“I also got told that I can arrange for pickup at the Distribution Center instead of the dealership.”
You may have misunderstood that.
The distribution center is controlled by the railroad/trucking industry and they are not going to let you come in and take a vehicle. You are not even going to get on the property. Heck when a trucking company went on strike a few years ago, GM could not even get their vehicles and had to go to court.
GM has contracted with them to deliver it to the dealer and that’s what will happen. No more than you could go the docks in San Diego and get a shipment off the boat bypassing the longshoreman.
