Picture this: You’re sitting at home one night watching TV or flipping through a magazine when you see an ad for a shiny new sports car whipping through a curvy canyon highway—or maybe it’s a rugged pickup kicking up a cloud of dust in search of adventure.
The announcer screams at you, “$29,995!”
You think to yourself—wow, that’s a lot of car for under $30,000!Â
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But then you visit the automaker’s website to find that even the most frugal version of this vehicle will set you back almost $1,000 more than that memorable advertisement. And if it’s a pickup, you’re suddenly on the hook for an extra $1,200, and you haven’t even begun adding options.
It’s called the destination charge (or the delivery charge, or the handling charge, or “D&D”), and it’s not always prominently advertised or displayed on a car…