Trouble Ordering GM's?

[McRat]

Has anyone else ran into the issue that many dealers don't want you to order a car/truck to your specification?

My most recent experience showed that fewer than 1/2 of dealerships encouraged special orders, and some effectively refused.

I had no trouble 10 years ago, and it was encouraged.

We are living in an era where options can sometimes triple the cost of a new car/truck. You would think that getting a customer to pick exactly the car they want would be a boon for them.

[Ringo64]

2 years ago, when I bought my Camaro, I was looking on lots around me to find what I wanted (got lucky ) but the sales guy at each dealer that I struck out at sounded willing to let me order and suggested it. Didn't go much further than that though...

Something I have noticed is that there are less and less options for most cars, look at the Chevy SS it has a grand total of what 3 options? lol. Think the Camaro and Corvette have quite a few under their belt but still nothing like it used to be.

[HDRDTD]

Originally Posted by McRat

Has anyone else ran into the issue that many dealers don't want you to order a car/truck to your specification?

My most recent experience showed that fewer than 1/2 of dealerships encouraged special orders, and some effectively refused.

I had no trouble 10 years ago, and it was encouraged.

We are living in an era where options can sometimes triple the cost of a new car/truck. You would think that getting a customer to pick exactly the car they want would be a boon for them.

it's not unusual at all. The dealers have a ton of money invested in their inventory and they need to sell them to rotate their stock.

Now when a new car comes out like the ZL1, or Z/28 or such, they're more than willing to take your order for one.

your best bet is to tell them what you're looking for including color and options, and see if they'll do a search to find one somewhere else they can acquire for you with a dealer trade.

[McRat]

My fantasy: You order direct from GM and interface with an expert on models and options.
Then you pick the dealership you want to pick it up at.

The dealership makes money, you get the RIGHT information about the options, and get exactly what you want.

I can see how on special models, this harms the Allocation Carrot used with the dealers, but it also helps smaller dealerships in sparsely populated areas stay afloat.

[Ringo64]

Originally Posted by McRat

My fantasy: You order direct from GM and interface with an expert on models and options.
Then you pick the dealership you want to pick it up at.

The dealership makes money, you get the RIGHT information about the options, and get exactly what you want.

I can see how on special models, this harms the Allocation Carrot used with the dealers, but it also helps smaller dealerships in sparsely populated areas stay afloat.

My ideal situation would be buying direct from GM but look at the struggles Tesla is having...

[McRat]

No, you really need a local dealer to tie in with. And they should make $ on the sale.

But, many (most? all?) dealerships have no complete experience with option codes.

While I had no trouble ordering a 3500 SRW in 2004, I had to educate the dealer on the options. They did not know the 3500 SRW was being re-introduced or about the new LLY engine.

In the case of the Z/28, 3 dealers did not know the base unit did not come air conditioning. Only one out of 4 could figure out how to order it. 2 tried to talk me into a A/C car from inventory (they ordered their allocations with A/C).

[Rock-It Man]

I have ordered the last four cars I bought, including my 2010 Camaro. This is a small dealer, and they're just glad to be making the sale.

[kevint]

My dealer first checked the area for a car with the options I wanted. When nothing came up, we ordered.

[dwinva]

I was able to order mine with no difficulty two years ago. The sales person wasn't all that knowledgable about it but the sales manager knew exactly what to do. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I only went to one dealership so maybe others aren't so accomodating.

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by kevint

My dealer first checked the area for a car with the options I wanted. When nothing came up, we ordered.

Same with us. They found several that were what we wanted, except they had the NPP, so we had to order. Process went great except for the cars being help by GM, but the dealer provided a free loaner, so overall it was an enjoyable process.

[matthew9440]

Most of the time there is a vehicle out there to near the exact request of the customer. Dealers can do a "dealer trade" and get the desired vehicle in. This way the customer doesn't have to wait a large amount of time to get their desired vehicle. This also makes it better on the customer because if there is a larger incentive this month you are not guaranteed to get a great incentive if you take delivery in a different month. You can order if what you are looking for is unique enough that nobody else has one. There is also the allocation that play into that too. You couldn't order a Z28 from my dealer or a new Z06 because we did not get the allocations from GM. Some unique cars you simply cannot order because of allocations to the dealer. Its not "the dealer doesn't want to sell me a car", there are other factors and rules that a dealer must abide by.

[Frank in MD]

Originally Posted by McRat

My fantasy: You order direct from GM and....

No offense but your fantasy is weak. Mine involves at least two or three women at once, (so that they'll have someone to talk to when I fall asleep), fast cars, hi explosives and bacon. Not necessarily in any specific order....

[McRat]

Originally Posted by Frank in MD

No offense but your fantasy is weak. Mine involves at least two or three women at once, (so that they'll have someone to talk to when I fall asleep), fast cars, hi explosives and bacon. Not necessarily in any specific order....

One woman is enough trouble!

Polygamy is a form of masochism.

[Frank in MD]

Originally Posted by McRat

One woman is enough trouble!

Polygamy is a form of masochism.

I didn't say marriage. I would only need 'em for an hour or so.