[alexTop]

Are you guys all ordering custom SS or something?

I live in the Dallas Fort Worth area and there are enough Camaros around, with more coming in, so if I was patient and lurked I could get a great deal below MSRP on the exact one I wanted (I used negotiation strategies I found here).

But, it sounds like you guys are happy paying MSRP (which is what you'll do if you order). I find that difficult to stomach!

[Tara Martin]

Originally Posted by Tara Martin

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in ages, i guess since my 2021 ZL1 was ordered and arrived. I've been looking for a 2024 ZL1 since June when ordering opened. My local Chevy dealers are too small, I guess, to get much, if any, allocations for ZL1s. My dealership I usually use is in a small town, and they were unable to even order a plain Camaro, much less a ZL1. In my town, I had been working with a local Autonation dealer to try to get an allocation, but it wasn't to be. My salesman ended up leaving the dealership making me wonder why he stopped communicating with me. The GM and another salesman emailed me and apologized for his departure but had no further luck with an allocation. By now it was late November, 2023. In December, I started seeing a fleeting advertisement for that dealership that said they had a ZL1 Vert in their inventory. I emailed, but no one would answer if the car was a customer order, or if it was available for sale.
A few days ago, I saw the advertisement again, so I tried contacting the dealership though the advertisement. Surprise! A young man contacted me right away and told me the car was for sale, but had not arrived yet, being still in transit. After work yesterday, I went and met with him at the dealership. I asked him to print out the order and status sheet, which he did. He even printed me a copy of the window sticker.

This makes the horrible timeline at the Lansing Grand River real. They placed the order for the ZL1 back on 30-Jun-23, and the car was built (3800) on 22-Aug-23. Since then, the car has been bayed and intermediate transit-shipped ever since. The printout they gave me shows Bayed as of 29-Nov-23.

My question here is, does anyone track build numbers on the forum anymore? The order number is CVFN38. I'd like to get a bit more insight into the status of this car if possible. My salesman told me that his GM called whatever contact they have at GM and they told him the car should arrive sometime between 16-Feb and 20-Feb.

We started the paperwork for me to buy the car once it arrives. They're giving me pretty good value on my 2021 ZL1 trade-in, so I'm pumped!

Thanks to anyone who might be able to help with their sage advice, or ability to decode why this ZL1 has been bayed and intermediate shipping for so long. My guess is the shortages of parts and items on constraint, but I have no real idea.

Tara

I finally got a decent update on the location of my ZL1. My salesman called me this morning and said that the car is on a railcar and is travelling through Arkansas (towards south Texas.) He said his system is predicting arrival at their dealership on Friday 16-Feb-24 to Tuesday 20-Feb-24. Looks like the car is finally not bayed or intermediate shipping! Wish me luck getting it on Friday!

Thanks,

Tara

[olrocker]

This is the year 2024. Amazon and UPS and FedEx can all tell you when the driver delivering your package is at a red light in the middle of a corn field at 2:37 am in Nebraska.

I find it unfathomable that car companies cannot track a car from the final point of production in the factory floor to the final delivery at the dealership, and every stop, turn, cargo change, and exact train, truck, trailer number, cargo box, and GPS location of every VIN updated instantaneously and automatically and 100% accurately every single time.

The logistics of General Motors seem to be stuck in 1941, before the war, before any kind of computer was even remotely available.

[LeonardS]

Originally Posted by olrocker

This is the year 2024. Amazon and UPS and FedEx can all tell you when the driver delivering your package is at a red light in the middle of a corn field at 2:37 am in Nebraska.

I find it unfathomable that car companies cannot track a car from the final point of production in the factory floor to the final delivery at the dealership, and every stop, turn, cargo change, and exact train, truck, trailer number, cargo box, and GPS location of every VIN updated instantaneously and automatically and 100% accurately every single time.

The logistics of General Motors seem to be stuck in 1941, before the war, before any kind of computer was even remotely available.

I would bet that every one of the delivery trucks has GPS tracking. When my 23 ZLE was being delivered, the trucking company emailed me twice each day with the trucks location. I wanted to be at the Dealership for the delivery and it worked perfectly. The rail and trucking companies just don’t want the hassle of emailing 2,000 customers each day.

[olrocker]

Originally Posted by LeonardS

I would bet that every one of the delivery trucks has GPS tracking. When my 23 ZLE was being delivered, the trucking company emailed me twice each day with the trucks location. I wanted to be at the Dealership for the delivery and it worked perfectly. The rail and trucking companies just don’t want the hassle of emailing 2,000 customers each day.

But they would t need to email anyone, just have the tracking info updated in real time on a server you can log into and check any time you want, ir at least any time you ask your dealer to. You (or dealer) just log in any time day or night and it tells you where the last stop was, the date and time, and the location of the next stop or cargo transfer and a close approximation of ETA to dealer (time should be exact minus any unforeseen issues holding up transportation).

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by olrocker

But they would t need to email anyone, just have the tracking info updated in real time on a server you can log into and check any time you want, ir at least any time you ask your dealer to. You (or dealer) just log in any time day or night and it tells you where the last stop was, the date and time, and the location of the next stop or cargo transfer and a close approximation of ETA to dealer (time should be exact minus any unforeseen issues holding up transportation).

Your point is 100% valid and I'm not representing the other side, but my thinking as to why they might do it is a) they want to avoid false expectations, as customers may take the information and derive unspoken commitments from it, which could result in some negative publicity, and b) they don't care because their system "works", they still sell all the vehicles they are able to make even without any investment in a public facing tracking system.

[GearheadSS]

Originally Posted by olrocker

This is the year 2024. Amazon and UPS and FedEx can all tell you when the driver delivering your package is at a red light in the middle of a corn field at 2:37 am in Nebraska.

I find it unfathomable that car companies cannot track a car from the final point of production in the factory floor to the final delivery at the dealership, and every stop, turn, cargo change, and exact train, truck, trailer number, cargo box, and GPS location of every VIN updated instantaneously and automatically and 100% accurately every single time.

The logistics of General Motors seem to be stuck in 1941, before the war, before any kind of computer was even remotely available.

They can and do track them. They just don't give that information to the customers. Liability reasons, I'm sure. Since the vehicles are still technically owned by GM or the dealerships, they don't want some crazy customer trying to go after their car while in transit.

We as dealers can track the location the of every car in transit to us.

[cthulhucaller]

Originally Posted by olrocker

This is the year 2024. Amazon and UPS and FedEx can all tell you when the driver delivering your package is at a red light in the middle of a corn field at 2:37 am in Nebraska.

I find it unfathomable that car companies cannot track a car from the final point of production in the factory floor to the final delivery at the dealership, and every stop, turn, cargo change, and exact train, truck, trailer number, cargo box, and GPS location of every VIN updated instantaneously and automatically and 100% accurately every single time.

The logistics of General Motors seem to be stuck in 1941, before the war, before any kind of computer was even remotely available.

I would not want to let the general public know when/where my higher value packages were potentially unattended during shipping. Amazon stuff is in a warehouse or a truck that locks up. Cars during shipment are outdoors.

[Tara Martin]

Originally Posted by olrocker

This is the year 2024. Amazon and UPS and FedEx can all tell you when the driver delivering your package is at a red light in the middle of a corn field at 2:37 am in Nebraska.

I find it unfathomable that car companies cannot track a car from the final point of production in the factory floor to the final delivery at the dealership, and every stop, turn, cargo change, and exact train, truck, trailer number, cargo box, and GPS location of every VIN updated instantaneously and automatically and 100% accurately every single time.

The logistics of General Motors seem to be stuck in 1941, before the war, before any kind of computer was even remotely available.

I ordered a 2013 1LE SS in 2012 and once it was built, was able to track its movement through Becky here on the forum. My dealer had access to the same info but wouldn't share. They might check status once a week, but acted like it was an act of God to get the info.

When I ordered my 2016 SS, I bought the car as soon as it was built and activated Onstar. I was able to track the car on the rail and truck until it arrived at my dealer. Here we are in 2024 and I feel blind.

Tara

[olrocker]

Originally Posted by GearheadSS

They can and do track them. They just don't give that information to the customers. Liability reasons, I'm sure. Since the vehicles are still technically owned by GM or the dealerships, they don't want some crazy customer trying to go after their car while in transit.

We as dealers can track the location the of every car in transit to us.

Originally Posted by cthulhucaller

I would not want to let the general public know when/where my higher value packages were potentially unattended during shipping. Amazon stuff is in a warehouse or a truck that locks up. Cars during shipment are outdoors.

The tracking website would only be accessible from the buyer and/or ordering dealership. Each VIN would have a unique password to log into the server assigned to the vehicle the moment the VIN is established in the production schedule at the factory.

So no, the general public would have no clue as to the whereabouts or destination of any vehicle.

Again, this is 2024, not 1934. Everything I mentioned is already common place in industry logistics world wide and costs little to implement and maintain.

[GearheadSS]

Originally Posted by olrocker

The tracking website would only be accessible from the buyer and/or ordering dealership. Each VIN would have a unique password to log into the server assigned to the vehicle the moment the VIN is established in the production schedule at the factory.

So no, the general public would have no clue as to the whereabouts or destination of any vehicle.

Again, this is 2024, not 1934. Everything I mentioned is already common place in industry logistics world wide and costs little to implement and maintain.

They aren't the buyer until the car arrives at the dealership though and all paperwork is completed. Just because someone ordered a car, doesn't mean they own it. It's still owned by GM until it gets to the dealership.

The dealerships can't report the vehicle sold until it arrives. GM's not going to give anyone other than dealers the ability to track these cars. It's just not gonna happen. I do think they should do a better job in informing sold order folks more information but we'll never be able to track these things like an amazon package.

It's the same reason that they stopped allowing everyone to track rail cars with just the rail #. Too much liability in allowing that.

[GearheadSS]

Our last 2024 finally showed up. What a journey. I first started talking about a Camaro with this customer in 2021. He decided to wait until 2024 model year as he wanted one from the final year. We placed his order on 8/1/23 and the car was built on 9/11/23. It took 163 days for the car to be shipped and delivered to us.

Thankfully, the car was fine and he was happy with it. He took delivery yesterday and we did a photo op with his 1967 Camaro on the showroom floor. He and his wife were so happy. It was an awesome moment. Definitely one of the highlights of my career.

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by GearheadSS

Our last 2024 finally showed up. What a journey. I first started talking about a Camaro with this customer in 2021. He decided to wait until 2024 model year as he wanted one from the final year. We placed his order on 8/1/23 and the car was built on 9/11/23. It took 163 days for the car to be shipped and delivered to us.

Thankfully, the car was fine and he was happy with it. He took delivery yesterday and we did a photo op with his 1967 Camaro on the showroom floor. He and his wife were so happy. It was an awesome moment. Definitely one of the highlights of my career.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing the moment with us. The end of an era for sure. At least he and his wife have two really cool cars.

That's insane that it took 163 days to reach the dealership. Talk about being inefficient.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by GearheadSS

Our last 2024 finally showed up. What a journey. I first started talking about a Camaro with this customer in 2021. He decided to wait until 2024 model year as he wanted one from the final year. We placed his order on 8/1/23 and the car was built on 9/11/23. It took 163 days for the car to be shipped and delivered to us.

Thankfully, the car was fine and he was happy with it. He took delivery yesterday and we did a photo op with his 1967 Camaro on the showroom floor. He and his wife were so happy. It was an awesome moment. Definitely one of the highlights of my career.

The beginning and the end... what a beautiful and poignant picture. Thank you very much for this post.