Quick Facts About Destination Fees
- The destination charge is a mandatory, non-negotiable fee added to the price of most new cars that covers the cost of transporting the vehicle from the assembly plant or port to the dealership.
- Destination fees are itemized separately from the MSRP on the window sticker and are calculated as an average, meaning all buyers pay the same amount for a particular model, regardless of their location.
- Destination charges vary by vehicle size and weight, with larger vehicles typically having higher fees.
No matter what dealers call it — delivery, freight fees, or destination charges — the paperwork typically lists it separately, along with other items such as taxes, license, and registration. Keep reading to learn more about destination charges for cars.
Where Destination Fees Come From
If you’ve seen the trucks carrying cars on the highways or freight trains stacked with new vehicles, you are witnessing the service your destination fees pay. Destination fees range from about $1,000 to $2,300 per vehicle. Destination fees are not negotiable. No amount of bargaining makes them go away.
Logic would tell you that if you lived near a port or a particular automotive assembly plant, you could potentially pay less for the destination fees. But that’s not so.
Manufacturers calculate destination charges based on something called an “equalized delivery.” In other words, they factor the cost of shipping all vehicles on the line. They equalize the cost, so the fee is equal for all car buyers, whether they are 25 miles from the assembly line or 2,500 miles away.
That’s why destination charges can’t be waived. We advise you to negotiate from the car’s total out-the-door price, including doc fees, taxes, and registration costs.
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Car Sticker Price Fees Explained
The destination fee should be regarded as another cost of the new car business. Manufacturers must include several other expenses in the price of their new cars and trucks beyond the value of the parts and labor needed to assemble them.
While dealerships don’t hide the destination charge, the additional fee isn’t necessarily at the top of every listing with the car’s price. Freight is not included in the MSRP, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the vehicle.
However, destination fees must be itemized and clearly listed on the “Monroney” label, the official name of the window sticker on each new vehicle. The United States government requires highlighting that charge because carmakers set destination fees on direct costs. These costs are above and beyond the overhead companies must incur in bringing a product to market.
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Where to Find the Destination Fee
Find the destination charge on the window sticker beneath the detailed list of all the standard and manufacturer-installed options and their retail price. Many dealers provide a link to window stickers for the vehicles on their websites.
In general, the cost varies based on vehicle size. For example, the destination charge for the 2025 Chevrolet Suburban, a full-size SUV, is $1,995. The fee for a subcompact Chevrolet Trax is $1,295. Similarly, the charge for a 2025 Lincoln Navigator is $1,995, and it’s $1,295 for a subcompact Buick Encore GX.
It’s not surprising that fees are comparable among manufacturers because they use the same pool of freight carriers. Each competes for the transport business with the professionalism and care the manufacturers demand.
Luxury or high-performance vehicles sometimes have higher destination charges because they may receive greater care or special handling after leaving the assembly plant and have special transportation requirements.
Destination vs. Import Fees
Many people mistakenly believe that the destination fee includes the transport of imported vehicles from their assembly plants overseas. This is not the case. The destination fee listed on a new car’s sticker represents only freight charges within the U.S. So, who pays for the ocean transport? That cost is factored into the pricing on individual models by the distributor or U.S. headquarters of each import manufacturer.
Tariffs and Import Fees
Because these charges cover only U.S. transport, the looming automotive tariffs will not affect destination fees. However, some industry news reports say at least one manufacturer is considering adding the tariff to the window sticker of every new car as an “import fee.”
Can You Eliminate the Destination Charge?
Historically speaking, there was a time when you could travel to Detroit and pick up your vehicle directly from the manufacturer. It eliminated the destination charge. This ended over 30 years ago when the automotive industry adopted equalized freight charges.
New Chevrolet Corvette buyers who take delivery at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky pay $1,495 for that optional package. Those owners will also see a $1,695 destination charge on the Vette’s window sticker, even though the museum is located just minutes from the sports car assembly plant.
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Bottom Line on Destination Charges
So, whether it’s called destination fee, delivery charge, transportation charge, or freight fee, this mandatory fee is a non-negotiable cost added to a new car’s price. The fee ranges from $1,000 to $2,300 for mainstream vehicles, and it covers the cost of transporting the car within the United States to the dealership. Manufacturers determine the price using an “equalized delivery” system, ensuring the fee is the same for all buyers of a particular model, regardless of their distance from the assembly plant. The destination fee must be clearly itemized on the vehicle’s window sticker, separate from the MSRP, and cannot be eliminated. Buyers should consider this fee part of the vehicle’s total cost and focus negotiations on the final out-the-door price.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated since its initial publication.