Car buyers are running into a line on window stickers that's quietly getting a lot more expensive: the "destination charge." The fee, meant to cover getting a new vehicle from factory to dealer, now averages $1,600, up from roughly $1,200 in 2020, per industry data cited by Edmunds, which says buyers shelled out more than $26 billion on such charges last year, per the Wall Street Journal. The cost is typically the same no matter how far the vehicle travels, and it's risen faster than base prices on popular models. The Ford F-150's fee, for example, climbed to $2,595 for a 2025 model, from $1,695 for the 2020 model year, while charges on the Chevy Tahoe and Toyota Sequoia have also jumped by hundreds of dollars each.
The last time this fee's average came in at under $1,000 was in 2017, reports USA Today. Automakers say the increases reflect higher transportation expenses, heavier SUVs and pickups, and broader "business considerations," including tariffs, per the Journal. Dealers and analysts describe the charge as a less-visible way to raise what consumers pay. One buyer who forked over more than $1,400 on a Mazda CX-50 hybrid said carmakers "are sticking a number in there they think you're going to look past." A 2023 class-action suit accusing Stellantis, which makes Jeeps, of inflating the fee was tossed last fall by a federal appeals court, which found no reasonable buyer would assume the charge excludes profit. Consumer Reports offers a list of the most and least expensive destination charges for cars currently on dealer floors.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
