separate line item on the sticker? It’s clearly embedded in the price. I find it hard to believe you’re so adamant about bemoaning that they are giving you that added, mostly honest info. You only have cause for complaint if you live near a factory that makes the model you’re buying. They show it separately because federal law says they HAVE TO, because enough people complained to their representatives about how it use to be done. The only element of deception is that it helps hide the actual location of final assembly. But even if they tell you that, it doesn’t tell where all the components are from. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/25 "2014-11-07T14:49:32Z")
My guess is that it’s a regulatory thing; since it’s a mandated fee, it’s mandated that it be its own line item on the label. Which makes some kind of twisted sense, but at the same time, it doesn’t really. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/26 "2014-11-07T15:13:39Z")
> [@bump](#): > > My guess is that it’s a regulatory thing; since it’s a mandated fee, it’s mandated that it be its own line item on the label. The disclosure is mandated, and the averaged amount is legally codified. I don’t believe there’s any mandate that a manufacturer charge the fee at all - but if they don’t charge it for the dealer across the street from the plant, they can’t charge it for the one in Honolulu, either. In some ways, the situation has gotten better. The way it has to be presented on the window sticker is to the buyer’s benefit. That doesn’t change a lot of the other issues with how the cost is managed (picking the pocket of a San Jose Ford buyer to subsidize the purchase of one in, say, Colorado) and that advertising and marketing often conveniently omit or bury the charge as a deceptive come-on. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/27 "2014-11-07T15:17:40Z")
Mandated or not it still provides the dealer an opportunity to advertise a lower number in their ads. Hijack: While some mandates are driven by customer will others are the result of industry lobbyists. In Missouri it’s against the law for a dealer to transact sales business on a Sunday. This law exists for no other reason then the established dealers lobbied to keep smaller dealers from staying open and taking their business. The result is that the weekend customer has only one day to shop for cars. A local motorcycle dealer in the Kansas City area is trying to challenge this law and is fighting an uphill battle. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/28 "2014-11-07T15:23:26Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Hijack: While some mandates are driven by customer will others are the result of industry lobbyists. In Missouri it’s against the law for a dealer to transact sales business on a Sunday. This law exists for no other reason that the established dealers lobbied to keep smaller dealers from staying open and taking their business. The result s that the weekend customer has only one to shop for cars. > > A local motorcycle dealer in the Kansas City area is trying to challenge this law and is fighting an uphill battle. We just went through a blue-law battle like this with liquor sales (not allowed on Sunday until just last year). There really isn’t any valid argument against 7-day, reasonable-hours liquor sales, but the forces against the change threw every kind of fit there is to throw, making claims of utter anarchy and destabilization. Interestingly, it was the other way around, in their view: the Sunday closings protected the small liquor stores from sales by big stores, which could somehow afford to stay open one more day with lower costs. (Uh, right.) There was also the argument that the state was “forcing” small business owners to operate unprofitably by opening seven days for the same six days’ sales. (Uh, right, again… with state borders just a few minutes’ drive for most folks.) We can now buy beer on Sunday and AFAICT civilization hasn’t collapsed here. I think all such blue laws, originating with religious grounds, should be struck down nationwide in one go, instead of preventing businesses in Georgia and Maine and other backwaters from making their own choices about what’s economically valid. It’s 99% religious hypocrisy plus a few “winners” protecting their edge. ---
**Author:** ![RememberMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@RememberMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RememberMe)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/29 "2014-11-07T15:42:32Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Yes they are. And as stated above those charges are added to EVERY car at a flat rate. > So why show them as a separate item? > With that in mind why not list an axle price separately? > Or maybe a steering wheel price? > Or corporate executive pay component? > > If every boomer model car in sold in the USA has a delivery price of $450 what’s the use of making that a separate line item on the sticker? It’s clearly embedded in the price. Quite possible that the charges are listed seperate because of tax and accounting reasons. The extras (doc., delivery, reg., prep) have or will be paid for no matter what, and the dealer has to account for those charges seperatlely. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/30 "2014-11-07T15:47:36Z")
If the price is $20,000 plus $450 delivery etc. and the dealer offers a 10% discount, that will only be $2,000 not £2,045. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/31 "2014-11-07T16:07:20Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > If you’ve done that much homework and know the dealer will take \_\_\_\_ over cost on that model, they will take the \_\_\_\_ and call it a sale. Most people don’t go in anywhere nearly that prepared, and far, far too many people “just wander in to take a look.” But you don’t even need to do much of your own homework, assuming that the car you want is not some unusual beast that is in high demand and therefore immune to discounting. A lifetime ago, in my early twenties, i sold new cars for a living. Having been on the sales side of the counter, my advice to a buyer would be to do what **control-z** suggests: tell the dealer that you want the best possible out-the-door price. More than that, go to (or call up) three different dealers, tell them exactly what make and model you want (including all options, colors, etc., etc.), and tell them that you’re giving three dealers the chance to win your business, and the dealer with the best out-the-door price will sell you the car. You do have to do some things for this to work. You have to be clear about exactly what options you do and do not want on the car. You can’t leave room for them to tack on things at the end. But even as a salesperson i appreciated this buying strategy, because it meant that i knew exactly what i needed to do in order to make the sale. Sales made to this type of buyer often didn’t have a huge amount of profit in them, especially if the car in question was a very common model, but they also took up very little time and effort. This only really works with new cars. Used cars have the disadvantage (or the advantage, if you’re the seller) of being unique. No two are exactly alike in their mileage, wear and tear, options, location, number of previous owners, etc. You can still tell a used car dealer that you want the out-the-door price, but you can’t comparison shop as easily as you can with new cars. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/32 "2014-11-07T16:57:08Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > AFAIK, the shipping costs are the same at most dealerships. This prevents what you mentioned, the dealers closer to the plant having a better price. Everyone pays the same and the dealerships are all on a level playing field. Having lived in Michigan, I have been at dealerships in close proximity to the auto plant and the delivery charge was still there, and the same amount as other locations. Way back when, delivery charges were based on the cost of delivery. Dealerships found people driving a couple hundred miles to save money on their car. The dealerships complained so they made a uniform delivery fee. At least, that’s the way it was, I have no idea what they do now. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/33 "2014-11-07T20:56:56Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Yes they are. And as stated above those charges are added to EVERY car at a flat rate. > > So why show them as a separate item? > > With that in mind why not list an axle price separately? > > Or maybe a steering wheel price? > > Or corporate executive pay component? > > If every boomer model car in sold in the USA has a delivery price of $450 what’s the use of making that a separate line item on the sticker? It’s clearly embedded in the price. Have you ever bought anything mail order where it had to be shipped to you? You probably paid freight on that purchase based on either distance and weight or on $ amount of the sale. Why would cars be any different? The amount is disclosed, it will be a constant, between dealers. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/34 "2014-11-07T21:13:54Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Have you ever bought anything mail order where it had to be shipped to you? > You probably paid freight on that purchase based on either distance and weight or on $ amount of the sale. > Why would cars be any different? > The amount is disclosed, it will be a constant, between dealers. > Deal with it. Other that you work in the industry, I can’t see any reason to get so defensive about it. Paying the delivery cost is entirely fair. That it’s listed on the sticker is good. Doing it via a cost often dissociated from the “price” for deceptive purposes, and paying a flat rate to maintain an artificial balance between dealers and regions, are both questionable. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/35 "2014-11-07T22:01:17Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a window sticker that didn’t list the destination/delivery charge. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/36 "2014-11-07T22:03:07Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever seen a window sticker that didn’t list the destination/delivery charge. It was irregular until mandated sometime in the 1980s, IIRC. So if your new-car buying experience doesn’t go back that far, you’d have never seen one. I have the original window sheet for my '68 Mustang and it lists several hand-typed dealer entries, including a delivery charge. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/37 "2014-11-07T22:09:02Z")
Ah, OK. Yeah, I was in high school in the early '80’s so I wasn’t buying any new cars. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/38 "2014-11-08T02:09:28Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Other that you work in the industry, I can’t see any reason to get so defensive about it. Paying the delivery cost is entirely fair. That it’s listed on the sticker is good. > > Doing it via a cost often dissociated from the “price” for deceptive purposes, and paying a flat rate to maintain an artificial balance between dealers and regions, are both questionable. > > Deal with it. sticker price is MSRP. MSRP includes destination. what are you squawking about? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/39 "2014-11-08T04:37:44Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > sticker price is MSRP. MSRP includes destination. what are you squawking about? Ads that don’t include the figure, mostly, as well as the suspicion that it gets left out of a lot of negotiations until the contract is laid down. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638/40 "2014-11-08T17:39:26Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Ads that don’t include the figure, mostly, as well as the suspicion that it gets left out of a lot of negotiations until the contract is laid down. most advertising I see for cars are from dealers or local dealer associations and they almost always advertise a monthly payment amount. I only looked at a couple Ford dealers, but if I go to these dealers’ sites the price they list is MSRP (including destination) minus any discounts/incentives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-delivery-and-destination-costs/703638.md?page=1)