Destination Charge a Rip-off ?

[rbpearl]

Do all people get an add-on "destination charge" ? Is this a mandatory charge to be added when buying a new car or is this a rip-off ? I bought my car and a$550 destination charge was added after. Please let me know what you think about this... Thanks.

[Silver8th]

I'm pretty sure the dealer does pay a $550 delivery charge on top of the dealer invoice price.

[Silver8th]

Scroll down a bit to see dealer invoice and $550 destination charge
http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/N...5/Act/Showall/

[rbpearl]

Originally Posted by silver8th

I'm pretty sure the dealer does pay a $550 delivery charge on top of the dealer invoice price.

I got my 2006 LX (automatic) sedan advertised at $16,299.
After that they added a destination charge of $550 so 16,299 + 500 = $16,799.I hope the price I paid for this car is not too high.. I guess I wasn't able to check thoroughly the price or there could have been a subscript on the ads ( those tiny unreadable letters.) Anyway, this is my first new car purchase which I don't ussually do. I had 4 cars that I bought used and they all served me well but this car is for my wife so I thought buying a very reliable car is important.

[damb]

Hey I payed $1225.00 canadian and from the dealer to the plant is 50 km or around 35 miles. That works out to $24.5/km.

[rbpearl]

Originally Posted by silver8th

Scroll down a bit to see dealer invoice and $550 destination charge
http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/N...5/Act/Showall/

Thanks for the link.

Originally Posted by damb

Hey I payed $1225.00 canadian and from the dealer to the plant is 50 km or around 35 miles. That works out to $24.5/km.

Wow, that's a lot of money.Based on current value , that is 1,225 Canadian Dollar = 1,060.28 US Dollar. Much more than here in the US.

[Kroze]

oh god, some people are so gullible. the "dealer invoice" is not the price that the dealer paid for the car. jesus. It's a number they made up to have gullible people think that's what the dealer paid for the car. Actual prices of the car is the most well kept secret in the industry.

[luke]

I understand the freight charge. But can someone explain to me why we have to pay for the P.D.I? I mean its Honda's obligation to make sure the product they are delivering is working properly right? Am I missing something here?

[aoar]

... when you buy your car you always baragain with the price including destination. or else they'll just tack on antoher .5k like that.. its another thing always in the back of the salesmans head. did i tack on the destination or not.. When i bought my car we agreed on a price with destination. After the deal they tacked it on anyway and of course i raised hell and they had to adjust it (it was part my fault for not examining the paperwork more, but ihad original bill of sale or w/e they call it. )

[imported_CoryB]

Originally Posted by kroze

oh god, some people are so gullible. the "dealer invoice" is not the price that the dealer paid for the car. jesus. It's a number they made up to have gullible people think that's what the dealer paid for the car. Actual prices of the car is the most well kept secret in the industry.

Where do you get your information?

When I've worked at various dealerships, invoice was what the factory charged the dealership for the car. There are holdbacks that the dealer earns back from the factory after the car is sold, but I've never seen that at more than 3%.

[John2009]

The items "below" the invoice can vary depending model time of year, etc. depending on the behavior the manufacturer wants to drive.

[John2009]

The Honda website has this footnote:

*MSRP excluding tax, license, registration, $550.00 destination charge and options. Dealer prices may vary.

It's my understand the dealer is charged the $550 by Honda regardless of location in the US It would be a recordkeeping nightmare to try and charge the actual shipping based on point of manufacture and delvery location. Plus it would upset the customer. Imagine what would happen if 2 identical Civics were sitting on the lot in Ohio, one was made in Ohio and the other in Japan and the dealer charged actual dellivery cost.

That being said, the delivery charge isn't something the dealer has room to bargain on, it's a direct pass through. If the dealer says he's discounting it he's really giving a discount on another component of his cost.

[HondaSales]

yes we (a dealer) does pay the destination fee i dont car who tells you other wise. Also the invoice price IS the price we pay not a cent less. The reason people say that its not true is like 20 years ago shady dealer would make up fake invoices. As far as dealer hold back goes its nothin and is only paid quarterly or yearly sometimes so its not like we see that money right away.

[kadenx]

Originally Posted by hondasales

yes we (a dealer) does pay the destination fee i dont car who tells you other wise. Also the invoice price IS the price we pay not a cent less. The reason people say that its not true is like 20 years ago shady dealer would make up fake invoices. As far as dealer hold back goes its nothin and is only paid quarterly or yearly sometimes so its not like we see that money right away.

Yeah, the holdback is profit though and dealers also "pack" the vehicle cost to pay the light bill so to speak. What sucks is that most dealers exclude the holdback *and* pack from the commissionable gross. If the only financed item is the car + fees and taxes, the sales people usually make a flat commission. They make money on the gap, serv cont, maint cont, and other "adds". FYI Do not buy anything else other than the car. There are third party companies that will sell these products for less because there is no dealer markup.

[CivicWithNav]

it's part of advertising...

Wouldn't you be more attracted to a car with 15,999 than a same car with $16,549?

place I work at, we don't do this but MOST ALL advertised prices of the cars are PLUS TAX TAGS AND FREIGHT and dealer processing fee of $99 or $100


The freight is taken out and put back in at the end...because they want to present to you the lowest $$$$ amount possible. WOUDLN"T YOU do the same thing?

It's not RIPPING people off...because they took it out, and putting required fee back in.

[Celcius]

Originally Posted by hondasales

yes we (a dealer) does pay the destination fee i dont car who tells you other wise. Also the invoice price IS the price we pay not a cent less. The reason people say that its not true is like 20 years ago shady dealer would make up fake invoices. As far as dealer hold back goes its nothin and is only paid quarterly or yearly sometimes so its not like we see that money right away.

So when people say that they got their car below invoice, they're more than likely BSing, correct?

[Janizary]

No, Celcius. For example, Sam's Club deals are $100 under invoice as a base. (At least the one's here) so there is more to it than that.

[k20z3Vo]

yep yep... destination charge... crappy I say.

[John2009]

Originally Posted by CivicWithNav

it's part of advertising...

Wouldn't you be more attracted to a car with 15,999 than a same car with $16,549?

place I work at, we don't do this but MOST ALL advertised prices of the cars are PLUS TAX TAGS AND FREIGHT and dealer processing fee of $99 or $100


The freight is taken out and put back in at the end...because they want to present to you the lowest $$$$ amount possible. WOUDLN"T YOU do the same thing?

It's not RIPPING people off...because they took it out, and putting required fee back in.

You're apparently working at a dealership that has some morals. The place I deal with doesn't mess with the freight (in and out). This kind of crap is why car dealers have as bad a rep as politicians.

[letsgoflyers81]

Originally Posted by Janizary

No, Celcius. For example, Sam's Club deals are $100 under invoice as a base. (At least the one's here) so there is more to it than that.

Yup, it's possible. Costco has a deal with the dealership I got my 04 Civic EX from where the price starts at $100 over invoice before rebates and incentives. I was eligible for a $500 factory rebate so I got mine for $400 under invoice. They're already told me they don't give that big of a discount with Si's though so I won't get that good of a deal when I get my new car in the fall.