Modshack

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...

Tonyman262

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.

Racer X

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.

Tonyman262

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?

John Ulrich

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

Racer X

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.

fdxpilot

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.

gilbybarr

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.

laborsmith

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

z51vett

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

Mecholova

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.

prodriver

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

mpuzach

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.

mpuzach

The difference you refer to is exactly $0.

laborsmith

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

Laborsmith

Racer X

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

laborsmith

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

dwward

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.

dwward

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.

laborsmith

I did not know GM owned the National Corvette Museum.

Thanks for clueing me in.

Laborsmith