When ordering a new Corvette and specifying NCM delivery why does Chevy charge the same destination fee to deliver it 500 yards as they do to ship it halfway across the country? I noticed this while playing around on the website and yesterday why looking at a window sticker of a friends C8.

 

They do.

 

The delivery charge is the same regardless of where in the continental U.S. the car is shipped to. It is still loaded on a car carrier to go to the NCM, just as it is if taken to the Chevy dealer in Bowling Green or across the country to the west coast.

 

So as not to penalize dealers who are more distant.

 

Who told you life would be fair lied.

 

Because they can and people pay it……

 

Yea thanks, I figured out life wasn't fair quite a while ago (0300 USMC and 25 years So. Cal police) but thanks for the reminder. Being fair or not fair didn't cross my mind at all. I wasn't aware that they were trucked over to the museum.

 

its a prorated charge to keep a level playing field so that each dealer is charged the same amount.. not giving a geograhical advantage to dealers

 

As some in the political spectrum would say ....

It's just about spreading the cost. Plusses and minuses depending on where you live (get vehicle delivered). This is across their entire vehicle line, nit just corvettes. Other manufacturers do similiar.

 

Because of anti-consumer union rules.

 

Unions had absolutely nothing to do with "equalized delivery" charges. Vehicle manufacturers switched to equalized delivery charges in 1956, following intense congressional pressure, dealer backlash, and federal investigations into unfair automotive pricing practices.

The Era of "Phantom Freight" (Pre-1956):
Before the switch, automakers used a distance-based shipping model anchored entirely to Detroit, Michigan, regardless of where the car was actually built. For example, if a car was manufactured at a regional assembly plant in California and sold to a dealership down the street, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler would still charge the dealer the full rail-freight cost as if the car had been shipped all the way from Detroit. This widely despised practice was known as "phantom freight". Automakers used it to pocket millions of dollars in pure profit on localized shipping, while heavily penalizing West Coast and Southern dealerships.

The 1956 Congressional Crackdown:
By the mid-1950s, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and local franchise owners revolted against this system. The U.S. Congress launched a massive investigation into the auto industry, specifically targeting phantom freight because it forced the public to pay inflated, unrealistic fees for transport costs that were never actually incurred.To avoid aggressive federal antitrust regulation and pacify angry dealers, the "Big Three" Detroit automakers officially abolished phantom freight in 1956. They pivoted to a decentralized, national averaging model—the equalized delivery charge—where the true transport costs across all factories were smoothed into one flat rate for every model, ensuring price equality across the country.

 

Zymurgy
Thanks for explaination.

 

A bit more on the levelized fee. When the R8C option (NCM delivery) started, the shipping wasn’t charged, the cars were just driven across the street. That violated trucking agreements so they are loaded on trucks. When I was there the cars went to a dealer in Cave City for shipping to be applied and and PDI. PDI was then transferred to the NCM.

 

I remember Cave City Chevy involvement in the early days of R8C deliveries.

 

UNION TRANSPORTATION FEE CONTRACT. Goes way back even to the '70s when I ran a Cadillac dealership. My dad ordered an Eldorado to pick up at the factory (back then you could) and was still charged to Transportation fee.. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

 

Wrong, they charge the same fee to every destination to keep the cost fair to the distant dealers

 

Buying, owning and driving any car is a privilege and Corvettes are just a very expensive hobby.
If you want to get a cheaper car, you can certainly do this and "saving money" is not going to happen no matter what you are driving.
The destination fee is the same regardless of who, what or where you get the car.(or any car)
I'll gladly get in line and do this all over again and I'll pay this fee once again if I ever get a chance to order another new Corvette.
thanks GM and keep up the good work.

 

Used cars don't have delivery fees