Destination Charge.

In plain English

The destination charge (sometimes called a freight or delivery fee) covers transporting a new vehicle from the assembly plant to the dealer's lot. The manufacturer sets it, so it is the same for that model at every dealer and is not negotiable. Under the federal Automobile Information Disclosure Act, the manufacturer's window label, known as the Monroney sticker, must list this transportation amount separately, and it gets added on top of the MSRP. Because it is a real manufacturer cost rather than dealer profit, it is one of the few line items you generally cannot bargain away.

01Why it matters

Buyers sometimes assume the MSRP is the full price, then get surprised when the destination charge adds several hundred to over a thousand dollars to the total before tax and registration.

02The math, step by step

A truck shows a $35,000 MSRP and, lower on the same window sticker, a separate destination charge line. That fee is set by the manufacturer and is identical at every dealer selling that model, so it is not something you can negotiate off the deal. Read the window sticker to see the exact figure for the specific vehicle you are looking at.

03What this is NOT