Destination charges have long been a point of contention between new vehicle buyers and automakers, and in recent years, those mandatory costs have only risen. While automakers like Ford claim that these charges cover precisely what one might think – the delivery cost of a new vehicle – some have claimed that those companies actually make a profit on these charges, prompting multiple lawsuits to be filed in recent years. Regardless, Ford has once again increased the destination fees on some of its 2023 model year vehicles, according to a dealer bulletin recently seen by Cars Direct.
Those vehicles include the 2023 Ford Explorer, Ford Super Duty, and Ford Expedition, which received destination charge increases of $100, as well as the Lincoln Corsair, Lincoln Nautilus, Lincoln Aviator, and Lincoln Navigator, which jumped by $200. These changes reportedly went into affect for all of these vehicles on January 4th, save for the Super Duty, which went into effect on January 9th.
While this is obviously not great news for consumers, the Super Duty and Navigator’s destination charges of $1,895 are at least competitive with other makes and models, as that’s precisely what Ram and GM charge for their similar offerings. Also, Stellantis charges $2,000 for its Jeep Grand Wagoneer, while Cadillac slaps the Escalade with an $1,895 fee as well.
Traditionally, lighter, smaller vehicles feature lower delivery and destination fees, while larger, heavier vehicles cost more to transport. These charges generally range from around $1,000-$4,000, though they all share one thing in common – they’re mandatory when purchasing a vehicle, and oftentimes, more difficult to spot. Regardless, this figures to remain a hot topic among consumers for the foreseeable future, particularly as costs continue to rise.
We’ll have more on the state of destination and delivery charges soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comments
It’s cheaper to fly to the factory and pick it up.
That’s a good point!
That is an awesome point. I will bring that up next time at the dealership.
The Germans have offered this for years, although I think it’s purpose is more for the “experience” of going to the factory and seeing where your vehicle is born and not to save money. But it is a win-win. Buyers get that experience, manufacturers get a more “invested” customer and they avoid the cost of shipment, so customers then avoid the D&D cost. The only losers are the shipping companies (unless Ford is marking up the D&D fees).
Volvo too.
The foreign delivery programs were definitely for saving money.
The whole idea of picking up at the factory, taking a nice trip, returning to a railhead, port or dealer (depending on OEM) was to turn your car into a used car.
The used cars coming from Europe enjoyed tax savings because of their used status. (IDK if this loophole has been closed or not.)
When will the industry roll the D&D fee into the base price? It is very disingenuous and shameful to issue a press statement about a new vehicle’s price, then tack on mandatory fees in the fine print.
Agree.
Chrysler did that for awhile. Had hoped it would become an industry practice.
I try to imagine why they do this: “this extra cost isn’t our fault, it’s the transport company.” But if so, why not list the other purchased BOM items too?
But if you don’t offer factory pickup, as well suggested by DD above, why list it separately if the customer has no way of avoiding it?
I’m genuinely curious now and will have to see if I can find some answers!
It is an easy profit grab for all builders which appears to be an unspoken collusion. A similar but different example are ‘documentation fees and finance service fees’. In my area there appears to be some competition between dealerships on these additional upcharges. Fixed pricing would go a long way in doing away with all these ancillary charges. Imagine for discussion purposes, if all the things we buy included a ‘destination charge’….. your socks could get very expensive. At the end of the day, if your product is not profitable, you should go under…. using arbitrary taxes is not the way forward to stay afloat in the industry.
I’m not sure about the collusive aspect because at the end of the day, customers that are negotiating tend to think in an out the door price, this somehow related to the window sticker as a starting point, and destination is the last entry on the sticker before the bottom line price.
Well diesel fuel is a rip off to start with that is why everything is so high it is a buy product it comes of the top of gas it’s really free so the dam oil company’s are running this country in the ground we all are are on our way to china
By your logic, everything coming out of a cracking tower except gasoline should be free?
I’m gonna try that on the cashier at the grocery store next time I buy trash bags.
They are definitely killing the romance of driving a little bit more everyday.
How do destination charges apply to the marketing created romance of everyone in a new car smiling, on a sunny day, cruising on a road without traffic, young, handsome, with a babe riding shotgun?
Destination charges have been around forever.
About thirty years ago we got the V/P Finance for Ford Canada to confess at our National Dealer Council how the ‘freight charges’ were calculated. It is the TOTAL amount of freight costs for everything used by the plant plus the actual cost to the dealers averaged out. That’s why the charge is the same for every vehicle coming out of a specific plant and not more for dealers further away.
Yep, that’s true.
Did you ever have a customer who realized this try to negotiate this down? (This assumes you were nearer to a Ford plant and not somewhere out in the frontier.)