GM Destination Fee plus Museum Delivery Fee
 

I think it is really stupid for GM to charge customers the $995 destination fee if you are picking the car up at the museum in Bowling Green.

If you want to pick up a corvette at the museum you still have to pay the $995 destination fee on top of the $995 museum delivery fee.

Anyone else think this makes no sense? Maybe another way for GM to squeeze out another $1,000

If people are willing to pay it they'll keep charging it. :confused2:

I guess your right, but it seems pretty shady on the part of GM. I still don't understand exactly why someone should have to pay a $995 destination fee when the car is not even being shipped anywhere. On top of that we still have to pay GM $995 for the museum delivery.

They are put on transporters and unloaded at the museum. The destination fee is uniform no matter how far delivery is from the plant. I remember the old days when I could get delivery from Detroit to Toledo for $18. It was based on distance then.

Even still I think the $995 museum delivery fee is more than enough for GM to put the corvette on the transport trailer and deliver it next door or across the street.

The money for museum del. goes to the museum not GM it supports the museum. All functions at museum are paid for by donations including the new race track.

z51vett
Doug

Shady? No more than dealers demanding a markup above MSRP, which people are more than willing to pay. Or recently raising the MSRP by $3k because of its popularity, which people are willing to pay. It would bve shady if they hid it, but that's not the case.

GM recognizes that people are willing to pay a hefty premium to own one so they're taking advantage of that while it lasts. Nothing shady about that, and what any of us would do if we owned a business.

Although some people are ok with paying the destination fee on top of the musuem fee and even prices over MSRP, I am not included in that group. I chose to pass on the the extra $995 museum delivery and do pick up at the dealership.

...and let's not forget the ever-popular $200+ 'Dealer Processing Fee'.

My dealer tried to sell us some kind of "appearance package" for several hundred $$$ that included undercoating. I didn't say a word, just gave him a look. He dropped the subject.

You're talking about two totally different things here.

First, the $995 destination fee is paid by everybody whether the car is shipped across the street or across country. It's an average so everybody pays the same.

Second, the $995 for museum pick-up is charged by the museum for their time and what you get from it. If you don't think what you get from the museum pick-up is worth it. DON"T GET IT!!!

The destination charge and Museum delivery charge are not connected.

As previously stated, you pay the same transportation charge to anywhere in the continental USA. This is industry wide and may even be mandated by law. The reason is to make the delivered price of the car the same no matter where the customer lives. You will pay the same $995 destination charge whether you take delivery at the closest dealer: Campbell Chevrolet in Bowling Green KY (7.5 miles from the plant); the farthest dealer: Chevrolet Cadillac of Bellingham WA (2,449 miles from the plant); or the Museum (1.2 miles from the plant). Because of the maze of laws, rules, and regulations in effect, you simply can't buy a car FOB at the factory. Tesla is trying and getting their hat handed to them by the dealer lobby.

The R8C Museum Delivery option is not for transportation. It is to compensate the Museum for their costs, pay for the personalized plaque, and provide additional funding to Museum activities.

You need to think of R8C as a vacation or entertainment expense. If it is worth it to you on that basis great, if not then pick up the car at the dealer of your choice and save the $990.

As mentioned in my previous post, I didn't get the museum delivery.

As mentioned, it's a flat rate for the move.....A contract GM has with the Transportation companies... EVERY car moved by them gets the charge...

Thank the Negotiated agreements for that..

Please do a search, especially in the C6 forums, and you just might find the real facts regarding this. It has absolutely nothing to do with unions, Obama or Bush or anything else political. :beatdeadhorse:

I have a problem with paying both fees. One or the other. Maybe the Museum people should just pick up the Corvette at the assembly plant and drive it from the plant to the Museum. About 1/2 a mile or 1 mile or less. Last year the Museum delivery charge was 1/2 of what it is today. Its just a way to get the consumer to pay more. And lets not forget the other usual charges, airline tickets, rental car charges, motel expenses, etc. I did my first Museum Delivery in 1998 and it was very exciting. I remember it like it was just yesterday. I still think everyone should experience it at least once if possible. But nowadays its just gotten way to expensive to do it more than once. Thanks, But No Thanks ...

Puleeze...I'm not a basher and didn't imply anything political. Sensitive?...Perhaps I should have said "Agreements" with the transportation companies that have contracts with GM...I'm sure it's built into the agreements GM has with it's dealers as well to achieve equal pricing across the country. Franchise laws come into play here as well to keep everyone happy and out of court....

If this were a true free market situation a dealer would be charged by the shipping distance, not unlike Fedex , USPS or UPS do...

Had the Museum Delivery replaced the destination charge, I definitely would have opted for it, but no way I'm paying $2k for delivery when it doesn't even include my transportation there.

The true reason for a uniform destination charge is to make it uniform fair for all dealers. In the old days the destination charge was based on the distance of the dealer from the factory giving the closer dealers an advantage in price over those based say for instance California. So it makes no difference if it's going 2 miles the the museum or 2,000 miles it's $995.
As far as the museum delivery charge like those have already said they are a separate non profit org. And the money goes to support the museum.
I chose to take museum delivery because it's my first corvette and might be my last. It's kind of a big deal for me so this will only help make it more memorable. I'm also a car guy by trade, so the plant tour is of interest to me.
Not to mention you have a team of pros doing the PDI.
But I can understand that it's not for everyone, to each his own.

Correct. The destination fee is mandated to be the same by federal law so that a dealer in KY doesn't get the car for cheaper then me here in NJ and I'm not getting it cheaper than Tommy in NH and he's not getting it cheaper then Tim in CA.

The law is that every car (of the same model) have the exact same destination fee no matter where the car is being shipped to. Corvette, to my knowledge, is the only car built int he US that has the option of picking the car up basically at the factory so this isn't an issue for 99.9% of the shoppers out there.

Dave

I chuckled when I thought of this, maybe it's stupid.

The delivery fee is what's equal for everyone, not what's fair. And then I remember that there have been many threads complaining about inequality in other aspects of our life's, mainly in the way of taxes paid by hard workers, by freeloaders, and by the "horrible 1%'ers". People want it equally until equally doesn't benefit them. Case in point the delivery fee. I bet the Califorian buyer is happy to pay the $995 fee, where as a Kentuckian buyer wouldn't be.

BMW will let you pick up your new car in South Carolina. They even include track time at their test track. I am looking forward to NCM doing the same thing. I am dragging my feet for another year, so I can enjoy a factory tour, the NCM guys prepping my C7, and an at-speed introduction to the systems in a Z51 NPP FE4 coupe when I buy my weekend toy. That is worth $1000 to me. I will probably go out to Spring Mountain afterwards, if they are still offering big discounts to C7 owners.

Looks like you're the watermelon in this argument.

Supply and demand. They probably were not doing to many museum deliveries the last couple years, but with a lot of new Corvette owners buying the C7, demand would be ripe to increase the price at this time. I bet they don't raise the price on this again until the C8 comes out some day.

While beating a dead horse is true, the 2 charges of destination and museum was a deal killer for me as well.
I wanted to do the museum delivery.

I get the idea of making the delivery cost the same for all dealers so as to not give an advantage or disadvantage...except... the museum is NOT a dealer as far as I know.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

As far as I know you can't order your vehicle from the museum.
So why is the museum being treated like a dealer?

So here are my solutions to the double charges:

1). GM should charge for the prep and delivery to the museum.
How much, I don't know but certainly less that the $995 Destination Freight Charge that's applied now.
I'm thinking a couple hundred dollars to get the car to the museum + the museum fee.

2). For people that want to take possession at the museum then the smaller fee would apply. For people that want the museum delivery experience and still want their delivery to a local dealer or to their home then the $995 Destination could be added to the museum fee.

While I have heard nothing but great things about the museum delivery experience, not everyone wants to drive from the museum to home for several reasons, time, weather, risk of damage are just a few reasons.

The killer is you have to pay the $995 and you still don't get the vehicle home for what you paid.

The museum is not a dealer so why should you pay for a dealer delivery that did not happen?

3). Make the Spring Mountain Motor Ranch a delivery option.
While this won't replace the museum option and plant tour (nothing could do that) it will:
A). offer something different for folks that have already done the museum & tour.
B). be a lot closer for folks that live west of the Mississippi.
C). be really cool to learn about your new C7 using the schools vehicles before you drive away in your new C7.
Plus you might get to drive one of the Z06s depending on when you go.

Spring Mountain and GM are already offering a 2 day special for all C7 owners (I think the offer is good for a year).
So let's just make it official, and make SM a delivery option!

You're missing the point. GM doesn't have the option of doing that. It's a federal law that every car has the same destination fee no matter where it is going.

You're not paying "GM" for the Museum Delivery - the Museum is a separate entity from GM. We have this discussion constantly on this Forum. The cars are in fact trucked from the plant to the Museum, and then the Museum does a fantastic job of prepping the cars. If you buy a 'vette in downtown Bowling Green, you're going to pay the same transport fee as if you bought it in Seattle. That's just the way it works - not just for Corvettes, but across the whole auto industry.

Don't want Museum Delivery? Don't order it. Simple. (But you'll be missing a hell of a good time.) And - the R8C option is just a small percent of what you'll end up spending, once you consider airfare, hotels, meals, gas to get home, etc. We flew from San Diego to Nashville, rental car to BG, three days drive back to CA. Worth every penny!

Go big or stay home.

Wow can GM just add $1000 to the price of museum delivery so you people will stop complaining. EVERY DAMN GM VEHICLE HAS THE SAME DELIVERY CHARGE NO MATTER WHAT! How about we go one step further for you people and have GM just add the delivery charge to the price of every car and not charge a delivery fee at all? Would you feel better then? 6 in one half dozen in the other. Your museum experience has nothing to do with the delivery to the museum. If there was a dealership right across from the museum you would still pay the deliver fee. The museum is essentially a dealership.

So congrats. Your delivery charge offset the delivery charge for some guy who just recieved a Corvette in Hawaii.:thumbs:

M.S.R.P. for R8C is $990 and invoice is $871. I'd still love to know what portion of that money actually goes to the museum.

Well.. you don't want that aluminum frame and composite body rusting out do you?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the cars for museum delivery are actually delivered to the local GM dealer in Bowling Green and then on to the museum. You are correct the museum is not a dealer. :cheers:

As always, I see the super thrifties are weighing in. Happens every time this topic is brought up.

Simple supply and demand 101. These cars are selling like hot cakes so the price will continue to rise until they hot cake cools off and inventory starts to build making demand less which means supply outweighed demand so the prices will come down in the form of rebates and discounts. Same with the local dealers. They have 1 on their lot with 20 people interested they will get a potted plant loaded with money to spend 80k on a 55k car that will be worth 45 when he drives it off the lot. I was thinking this would be over by now that the car has been out since Sept. but most small dealerships have exhausted their allocation or they have to spread them out over the M.Y. and so the smaller dealerships will be unable to keep up, plus it improves traffic for people wanting to see the Stingray in person. So the crazy markups will continue.

OK, I'll correct you. They are delivered directly to the NCM. The NCM does the "dealer prep".

It's the same reason the post office charges the same to mail a letter to your next door neighbor or to Alasks or Hawaii.

solution. buy your car where you want to. drive it to bowling green. pay 7 bucks to do the factory tour which is more interesting to me than the museum.

even less expensive, wait until the 15s come out, buy a used 14 for 5 to 10 thousand less, drive it to bowling green, take the 7 dollar tour.

or come up with your own plan.

It's your choice. This will be my second museum delivery. I realize it cost me $995 more than a dealership delivery but I personally believe it is worth it! I don't buy a new $70,000 car for cash every day so I want the delivery to be special!:flag:

I certainly agree. If a local Chevy dealer in Bowling Green sells a car, he (or the customer) pays the shipping fee the same as one in Oregon.
You can't equate this with the Museum fee. Totally worth it in my opinion.

Looked for this "law" online, could find nothing, perhaps you could guide me to it. It's Government Mandated
The destination fee should be regarded as yet another cost of doing new car business. There are several other fees that manufacturers must bake into the price of their new cars and trucks, but the U.S. government has required this fee be itemized on the sticker based on the fact that it is a direct cost, above and beyond the "overhead" companies must incur in bringing a product to market. Tax, license and a detailed list of all the standard and manufacturer-installed options and their retail prices must also be clearly listed on the "Monroney label" of each new car.

Truth be told, most manufacturers use the same pool of U.S. freight carriers — each competing for their transport business with the professionalism and care the manufacturers demand. With this in mind, the fact that the fees are basically comparable to each other isn't too much of a surprise. Of course, high-line vehicles must be handled with even greater care and, in some cases, transported in covered vehicles.

I had two museum deliveries and was looking forward to a third but the dealer I ordered from could not get me my car and I had to buy one from stock. In another couple years I will order another car and trade in my 2014 for museum delivery.

Dave thanks for the clarification.


Is there a law that make it illegal for an end user (retail customer) to pick up their vehicle at the factory?

I thanked Dave for the clarification on the law (since he is one of the larger dealers).
I then looked for the law. I found a lot of stuff, but NO federal law that requires GM to charge $995 for the trip to the museum.

Dave or (any dealer), if one of you guys would post a link that shows this requirement that would clear up this whole discussion once and for all.
We all could just repost the link the next time it comes up and it certainly will simply because it APPEARS so slimy.

Notice I said appears.
Either it really is the law, and that would be that.
Or, it's just an agreement between GM and their dealers and then that would be another matter (negotiable).

For those of you that say anyone that questions paying the $995 Destination Freight Charge is cheap, super thrifty, can't afford...and so on...well it's a free country say what you wish.
But by the same token how about you pay me $995 for what appears to be a "just because fee".:toetap:

Of course there is no laying saying what GM must charge for the museum delivery option...It's an option. You can select it or not. The bulk of the $995 goes to the museum which is a non profit and uses this option as one of their main fund raisers. The law is only about the destination fee that has to be added to every car and how they must ask be the same no matter where the car is going.

Not arguing, just stating my opinion. I understand why they do it they way they do, I just don't agree with it therefore I will not select it. Plenty of people do agree with it though so it works out well for everyone; that's why its an option, not a requirement.

How dare you question GM?!!!!

:D

Just messing with you. Lots of fees involved in purchasing vehicles, but it's all market stuff.

I follow Honda & Lexus sites for my DD's. I have never seen them complain about destination charges.

I think the OP didn't know that the museum and the GM plant are not related financially as per the charges. If the museum belonged to GM, then his complaint would have had salience. But, that's why one joins a forum like this, to learn. Nothing wrong with that.

not to beat a dead horse but looking for clarification that there is a federal law that requires level destination charge. looked online and found nothing of the sort.

Federal law or not the "equalized freight charges" are charged by all mainstream manufacturers in the US, not just GM. See this description from KBB:

http://www.kbb.com/car-advice/articl...ation-charges/

I agree, and the same goes for for gas! They make the stuff right down the street from me (well 40 miles away) and yet they charge basically the same thing for it nation wide even though it's piped / trucked to destinations thousands of miles away. In fact it's even cheaper in some other places. It should be under a buck a gallon here.:D

There may be a law that it be disclosed on the sticker, but I don't believe there is a "Law" that it be charged. Destination charges will vary by manufacturer and all, to my knowledge, equalize that for everyone. As I mentioned earlier, there are Rigid Dealer franchise laws the OEM must abide by. If GM is like other manufacturers, there is likely a Dealer Council too (I worked for Honda on the OEM side for 21 years) That negotiates things like this and other issues relating to the sales agreement they hold with the manufacturer. This is likely a negotiated fairness issue to keep everyone out of court and make sure everyone is on the same playing field. Between State franchise laws, and OEM dealer agreements, there are pretty rigid guidelines as to what the dealer and OEM can do. It has been traditional to handle transportation costs this way with all manufacturers. Then there are the agreements with the transportation companies that quote the distribution costs to GM. I'm sure there's some profit for all in there somewhere..

Museum delivery is an entirely different thing.

:iagree:

MAN you guys need to look in the mirror and worry more about your Social Security Check!!! Shows you are acting like old farts.

Get a life...... Either you want to support the museum or don't!!!!

This car is a bargin for what you get and bithed about a grand here or there? Come on.......1st world problems!!!

In the old days people would travel to the dealers close to Mfg. plant to avoid high destination charges then someone figure out how to make it the same no matter where you lived. So one person wants to go back to the old days.
z51vett
Doug

Dave
I was NOT talking about the museum fee.
It's my understanding that the museum is separate from GM and their (the museum) fee is whatever it is.
If a person wants to pay for the museum experience that's up to the individual.
By all accounts, it is supposed to be a great experience and worth the fees.

I was asking is there a law that says if the vehicle is delivered to the museum, that GM has to charge $995 for the Destination Freight to the museum.
Since the museum is NOT a dealer, why are people being charged for a dealer delivery that never happened?

Meh...Mine comes every month like clockwork. Personally I see no need to spend $1,000 for the Museum guys to pat me on the ass and take a picture of me next to my car. I'm sure it's a great experience for those that do it, Just not for me. I'm sure the Museum will get along fine without my $$$. In the old days, you used to get a free years membership with a purchase. I'm sure this encouraged ongoing membership and contributions. I see no such offer with my new C7..

Really? I had a voucher for a 1 year membership in my information package. I already paid for a 1 year membership so I am wondering if I can use that when mine expires but either way I did get this. I would question your dealership as to where yours went.

-Mark

On another note...I have a friend who is among the owners of several major auto transport companies in the U.S. We were talking one day about destination charges and he told me that on average, the transport companies typically are paid around $250 per vehicle. It would thus appear that the car manufacturers are making HUGE profits on their so-called "destination" charges.

My point exactly if true!

I am sure that has to do with the agreements GM has with the trucking companies...Anytime a vehicle moves out of the factory on one of their trucks, the charge is levied. Nothing at all to do with the Museum being a dealer (or not in this case)...

The liability for the museum to simply drive the car across the street is obviously something they don't want to take on...

My point too...Everyone is making money here. Neither GM or the trucking companies are charitable organizations..

Odd that Mercedes charges $70 less for their E-Class destination charge than GM does on the Corvette, and Mercedes has to ship the E-Class from their plant in Germany, not from the middle of the US, as does GM.

Is Mercedes a charitable organization?

And if you want to pick up your new Mercedes in Europe...
Other benefits include:

•7% discount on total vehicle MSRP on eligible models
•One night hotel accommodation in a luxurious hotel in Stuttgart
•MBUSA travel assistance for hotel and airline reservations
•Sindelfingen Factory Tour
•Two tickets to Mercedes-Benz Museum
•Fifteen (15) days of European road insurance
•Vehicle transportation to the selected U.S. dealer
•Breakfast or lunch at the Delivery Center
•Two taxi coupons for ride from airport or main railroad station to the Delivery Center or hotel
• Full tank of fuel
•Marine Insurance
•Destination charge is waived

Not odd at all! It's built into the price. US arms of foreign manufacturers (MBUSA in this case) negotiate a "Landed" price which includes importation taxes and other costs. From that point on it's the distributors responsibility to recoup the local transportation costs and establish margins. Most all manufacturers have different net prices to different parts of the world. partially due to volume, Partially due to shipping costs, and partially due to what the local market will bear. Ask the guys in the EU what a Corvette costs!

When I worked for Honda (Motorcycle Div.) we had to pay what the Manufacturer (Honda Limited in Tokyo) wanted, Landed in the US. We then calculated our necessary margin, warehousing costs etc. and Boom...MSRP for our local buyers.

The Euro delivery items you cite is just a discount for circumventing all the profit takers (in the US) along the way. Mercedes are Taxicabs in Germany. That oughta tell you something about true cost.

The answer for many of you is to buy a used C7 and avoid the destination charge.

Okay, then how about the Cruze that GM charges $170 less for the destination charge than they do for the Corvette. Is that decrease in shipping cost also built into the Cruze, before it is shipped from Lordstown, Ohio?

GM ships Corvettes from the factory at 11 cars per transporter. How many Cruzes will have to fit on that transporter to make up for the $170 less money per car shipped?

I'm not sure what you don't get here. The Cruze is a (relatively) cheap car. It weighs less to ship (road taxes etc.), They can cram more on a transporter, Fewer drop off points, They don't wrap them in those fancy covers etc. The competitive situation in the small car market is intense. It's also sold in huge volumes..They've got to keep it cheaper to compete.

I produce a product and I charge a flat rate to ship it anywhere in the US. Shipping to CA. costs me $19, shipping to NJ costs me $9. I charge $15...to keep it competitive and reasonable. The market will determine what works and what doesn't.

You can argue all you want...The price is what the price is...

1) a driver/company does not charge based on the value of the car. the driver carrying 11 $20,000 Cruzes does not get paid 1/3 of the driver that is carrying 11 $60,000 Corvettes.

2) a driver/company does not load the number of cars on his transporter based on the number of car the manufacturer builds annually. A transporter only carries what it carries, no more. Just because they build 10 times the number of Cruzes than they do Corvettes does not change the number of cars a transporter can carry per trip.

3) Highway taxes are based on the amount of fuel the transporter burns, and purchases, not the weight of the load. Road use taxes that common carriers pay annually is not calculated on the weight of the load or the value of the merchandize.

4)Those must be some fancy covers since they charge $170 more to transport a Corvette than a Cruze. So fancy, in fact, that they are a one time use item and discarded. 11 times $170 =$1870 per trip. I would think that for $1870 per trip, that GM would have the driver return the covers so they could reuse them. At 30,000 Corvettes annually, that's over 5 million dollars GM throws away annually in discarded covers.

Oh, and a 2014 Impala weighs 500 pounds more than a Corvette and I doubt that they can cram eleven Impalas on a transporter. And a loaded Impala can hit $40,000. The destination charge on the Impala is $810. So much for your argument about heavier cars being more costly to transport or more cars can be carried on a transporter if they are made in larger numbers thus affecting shipping costs, blah, blah, blah.

Buy a Cruze then if it's such a deal..:D

One of the reasons this subject comes up over and over is when people that want the museum delivery select the R8C option and that they are taking possession of their vehicle less than a mile from the factory and notice that there is a $995 charge for a 1 mile delivery, people feel used.


I will say one more time there is no dispute concerning the R8C option cost.
That is totally separate. Done. The museum has nothing to do with this concern.
Except some people are claiming that the museum is a dealer and that is why GM gets to charge $995 Destination Freight fees like they do when shipping to a or any dealer.
Either the museum is a dealer or the museum is not a dealer. Which is it?


It is solely the idea of paying nearly $1K for a 1 mile trip that does not include getting the vehicle home. How is that difficult to understand?


Consider this:
Supposedly Chevrolet Customer Service and any number of forum sponsor dealers monitor this forum at any given time.
How hard would it be for one of these folks to post the actual law that requires GM to charge $995 for the trip from the factory to the museum?


Otherwise it's all conjecture. Otherwise it's just a bunch of supposed know-it-alls making claims that are unsubstantiated.


In the absence of proof of the requirement to charge $995 for the very short trip to the museum then it APPEARS to be a simple but greedy money grab.


If paying $995 for a 1 mile trip is ok with you then obviously this doesn't concern you.
So all of your snide comments about cheap, thrifty, can't afford, are just sophomoric and can be ignored.
For everyone else a definitive answer from the people that are supposed to know would be welcome.

Buy a used Cruze and not have any destination charge!

All your questions/concerns are already answered in this thread.

Or a Cadillac sedan with it's $925 destination charge.

So Dave,
Since you said " The destination fee is mandated to be the same by federal law so that a dealer in KY doesn't get the car for cheaper then me here in NJ and I'm not getting it cheaper than Tommy in NH and he's not getting it cheaper then Tim in CA."

1).Question: is the museum a dealer?

2). Request: Could you please post the law?
Posting the law would settle this.

3). I did not know that picking up the car at the museum was basically the same as picking it up at the factory.
If that is true, then I would be really pissed, to pay a $995 destination fee if I basically picked up the car at the factory.

Where?

Are you intentionally miss-understanding what I said?
I didn't say anything about what GM charges for the museum option.
What GM charges for this option never entered the discussion.
And I never said anything about where the money goes when the museum option is selected.


It is the charge TO the museum!
It is the nearly $1K fee to go 1 mile.

:iagree::iagree:

This must be the first new car some of you have purchased.......Google up:
.
The Federal Automobile Information Disclosure Act

No different than death and taxes.

We're doing the NCM delivery for the C7 just like the C6. Would I like to save that $$$, yep. Can I, nope, so I pay it and keep on smiling. :D

That law only says that certain information has to be affixed to the car. I don't believe it states that every person has to pay the same destination charge no matter how far they live from the factory.

All it says about the destination charge is..." the amount charged, if any, to such dealer for the transportation of such automobile to the location at which it is delivered to such dealer"

Oh, and I purchased my first new car in 1964, and plenty since then.

BTW, we pay the same Destination Freight Charge of $995 here in the middle of the Pacific. Much Mahalo to our Mainland Vette brethren who subsidize us Hawaiians ... especially the ones so close to BG, KY. :lol:

Reading comprehension is a lost art. It never ceases to amaze me how these threads degenerate into a refusal to understand basics of both logic and business. You all sound like a bunch of butt hurt old guys who want what you want.

Bottom line, the price is the price. Pay it or don't. Whining here won't change things.

I am outta this thread...

Let me see...ah yeah
"The Federal Automobile Information Disclosure Act"
Perhaps you mean the laws concerning the Monroney Sticker.
Perhaps you are referring the fact that the sticker has to include add-on charges like the Destination Freight Charge that we are discussing.

Great..except
We already know the destination charge has to be listed on the Monroney Sticker.

The question here is charging $995 for 1 mile, not if it has to be listed on the sticker.

Perhaps you mean the "equalized freight charges" where the cost is the same to all dealers for a given model.

But:
1). Is the museum a dealer?
2). What LAW says GM is required to charge $995 to get the vehicle over to the museum.
3). It looks like the "equalized freight charges" is just an agreement between car manufacturers and car dealers NOT a LAW that I can find.


If someone can point us to the law that requires GM to charge nearly a thousand dollars to get the car over to the museum that would settle this whole matter.
I'm not talking about an agreement for the dealers I'm talking about a law.
The law that some here keep quoting but never seem to produce.


How about you Google up?
If you don't mind paying an extra thousand dollars this obviously this thread is not for you.
Perhaps you could save your not so helpful comments for some place else.


At some point there should be a reasonable and truthful answer, not some made up answer, and not well I didn't know so I paid it and so should you.


At the end of the day maybe I'm just pissing into the wind...but
Where is GM or Chevrolet Customer Service, or any of the forum dealers chiming in to point us to the law?
Either it's a law or it's not.


Seems like a simple thing to do.

The Destination Charge is paid to the dealer you bought it from. He is getting the difference in price between the 995 and the invoice cost of the Destination charge. The dealer pays GM for the Destination charge as per the Dealer agreement with GM.

GM and many manufacturers chose to have a level destination charge to all dealers in the continental US. Prior to some time in the 70's(?) dealers did not include the destination charge in their advertised prices. The destination charge could even vary based on which of several plant plants produced YOUR car. I believe their was a change in federal law requiring that the advertised price must include and disclose the destination charge. Many state laws require the same thing. Manufacturers have NATIONAL advertisements that list prices. How could they do this if they had different destination charges depending your location? Here's a clue, it doesn't work.

If you think things through, you will see why this is done.

Great. If what you say is in fact true (I have no reason to think that it isn't), then we are getting somewhere.


So this is in fact just an agreement between GM and their dealers and NOT a law as some here have said.


I can certainly understand that this is a very reasonable agreement that the destination charges be a flat fee so dealers can compete on an equal footing. I have absolutely no qualms with that.


My questions remain.
Is the museum a dealer?
If not then why is the $995 destination charge still applied when you are not taking possession from a dealer?


If the museum is not a dealer then there is no competition with a dealer because all dealers will sell you the R8C option. And because the museum is only about a mile away from the factory the whole Destination Freight Charge appears to be a scam between the factory and the dealers.


The factory is not losing any money (certainly not very much, and certainly not nearly $1K) getting the car over to the museum.


The dealers are certainly not losing either.
If the car goes to the museum then the dealer doesn't even have any skin in the game as far as delivery goes.


So tell me again what service would I be getting for the $995?

The Museum is NOT a dealer. They are delivered to a Bowling Green Dealer for std dealer prep.

How about you do some of your own research. You want to know the state statutes that require the advertised price includes the destination charge, look it up You are more than halfway there; you are on the internet and apparently can type questions and read. Just type them somewhere else.

The Museum is not a dealer. If you buy a car from any of the forum supporting dealers you can get Museum delivery. You are paying THAT dealer for both the destination charge and the Museum delivery.

I have explained it simple enough that my 9 year old son understood it. Yes, I reviewed my explanation with him before I posted it. He got it, why can't you?

Either are playing dumb, or you are not playing. Either way, accept reality or deny it. No skin off my back.

Maybe 15 years ago. There is now a prep area in the back of the Museum, and trucks from the plant unload at the entrance to that area. The people who do the PDI normally sign the floor pan of your vette.


And for all you people who have your panties in a bunch, the Museum acts as an agent for your dealer.

If you don't want to pay $995 for delivery, as well as the $990 (not $995) for Museum delivery, don't do . But do you really need 20 something posts to bitch about it.

BTW - The Museum charge did not go up for 13 years. The current price is about what it would have been if it increased proportionate to the price of new vettes.

Whew......I didn't know NCM Delivery had gotten up to $995.00! I did it in the fall of 2007 with our 2008, but, now that I had the experience, I'd pass on NCM Delivery and stick with the buyers tour. I hate to imagine how much that is now, but it was so great....would do it again if I ever ordered a new one.

That used to be true but now the Museum staff does the prep.

At one time the DFC was based on distance travelled, so if you bought a 1969 Corvair assembled at Willow Run and delivered to a Flint, MI dealer your DFC would be something like $13.50 but if delivered to a California dealer would be say $135.00 to $150.00. The change to one charge across a vehicle line took place several years later (mid 70s?) and I suspect was more related to dealers wanting equal treatment then to a federal law (altho there may be such a law).

My understanding is neither the auto maker nor dealer make a profit from the DFC, that the delivering company gets it realizing there will be far flung deliveries for a small profit and close deliveries with a great profit margin.

My Corvair DFC are estimates but if anyone needs actual numbers I can look them up but these are close. Incidentally, a hundred or so dollar difference may no seem like much but 1969 dollars are not the same as 2014 dollars.

Laborsmith

I've not read every thread on this but I will give you the true run down dealer gets no part of destination charge it all goes to the transport company whether one mile or 2500 miles this is done to balance out cost to customers. The museum money is exactly that for the museum if you don't want to pay don't do museum delivery. GM does not run nor profit from the museum. It was started by corvette owners who had a passion for corvette history. It is funded by donations and the museum del program.
z51vett
Doug
GM retiree

From autotrader -

Let's get the bad news out of the way first: That destination charge listed on every new car's window sticker is something you'll have to pay. According to U.S. law, car delivery -- transporting the vehicle from port or assembly plant to dealer showroom -- is always listed as a separate line item on a new-car window sticker. Automakers may use different names to describe it, but it always works the same way, with buyers covering the cost.Freight, delivery or destination charges ensure that the buyer pays equally to cover the cost of delivering a vehicle to a dealership, regardless of whether the dealership is nearby or far away from the vehicle assembly plant. For example, a*Kia Optima*buyer in Seattle is not required to pay more for the vehicle than a buyer in Atlanta, who's thousands of miles closer to the West Point, Ga. plant where the Optima is built.Instead,*Kia*passes the cost on to buyers with a delivery charge of $800, regardless of where the seller is located. The fee is not included in the MSRP. Instead, it's typically listed as one of the last items on the window sticker, right above the total price.Fees vary depending on brand or even model. Larger, heavier or more expensive models can be more costly to move for the automaker. That cost is passed on to the consumer through the destination charge. For example, a high-end luxury vehicle may require more careful protection before making a trip by rail or truck. Wrapping the car in protective film or transporting it in a closed truck adds costs, which result in a higher destination fee. Imported vehicles don't necessarily have higher delivery fees than domestically built ones, because only car delivery inside the U.S. is covered by the fee -- foreign automakers usually cover the cost of getting their vehicles to U.S. ports.

Some other things not mentioned about museum delivey...
1. The people doing the PDI are Corvette experts and aren't just arriving at your car after swapping pads on a Malibu. Except for the large Corvette dealers, I doubt you'll find any better inspection.

2. A dealer noticing a problem with your car (misalligned panels or scratched paint for example) dealers send it to their service department to be fixed. The museum sends it to the factory to be replaced.

3. The tours of the plant are private. You and 3 guests. You move at your own pace, ask anything you want, meet some of the plant staff and visit areas unavailable to the standard tours.

4. You have specialty clothes available to you with your car embroidered on them.

There are other things besides these but they're the first that come to mind.

Use guys in Canada can't get the Museum delivery option, so enjoy the opportunity, looks like a fun way to go.

Absolutely, positively, NOT. Museum delivery cars are delivered from the factory directly to the museum which is where all of the PDI takes place. Your post is a perfect example of how inaccurate information gets spread around here.

The difference you refer to is exactly $0.

Notice GMS and supplier/friend/credit union pricing always excludes DFC (shipping) from discount: ie, as stated the difference is $0.

Laborsmith

You are correct, but the dealer does get the entire $0 difference :D

And I have long thought GM and the dealer split the difference between each.

Now I learn the dealer gets it all!

Just how significant is half of $0 to the bottom line (GM or dealer) I wonder.

Laborsmith

Which should be included in the museum delivery fee.

What GM is not doing is delivering the car twice, even though they are charging two fees.

Of course they do. The MDF is the Federally mandated deliver fee. Again, GM isn't delivering the car twice, they're just charging twice.

I did not know GM owned the National Corvette Museum.

Thanks for clueing me in.

Laborsmith