"destination charge" of $820 set by Nissan?

or is it set by the individual dealer. One local dealer is charging $850. Can they do this?

Azrich said:

or is it set by the individual dealer. One local dealer is charging $850. Can they do this?

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I guess he can, if he gets by with it. My understanding is that the $820 is the standard charge, regardless of location. I would question the dealer who charges (or tries to charge) more. Another rip-off in the making for unwary buyers. :x

I've been reviewing my materials for the sale of my 2000 Toyota Celica (getting readyfor the Leaf!), and tucked away in the folder is the original window price sticker that I folded up...So back in 2000, Toyota added $455 to the price for the destination fee, as the Celica was also made in Japan...

But there were also some pretty high option prices on there as well that I had forgotten about. $550 for ABS brakes, $880 for a powered moonroof, and $620 for leather faced front seats. It all added up.

Anyways, I've kept the car in good condition, and it has only 85000 miles. I'm going to be selling it on eBay in a couple of weeks...But the $455 did get my attention on the 11 year old price sticker. $820 seems like a pretty fair destination price for the Leaf when you calculate how inflation would have raised the $455 over time.

I don't know how the destination charge is calculated, since it varies by model, but it does seem to be creeping slowly in one direction (and that isn't down). But it IS set by Nissan and shouldn't be any more than the $820.

I understand the destination charge is set by the company as an amount to cover shipping from the factory to the dealer.
While it is set by the factory I believe federal law requires all vehicles to be the same even though actual shipping will vary depending on destination.

smkettner said:

I understand the destination charge is set by the company as an amount to cover shipping from the factory to the dealer.
While it is set by the factory I believe federal law requires all vehicles to be the same even though actual shipping will vary depending on destination.

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While the dealer/manufacturer could always screw people, I DO love a law that makes me pay the same $820 destination fee when I live within 100 miles of the port of entry while the same fee will get the car transported across the country to upper Maine!!!

NOT!

I believe the law's intent is to level the playing field between dealers.
Otherwise the dealer near the factory or port of entry has a marked advantage.

smkettner said:

I believe the law's intent is to level the playing field between dealers.
Otherwise the dealer near the factory or port of entry has a marked advantage.

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But anything I buy over the internet has varying shipping charges based on how far the box has to travel.

So why should I pay $820 to have a car travel 50 miles (once it's in the US) and someone who has to have it shipped 2500 miles gets the same rate?

I understand that ability of the dealers to screw people, but people shouldn't be automatically screwed by 'the system'.

/rant off

edit: excuse my attitude. I haven't had my coffee yet. :twisted:

smkettner said:

I believe the law's intent is to level the playing field between dealers.
Otherwise the dealer near the factory or port of entry has a marked advantage.

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Why ? Afterall if I try to buy from someone near the factory I still have to pay shipping !

I think there are some weird laws when it comes to car dealerships - most of it written for the dealer, not customer.

Come on I don't make the rules. Ask the dealers' association lobbyists :roll:

The dealer can charge whatever he likes. You can refuse his quote and try another dealer. The way I look at it, "destination charge" is just something the dealer can tack on after you think you've negotiated a price for the car. Which is why it's important to negotiate an "out the door" price. My Nissan dealer has told me that the quote he sends me (when I'm finally able to request a quote) will be the out-the-door price; it will be the full amount of the check I'll write to drive the car away.

Don't think of it as the cost of getting the car to you. Think of it as an item of pure dealer profit that by convention he gets to tack on, but which you can negotiate. A dealer may refuse to negotiate, but you can decline to buy the car -- or in this case you can go to another dealer.

The line item breakdown into "car," "options," "destination," "trade-in," is all just to confuse you. All that matters is how much do you have to pay to drive the car away?

I had a dealer once who offered me less than I wanted for my trade-in. I said I thought it was low. The dealer (who was uncharacteristically honest!) told me "If you like, I can give you more for your trade-in and charge you more for the car." He also told me how much he would sell my old car for. I said, "It sounds like you're telling me I should sell my old car myself for $2,000." He replied, "No, I'm telling you you should sell it to me for $1,000 so that I can sell it for $2,000." I liked that guy. I split the difference and sold my old car myself.

So negotiate an out-the-door price and let the dealer split it into car, options, destination, and trade-in (if applicable) any way he likes. Don't worry about the destination charge. Just the total amount you have to pay.

Randy said:

I've been reviewing my materials for the sale of my 2000 Toyota Celica (getting readyfor the Leaf!), and tucked away in the folder is the original window price sticker that I folded up...So back in 2000, Toyota added $455 to the price for the destination fee, as the Celica was also made in Japan...

But there were also some pretty high option prices on there as well that I had forgotten about. $550 for ABS brakes, $880 for a powered moonroof, and $620 for leather faced front seats. It all added up.

Anyways, I've kept the car in good condition, and it has only 85000 miles. I'm going to be selling it on eBay in a couple of weeks...But the $455 did get my attention on the 11 year old price sticker. $820 seems like a pretty fair destination price for the Leaf when you calculate how inflation would have raised the $455 over time.

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Only 85,000 miles?! You'll have no problem selling your low mileage car for top price

daniel said:

So negotiate an out-the-door price and let the dealer split it into car, options, destination, and trade-in (if applicable) any way he likes. Don't worry about the destination charge. Just the total amount you have to pay.

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It seems to me, when I put on my ultra paranoia hat, that if the Leaf turns into an incredibly hot vehicle by December or January, there doesn't seem to be anything preventing a dealer from coming up with some bogus fee (e.g. dealer prep) which would be large enough to make you just walk away from the deal. The dealer would then have a car in stock that he can sell for thousands over MSRP. I haven't seen any legalize so far that would prevent this (but have not received an official quote yet). That is one of the reasons I hope that Nissan can turn on the production line and crank the cars out. If you know you will be waiting for some number of weeks, rather then some number of quarters for a car, it would certainly disincentize a buyer from overpaying for the car.


On the other side of the coin, nor have I seen any discussion yet as to what happens if, when the car arrives at the dealer, you decide not to purchase it. Does the dealer then get to keep the car? Does the dealer have to buy the car, or what type of terms does the dealer get? If I were a dealer and cars started to show up on my lot that I was paying terms on and I didn't order nor project I could sell - I'd be pretty miffed. Suppose there is a big press story that comes out a Thanksgiving with information that the Leaf is fatally flawed - some of the dealers could have dozens of buyers walk away. What's the dealer going to do - ship them all back?

The reason we are submitting RAQs at this time is to finalize the price. Dealers cannot jack it up when the car arrives unless you ask them for more accessories.

What I've heard (this is not verified true!) is that the cars that are not claimed must go to the next person in line looking for that car. At the price that person in line negotiated (accessories could alter that), and possibly from a different dealer. The dealer can't have it.

Dav said:

The reason we are submitting RAQs at this time is to finalize the price. Dealers cannot jack it up when the car arrives unless you ask them for more accessories.

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Are all of the quotes coming back as "out the door" pricing - including all doc fees, taxes, license, shipping, tire fees, and all other fees? If so - great! If not - I don't see what prevents a last minute fee - e.g. jacked up doc fee, or destination charge - from coming in. But you may well be right - I have no idea how technically constraining the quote actually is.

What I've heard (this is not verified true!) is that the cars that are not claimed must go to the next person in line looking for that car. At the price that person in line negotiated (accessories could alter that), and possibly from a different dealer. The dealer can't have it.

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It would be interesting to hear from a dealer on this!

LakeLeaf said:

It seems to me, when I put on my ultra paranoia hat, that if the Leaf turns into an incredibly hot vehicle by December or January, there doesn't seem to be anything preventing a dealer from coming up with some bogus fee (e.g. dealer prep) which would be large enough to make you just walk away from the deal.

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That would run foul with both Nissan and possibly state laws. I don't doubt some unscrupulous dealers won't try that - but I think a threat to complain to Nissan, BBB & your state AG would bring the dealer back to ground.

One local dealer said if the order is cancelled in the last 30 days
(or after it arrives), he gets to keep it and sell it as "inventory".

I did delivery of my 2010 prius in may 2009. Destination charge was about 535 i think. And it was more 4 east coast or midwest deliveries i think that was only 595. So this destination charge Is a bit steep in my opinon

Jimmydreams said:

.../rant off

edit: excuse my attitude. I haven't had my coffee yet. :twisted:

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Enjoy!

daniel said:

The dealer can charge whatever he likes. You can refuse his quote and try another dealer. The way I look at it, "destination charge" is just something the dealer can tack on after you think you've negotiated a price for the car.

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That charge comes from Nissan to ship the car. We don't get paid on it. We get paid on: Holdback, profit over invoice, rate markup, volume bonuses. What people commonly assume we have profit in but don't are: advertising fees, and destination charge. Kudos to that salesman you referenced in your post too. Back when I sold cars I was similarly blunt with people, and it worked out well. I was accused to overeducating the customers, but hey, a car purchase is the second biggest purchase of your life (house being the first), so why not have all of your ducks lined up?

LakeLeaf said:

It would be interesting to hear from a dealer on this!

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I'd like to know more about that too. I suspect a few of them are going to get orphaned for one reason or another (laid off at work, can't secure financing, etc), and I was hoping they'd go to people who are waiting, rather than some dealer saying "Don't have to wait in line! Only $15,000 over MSRP!" :evil: :evil: :evil: